Trick-or-treating is just around the corner. What food safety tips should I keep in mind?

Here are some “Tips For Parents About Treats,” given by the Food and Drug Administration that are good to consider:

• Children shouldn’t snack while they’re out trick-or-treating. They should wait until they get home and parents have had a chance to inspect the goodies. To help prevent children from munching, give them a snack or light meal before they go — don’t send them out on an empty stomach.
• Tell children not to accept — and, especially, not to eat — anything that isn’t commercially wrapped.
• When children bring their treats home, parents should inspect the goodies. Discard any homemade candy or baked goods. Parents of young children also should remove any choking hazards such as gum, peanuts, hard candies or small toys.
• Wash all fresh fruit thoroughly, inspect it for holes, including small punctures, and cut it open before allowing children to eat it.
• Inspect commercially wrapped treats for signs of tampering, such as an unusual appearance or discoloration, tiny pinholes, or tears in wrappers. Throw away anything that looks suspicious.
• If juice or cider is served to children at Halloween parties, make sure it is pasteurized or otherwise treated to destroy harmful bacteria. Juice or cider that has not been treated will say so on the label.

Can dry ice be added to punch for a special effect? Is it poisonous?

Dry ice is carbon dioxide, the same stuff used to make soda pop carbonated. It’s just in frozen form. Unless the dry ice contained impurities, it’s not considered poisonous. The danger of course, would be to ingest a piece. It could cause a severe freezer burn if it stuck to the tongue, the roof of the mouth, or the gastrointestinal tract. So, to answer your question, no, I wouldn’t want to take the risk.

Instead, you may want to place your punch in a smaller bowl so it can rest inside a larger bowl filled with water. Place the dry ice in the larger bowl, creating the same effect — however, the punch does not come in contact with the ice. Warm water will create more fog, but the dry ice will disappear quickly. Cooler water will produce less dense fog, but the dry ice will last longer.

Caution. Do not touch the dry ice with your fingers as severe burns can result. Keep dry ice out of the reach of children. Use tongs or thick gloves when handling it and use it in a well-ventilated area.

I am in charge of bringing cupcakes to the fall party at school. Do you have a recipe for cupcakes that is a bit healthier?

If you have been asked to bring cupcakes specifically, then here’s a recipe that you may want to try — it will give a boost of Vitamin A, plus they are lower in fat. But, if you have the flexibility of offering the children a more healthful snack, I would encourage you to take a chance and try it. In our After School Programs, we have found that when children are offered healthy, tasty snacks, they eat them without hesitation. Try carrots with dip; whole grain crackers with cheese; peanuts with just a few candy corns sprinkled in; trail mix using whole-grain cereals; fruit-flavored yogurt; seedless grapes and string cheese; vanilla wafers and apples; low-fat granola bars; or lean luncheon meat and cheese rolled up in a flour tortilla. The ideas are endless.

Here’s a recipe that Connie Detweiler, K-State Research and Extension family nutrition program assistant, developed for the After School Program. The children enjoyed it. Even though the recipe makes one 1-cup serving, it’s easy to divide in half if you need to cut the cost.

Crunch

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1/3 cup low-fat popcorn

10 fat-free pretzel sticks

1/4 cup Multi-Grain Bran Cereal Squares

1/4 cup Oat Bran Cereal Squares

2 tablespoons raisins

1 teaspoon sliced almonds

1/4 teaspoon unsalted dry roasted sunflower seed kernels

Measure each ingredient into a plastic bag or bowl. Makes one 1 cup serving.

Nutrition Facts per serving: 220 calories, 3.5 grams fat, 6 grams protein, 6 grams fiber and 230 milligrams sodium.

Quick Pumpkin Cupcakes

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1 box regular yellow or vanilla cake mix, 2-layer size

2 eggs

1 tablespoon oil

2/3 cup canned pumpkin

1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1 cup water or apple juice

Decorations:

Canned low-fat vanilla frosting

Candy corn

Black or orange jelly beans

Black licorice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray each muffin cup with nonstick cooking spray or use paper cupcake liners.

Blend the cake mix with the eggs, oil, pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, and the water or juice with mixer at low speed until moistened. Beat at medium speed for 2 minutes. Spoon into the prepared muffin pan. Bake 18 minutes or until done.

Cool in pan completely before frosting.

Decorate the cupcakes (or, if time permits, frost the cupcakes and let the children help decorate them). Makes about 18 cupcakes.