I love food this time of year. Heavenly spiced cakes and hearty stews hit the menus and seasonal pumpkin treats are everywhere. The typical sweet potato pie is a mainstay at most Southern Thanksgivings, but the folks at The Sweet Potato Project want you to eat it all year ’round by ordering Sweet Potato Pie from Addie’s Fine Foods. The recipe was created by Mississippi resident Addie Simon back in 1966 — it was the only dessert she could stomach while going through chemo and radiation treatments for cancer. Not only does she feel her pie is “a true blessing in providing her with a healthy dessert alternative rich in cancer-fighting nutrients like vitamin A, vitamin C and beta-carotene,” when you order your own for just $15, you support the Children’s Heritage Foundation. While it doesn’t take much to convince me to eat a piece a pie, supporting a good cause while taking down a tasty dessert is like the whipped cream on top! –Erica P.

As we are truly celebrating Halloween this month at Shelterrific, I’ve been keeping my eyes peeled for every cool bit of ghoulish decor I can. A friend recently made a bunch of these adorable ghosts in no time flat using just four items: a white balloon, a sharpie, monofilament line, and white tulle (she actually used white and off-white). I thought they would be perfect as a super easy, kid-friendly holiday craft — just blow up the balloons, draw on your favorite spooky face, and cover with two roughly cut half-yard lengths of tulle (it’s fun to shred them around the base, too). Tie around the base of the balloon with monofilament line, and then hang. I can just imagine these hanging at different heights in a giant picture window, or perhaps hiding among trees with some twinkle lights to illuminate? –Megan B.

I love to see people coming together to make the future brighter through design, so I was thrilled to see the results of the 99K House Competition. Sponsored by the Rice Design Alliance and the American Institute of Architects, Houston Chapter, the goal of the international competition was “to create an innovative design for a small house that is affordable, sustainable and energy efficient.” All entrants had to design a single family home with up to 1,400 square feet, three bedrooms, and 1 1/2 to 2 bathrooms that could be built and sold for $99,000 or less. The winning design was built in Houston’s Fifth Ward in the hope of revitalizing the neighborhood. For more inspiration, you can view all the finalists here or purchase a book on the competition. They’re all so different and inspiring it’s hard to choose a favorite, but I guess that’s a good problem to have when good design and good intentions come together! –Sarah C.

Birds of a feather flock to this entry from Dana! Will we receive more entries, or nevermore?

Dana writes: “This year was the “Year of the Crow”… I found some great crows at the Dollar Store and I ended using them everywhere! The first pic is of my built-in China cupboard, with a glitter skull (from Target!) and my dollar store crow and spiders.”

“The next pic is of my dining room table with my sticks-n-crows (it was hard to photograph…)”

And this year I actually put some decorations on top of my kitchen cupboards — I was inspired by the cat silhouette I found at JoAnns, and of course I had to use a crow somewhere. The other pictures are just other Halloween touches around the house.”

Thanks, Dana! The witching hour is drawing near…we’ll give you until midnight to enter! In the meantime, click for more photos! (more…)

Maria of la vida evita has our next entry — a cute roundup of decorated pumpkins that are family friendly.

Maria writes:

“Since my daughter is 3 and creeped out by the spookier aspects of Halloween, my decor this year is super kid-friendly (and out of reach of a child who occasionally confuses pumpkins and soccer balls). The “question mark” pumpkin has been a fun way to tell people that we’re expecting our second baby!”

Congratulations on the new arrival, Maria, and thanks for entering! Wonder if we’ll get any last-minute entries as our deadline ticks near…?

The entries to date:
Cheri’s Eek! Entryway
Ally’s Pumpkin Porch
Tracy’s House of Horrors
Karla’s Bat Magic
Catherine’s Simple Mantel
Ramona’s Cute Collections

The first thing you need to do is go out and find yourself a friend who likes to fish. We’re lucky that we have one, and he comes back from his Pacific excursions with so much extra, he gifts the entire office with smoked tuna and fresh salmon. I decided to add his latest gift to an old standby of mine, the fettucine alfredo from Cooking Light. It’s not nearly as heavy as regular alfredo, but with fresh parmesan and a little patience, it turns out just as delicious. I simply prepared the alfredo as directed and tossed the noodles with some steamed asparagus and chunks of smoked tuna for an incredible meal. While this was exceedingly delicious, any kind of smoked fish would work great — I’ve even had good results with the Hickory Smoked Tuna from StarKist! View a fettucine alfredo how-to video at Cooking Light, or see the spelled-out recipe here. –Mary T.

I’ve confessed my addiction to typography before, and I’ve shared my propensity for making lists. Well, it looks like The Ginger Pimpernel, proprietor of the site Shopping Losts, has married these two loves of mine just perfectly! He collects found grocery/shopping lists and uses their content to inspire great art. I’d love a print of one of his works for my kitchen. –Erica P.

Should you drink milk after the sell-by date? Can you freeze raw eggs? Does vinegar ever go bad? How long should you hang onto that opened jar of salsa? StillTasty to the rescue! This comprehensive site tells you what’s safe to eat, what you should probably pitch, and how to get the most life out of your foodstuffs. We love it. See it all here.

Okay, so, we think Ramona cheated just a little — she submitted a photo of her adorable orange and black cats, who are actually named Trick and Treat! Aside from her living, breathing, meowing tribute to Halloween, Ramona has a lot of collections, like an entire tabletop haunted town, and even her bathroom gets into the act. See more photos at her site. And remember, today is your last day to enter your Halloween decor!

Today’s the last day to enter your Halloween-decorated home, office, yard, or cubicle — we’re not picky! Send us a jpeg or a link to your images online, and you could win everything you see above. Email photos or links to letters (at) shelterrific dotcom. We’ll post the rest of the entries and let YOU pick the winner! Thanks, Target!

The entries to date:
Cheri’s Eek! Entryway
Ally’s Pumpkin Porch
Tracy’s House of Horrors
Karla’s Bat Magic
Catherine’s Simple Mantel