• A brief background on bloodsuckers, plus "a bloody fete Dracula would thirst for" -- creative fanger foods, pun intended.
• When left home alone with the task of feeding trick-or-treaters, one columnist came to discover the marvelous match of red wine and chocolate.
• Bacon banter has finally leveled out a bit, but isn't going anywhere anytime soon. However, a recent local event preceding April's Baconfest Chicago wowed porcine appreciators, with dishes like the pumpkin-bacon-waffle with pomegranate-glazed pork belly.
• More than "junk food with a European pedigree," Nutella is a "vaguely wholesome" snack with an interesting background -- and can be made at home from scratch.
• The Festival of Wood- and Barrel-Aged Beer takes place November 7, and pays tribute to a worthy beer trend on the rise.
• A gallery of ten "superfoods" we should be consuming more of, from avocados and beets to chia seeds and dandelion greens.
• Recipes: Comforting Chicken Pot Pie with Drop Biscuits ("the gustatory equivalent of curling up with your favorite blanket"); the luscious Vanilla Ice Cream with Bourbon Walnuts and Caramel; Slow-Cooked Pulled Pork and Spicy Slaw "warms up a Halloween party;" Sheila Lukins' Banana Cake.

We're fans of the Chicago Tribune's "Cheeseburger Show," and we had to chuckle as "cheeseburger bureau chief" Kevin Pang gears up for a the fall burger season with a tribute to "Perfect Strangers." It's kind of a sloppy scene-by-scene re-enactment -- perfect for a cheeseburger. Click on the photo for the video. (Warning: Mild vulgarity by French Fry.)

Leading the charge at the Tribune is olive oil, with recipes for Orange salad with olives and cilantro and Peppery red aioli. Also, Five countries, five oils, What to look for in olive oils, and Chicago-area sources.

If you feel like fish, there is advice on what types of seafood are in season and a recipe for Pan-seared halibut with shaved fennel, watercress and radish.

Also in the kitchen, community cookbooks are a treasure trove, pork medallions are good for the planet, white anchovies, tarragon,and lemons are a yellow marvel.

For consumers who want to stick with local products, the produce section at the market will be stocked through the end of October. It only takes some imagination to know what to do with autumn's bounty, which includes things from apples to winter squash. The Tribune gives tips on how to store these fruits and vegetables, and offers a few recipes: Pumpkin Jam, Spiced Oragnic Carrot Soup, Vanilla-scented Kohlrabi with Creamed Greens, and Duck with Pear-Cardamom Puree and Caramel Almonds.

Fresh Picks offers home-delivery of fresh, locally grown, organic foods, something that larger online grocers only touch on. For a tradtional organic market, try Sunflower Market.

Other food features and recipes: Penne with Red Pepper and Fresh Herbs, Chanterelles, Stewed Fava Beans, and Vietnamese-style Chicken Curry with Sweet Potatoes and Lime-Pepper-Salt Dipping Sauce.

High heat during the summer brings fresh okra, and the Tribune adds it, along with shrimp, to a late summer menu. Speaking of shrimp, Wolfgang Puck adds shrimp as a twist to the classic BLT. Heirloom cooking makes a crustless asparagus quiche.

Shop for Triscuit's cracked pepper and olive oil crackers, the CIA's Master's Collection of kitchen tools, and the Cutie Pie Kit from HomeMade Pizza Co. for kids. At the bookstore, Jay Weinstein's book, The Ethical Gourmet gets a review, and kids go wild for Brit teen chef, Sam Stern, whose first book is Cooking Up a Storm: The Teen Survival Cookbook.

If a teen sensation is too young, then read through the feature on London's Borough Market.

Just in time for back-to-school, childhood obesity is looking to get a spanking as schools go full-force with an extreme food makeover.

In drinks, vodka gets infused with a market basket of fruits. If that's too strong, mix up wine for sangrias, sprtizers, and wine coolers.

Tired of reading about food? Try listening to food, since food is hitting the airwaves from professionals on the radio to amateurs doing their own Podcasts.

We'd love to think that by watching Emeril, Bobby, Giada and Rachael on tv we'll turn ourselves into master cooks, but the truth of the matter is, you have to get in the kitchen and cook yourself to really learn. Professionals give 10 tips on how to turn your kitchen into a culinary bootcamp. Then you can make Kaboom! Kebabs to serve with Mango Salsa and tortillas, Grilled Salmon with Pasta and Late Summer Vegetables, Roasted Fennel and Red Pepper Salad, Cocoa Sauce for drizzling over anything, Cherry Strudel, and homemade salad dressings: Tarragon Grapefruit Vinaigrette, Mango Lime and Fresh Ginger Dressing, and Lemon Rosemary Dressing.

Put a flattening colander, a silicone rolling pin, and a juicer to good use.

For fresh French fare in Chicago, try Floriole Bakery.

If it's too hot to cook something, just do ceviche - no heat required, unless it's a chile pepper.

Shredded beef at breakfast? It's machaca.

Normally, veal is expensive, but if you can find it on sale, you can stretch just one pound to four servings of pasta.

What are the questions you should be asking about your food? Is organic really worht the price? Does irradiation and genetic modification really matter? Is vitamin-enrichment really that much better?

An ice cream maker may seem like yet another appliance that will be tucked away in the back of the cpboard, but with summer's fruits, having one is worth it.

The Midwest has good food, with everything from buffalo to old-fashioned pies.

A few facts about currants, and cooking with heirloom vegetables, as well as an easy way to prep for grilled vegetables.

Maybe you accidentally used salt while beating the batter for your cheesecake. That's a flop in the kitchen alright, but it certainly doesn't taste good (I would know - I've done it). However, there are kitchen "accidents" that resulted in some of today's most famous foods and dishes. The Chicago Tribune lists some of the best mistakes we've ever made, and includes recipes.

• Jean-Georges Vongerichten  "invented" the molten chocolate lava cake in 1987 while trying to make 300 small chocolate cakes for a party
• We all know the birth of chocolate chip cookies when Ruth Wakefield thought Nestle Toll House chocolate chips would melt into her cookies
• Gooey butter cake is a coffee cake that went wrong in St. Louis
• When the Tatin sisters forgot to line a pie dish for apple pie, the Tarte Tatin was created

If ever you found yourself craving, eating, and worshiping sushi as if in some strange cult-like manor, you might not be far off.

Many may know about Reverend Sun Myung Moon, the self-proclaimed Messiah who claimed he was destined to be the savior of humanity. Reverend Moon founded the controversial Unification Church, popularly known as a religious group called the "Moonies." Don't recall? Then remember his large-scale mass weddings in Madison Square Garden and other locations in Asia? That was the Moonies. Many have called it a cult.

Well, those who have alleged that Reverend Moon and his "Moonies" are a cult have been indirectly supporting the movement if Moon and his followers every time they indulge in sushi. That's right. Reverend Moon, unbeknownst most people, has created an empire of seafood, integrating themselves into almost every facet of the seafood industry from fishing to putting those two pieces of fatty, buttery, melt-in-you-mouth toro on you plate.

The True World Group comprises fleets of boats, operates distribution centers and supplies fish and seafood to most of the 9,000 sushi restaurants around the US. The True World Group is controlled by a non-profit company called Unification Church International Inc., or UCI.

The Chicago Tribune did a full investigative story, even going so far as to listing restaurants in the Chicago area that are supplied by True World.

The question is, does this bother people enough to change their sushi eating habits? Does it even matter?

[photo: The Delicious Life]

How on earth could we have been ignoring our family in the Midwest this whole time?!?! Forty whippings with a wet noodle for us! And now, the Chicago Tribune's Good Eating in 60 seconds.

In drinking, it's one of the best German-style lagers in a bottle, it's golden amber in color, maltier and hoppier than most, and best of all, it's from Cleveland: Great Lakes Brewing Co.'s Dortmunder Gold. Proposed shipping laws for wine in Illinois are causing a headache worse than cheap red wine. New Sam's Wine and Spirits in Highland Park has a lounge and classroom and a lot more space.

In the kitchen, are you whipping potatoes, or mashing them? Who cares, it still tastes good. Star fruit and star anise are paired with shrimp, Ina Garten's new line gets a nod, be brave with a deep fryer, and make that Hungarian delight, ghoulash.

Canned food sounds mundane, but not when they've been the foundation of Spain's tapas for years.