Ghostly pops! Try these Halloween recipes

This is Grace Parisi's take on the Dark and Stormy, a classic rum and ginger beer drink. Floating in the punch bowl are round ice cubes made with lychee syrup and lychees stuffed with brandied cherries, which have an uncanny resemblance to eyeballs.

In a small saucepan, bring the lychee syrup and ginger to a boil. Remove from the heat, cover and let steep for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, stuff 16 lychees with brandied cherries. Set each lychee in the cup of a mini muffin pan or in an ice cube tray. Strain the lychee-ginger syrup and pour it over the lychees. Freeze until firm, at least 4 hours.

In a pitcher, stir the sugar into the lime juice until dissolved. Add the rum and refrigerate until chilled, about 1 hour.

Unmold the lychee ice cubes into a small punch bowl. Pour in the lime-rum mixture. Add the ginger beer, stir gently and serve in ice-filled glasses.

Make ahead: The lychee ice cubes can be frozen for up to 1 week.

Fill a medium bowl with water and squeeze the lemon half into it. Peel the pears and add them to the lemon water. Using a small melon baller, scoop out balls from each pear; return the balls to the lemon water. You will need 16 pear balls. Using a toothpick, make a small hole in each pear ball and tuck a currant into each hole.

Pour 1 tablespoon of the pear nectar into each of 8 Champagne flutes. Fill the flutes with Champagne. Spear 2 pear "eyeballs" on a toothpick, put in each flute and serve at once.

The Japanese seaweed hijiki, mixed with fried tofu and tossed with sesame oil dressing, makes a lovely Halloween-ready salad that just happens to look like worms in a freshly dug grave.

In a bowl, cover the hijiki with warm water and let stand for 1 hour. Drain, pressing out any excess water.

In a small bowl, combine the soy, mirin, sugar and dissolved dashi. Heat the vegetable oil in a saucepan. Add the carrots and fried tofu and cook over high heat for 1 minute. Stir in the hijiki. Add the soy mixture and simmer over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until the carrots are tender and the liquid is absorbed, about 15 minutes.

Transfer the hijiki salad to a bowl and refrigerate until chilled, 1 hour.

In a small bowl, whisk the vinegar with the sesame oil. Add the dressing to the salad and toss to coat. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve. Make Ahead The hijiki salad can be refrigerated overnight.

In a medium skillet, melt the butter. Add the shallots and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 8 minutes. Scrape the shallots into a food processor and let cool. Add the goat cheese, cream cheese and feta and puree until smooth. Scrape the cheese into a bowl and refrigerate until chilled, about 30 minutes.

Shape one third of the cheese mixture into a ball and roll in black sesame seeds to coat; shape the remaining two-thirds into a larger ball and coat with black sesame seeds. On a serving board, press the balls together to form the head and body of a spider. Cut the piquillo pepper into 2 small triangles and place them on the body in an hourglass shape. Serve with crackers, flat breads or bread sticks.

Grace Parisi's cake pops are easy to make: Crumble store-bought pound cake; mix with lemon, sugar and butter; then shape into mounds. When they're covered with white chocolate, the cakes look like ghosts. Make their faces with an edible decorating pen or dots of black frosting.

Crumble the cake into a food processor. Add the butter, lemon zest, lemon juice and sugar and pulse to combine. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and shape into 18 mounds. Gently press them into ghost shapes and ease each one onto a popsicle stick. Stand the pops upright in a large piece of Styrofoam.

In a large microwave-safe bowl, heat the white chocolate at high power until three-quarters melted. Stir until completely melted and cooled to 88° on an instant-read thermometer. Working quickly, dip the cake pops into the white chocolate, letting any excess drip back into the bowl. Stand the pops upright in the Styrofoam and let the chocolate set. Use the edible decorating pen to draw faces on the ghosts and serve.