People are funny on Halloween. All people, including adults. Some whimsical souls still dress up no matter their age, and some real goofballs don't care about candy or costumes in the slightest. However, it is always great fun when a stuffy friend gets excited and lets loose.

It is sort of the same when it comes to eating and cooking. Some real foodie types can't bear to be anything but dead serious, and other true artists of cuisine just know how to play.

One of Hot Plates's relatives managed to walk the line with a recent care-package delivery of these yummies from Harry and David: a half-pound bag of bing cherry/blueberry/strawberry chocolates and a bag of "poltergeist pretzels."

In keeping with their mission of writing for the kind of people who plan to have fun today (and who aspire to have fun every day), the papers do include a few pieces meant to send our Halloween tastebuds spiralling into the next dimension with sugar and good humor. Thankfully, there are some other salty stories to balance things out.

From Pop Rocks Chased With Coca-Cola to Biodynamic Caramel Apples

In "Good Taste Takes a Holiday," The New York Times writer Julia Moskin encourages us to "Step away from the hazelnut truffles and passion fruit gelées; embrace the Skittles and the Nerds." Your spirits are guaranteed to be lifted as you read quotes from chefs and other food demi-celebs about their idea of a Halloween treat, past and present. After reading it, we are left wishing for violet-flavored cotton candy and a box of Mallomars.

We go from Laffy Taffy to a $100 pumpkin cheesecake from Neiman-Marcus, which Florence Fabricant highlights in her Food Stuff column. "Enrobed in a tinted white chocolate fondant," the cake does sound decadent, especially if you need to dress up a table a bit.

When Salt Isn't Salty, and Manly Appetites

All right already; enough with the sweet. This L.A. Times article is from a writer and a cook who gets really excited about salt-roasting. She tries "salt-roasted whole fish, spiny lobster, chicken breasts, shrimp, prawns, pork roast, roast beef, steak, even pears." It seems crazy that food cooked this way -- baked in a pile of salt -- could be, as she says, not too salty, but we are curious.

For football fans, it is tough to acknowledge at this time of year that there is "more to life than pigskin." Hot Plates isn't part of that crowd, but we do love Washington Post sportswriter Dan Steinberg's writing. (Full disclosure: We worked at the college newspaper with Mr. Steinberg.) His front-page story today is a fun look at " the grilling battles waged in the parking lots" at Redskins and Ravens tailgates. Grilled seafood? Venison tenderloin? Deep-fried turkey? We're sort of shocked. The verdict: Ravens food has it. Mr. Steinberg always knew how to stir the pot!

There's a lovely article from N.Y Times style writer Alex Witchel about cooking for more than four but less than 15. Only a mother of boys really knows how to grocery-shop: You just get three times as much of everything you think you need, because it's never enough -- "even when they haven't run 15 miles," Witchel says. It includes a recipe for her old standby, sauteed chicken with 40 cloves of garlic, which she used to make when her boys were young and she finds it is still their comfort food.

Popeye isn't the only one who starts feeling strong after eating spinach. Most everyone, even notorious vegetable-phobes, can eat the stuff in some form: with feta in an omelet, on pizza or in lasagna. The L.A. Times makes a good point in its spinach article: "It's a funny in-between time on the produce aisle. I'm craving vegetables, but nothing feels exactly right for the season." The story gives some great ideas for enjoying spinach; for real green fiends, though, butter, garlic, salt and pepper are all you need.

Steak and vegetables tonight, friends. After a real meal, the Nestle's Crunch and Pixy Stix will taste that much sweeter.