By JANET K. KEELER

© St. Petersburg Times, published October 25, 2000

deconstructing

explanations from the inside out

Dry ice

The stuff of eerie Halloween cauldrons is frozen carbon dioxide, the gas we exhale as we breath. It is much denser and colder (-109 degrees) than traditional ice (32 degrees). Unlike ice made from water, dry ice doesn't melt. It transforms from a solid to a gas as its temperature rises, a process called sublimation. That's what makes the fog.

Dry ice is made by turning carbon dioxide into a liquid through a compression process and then freezing it. This process is done by companies that make ice and is not something that can be done at home. The primary purpose of dry ice is to preserve food for shipping, picnics or camping trips. It keeps food colder longer than ice in a cooler.

Dry ice is available through ice houses such as Bar Ice in St. Petersburg (look under "dry ice" in the Yellow Pages for others in your area) and is carried at some grocery stores. Expect to pay about $7 for a five-pound block at a commercial ice house. Many larger Publix supermarkets sell dry ice for about $1 a pound.

Buy dry ice the day you are going to use it, and bring a foam container to store it in. Do not store it in an air-tight container, or the gases may cause the lid to pop off dangerously. Keep it in the foam container rather than the freezer; the "warm" air from the freezer will cause the much colder dry ice to deteriorate. Use gloves or tongs to handle the ice; never touch it with bare hands, or it it will burn your skin.

To use, place a chunk securely wrapped in cheesecloth into your punch. (Use an ice pick to break up larger block.) A one-pound block will give off a spooky-ooky fog for about 15 minutes. Repeat as needed.

handy candy

Make this silly edible body part by filling a disposable plastic glove with popcorn, using candy corn as fingernails. Tie the bottom with ribbon and adorn with a ring.

cooking class

After you've carved your pumpkin, don't throw out the seeds. Separate them from the stringy, goopy insides and then rub them in a cloth towel to remove any remaining fibers. Mix 1 cup of seeds with 1 teaspoon olive or corn oil and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Spread them in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet and bake 10 to 15 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

this Web site cooks

http://www.cocktails.about.com/food/cocktails

Who says Halloween is just for kids? Certainly not the folks at About.com who concocted Spooktacular Cocktails, a clever compendium of adult party drinks.

Pick your poison from categories such as Monstrous Mixtures, Creepy Crawly Cocktails, Laboratory Libations and Ghoulish Gargle, among others. One drink that might bring your night to a close early is the Neutron Bomb: 1 ounce of beer, 1/3 ounce each each vodka, rum, triple sec, amaretto, sloe gin and Galliano liqueur. Add a splash of orange juice for vitamin C. Shake with ice, strain into a chilled cocktail glass and make sure you designate a driver.

constant comment

apples on a stick

The little, very little, nip in the air and the abundance of Halloween decorations fuel our yearning for a gooey candy or caramel apple. With apples in high season and the sticky fixings readily available in kits at grocery stores, now is the time to make them at home. For caramel apples, break away from the usual chopped peanut coating and try coconut, shelled sunflower seeds, shaved chocolate or even chopped pecans. Avoid the inevitable problem of too much of a good thing by using smaller apples, especially for children's parties.

ghostly marshmallows

Peeps aren't just for Easter anymore. Those puffy marshmallow chicks have grown into purple cats and eerie ghosts for Halloween. Be very, very afraid: The professional snackers in the Times newsroom may have finally found something they won't eat. Most of the pillowy kitty cats were uneaten after several days in the communal nosh pit. If you don't believe us, look for them at many places that carry Halloween candy, including Bed Bath & Beyond.

More treat than trick

Handmade soaps

Don't forget your manners even if you are masquerading as a Neanderthal. A gift to the host of the party is a nice touch, and these all-natural, handmade soaps from Milagros (505 Central Ave., St. Petersburg; (727) 821-7555) are festive as well as functional. They cost $6 per 1/2-pound slice.

Other gift ideas:

Scour the shelves at discount stores such as TJ Maxx and Marshall's for seasonal dish towels or place mats.

Candles, candles, candles. You can spend a little (orange and black votives at Kash N' Karry for 25 cents each) or a lot ($18 and up for fancy candles at the Nicholson House in Tampa's Hyde Park.)

Halloween-themed serving dishes. Again, check out discount chains or party stores. Bring a treat and leave the dish.

Where cavities dwell

The scariest thing about Halloween is what all that candy can do to a child's teeth. Need some literature to help persuade your little ghouls to brush their teeth? Check out these books: Dragon Teeth and Parrot Beaks: Even Creatures Brush Their Teeth by Almute Grohmann and Patricia Bereck Weikersheimer (Edition, 1998) or Brush Your Teeth Please: A Pop-Up Book by Leslie McGuire and Jean Pidgeon (Reader's Digest Adult, 1993).

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