BEWITCHING GOODIES.

On a recent stop at See's Candies last week a cute Halloween item was spotted among the many selections. The novelty witch is a wire and plastic mesh container (with a hinge and latch) filled with 4.7 ounces of 40 assorted Little Pops. It's $6 and can be refilled or used to store other keepsakes. Little ghosts and goblins will get a kick out of it. Or it would make great party favors (or even prizes) at a Halloween party. Pick up at your local See's store or order no later than today by calling [phone] or at the Web site www.sees.com.

BORN AGAIN: Just Born Inc., makers of Mashmallow Peeps, has introduced new individually wrapped Vanilla Creme flavored Ghosts for Halloween in 10-ounce bags (containing 21 wrapped ghosts). Tasters gave the new vanilla creme flavor a thumbs up, particularly those not usually fond of Peeps. Hand these Peeps out to trick or treaters or use them to decorate cakes, cupcakes, brownies and the like. Suggested retail is $2.69 to $2.99 per bag of 21. Look for them at Toys R Us, Vons, Albertsons and Jo-Ann's Fabrics.

- Natalie Haughton

HERBAL EXPANSION: With more Americans having an adventurous palate these days, McCormick & Co. Inc. has expanded its premium Gourmet Collection to include 22 new spices, herbs and blends with ethnic flavors like dried lemon grass, wasabi powder, chipotle chile pepper, red curry powder and Szechwan seasoning. With the new additions, the collection now totals 107 flavors. The standard-size 4 1/2-inch-tall glass jars have a suggested retail price of $3.98 per jar. A brochure featuring recipes that use the blends is available by calling [phone], 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday or visiting www.mccormick.com.

- N.H.

FREEBIE 

The California Olive Industry is offering ``Recipes From Around the Mediterranean,'' an attractive 16-page brochure with recipes, color photos and nutrition information. Many of the creations - including Grilled Sea Bass With Ripe Olive 'N' Caper Salsa, Moroccan Chicken Tagine, Shellfish Fettuccine, and White Bean and Ripe Olive Gratin -sound and look appealing. For a free copy, mail your request to COI, 1903 N. Fine, No. 102, Fresno CA 93727, or go to the Web site at www.CalOlive.org/Med.

- N.H.

DINING OUT

Halloween happenings at local restaurants range from celebrating the traditional Mexican Day of the Dead (through Nov. 4) at the Border Grills in Santa Monica and Pasadena to the bizarre Asian fare at Typhoon at the Santa Monica Airport where only the bravest will try the pork-stuffed water bugs, stir-fried spicy frogs, eel soup with soft turtles, ant egg salad, giant wild mountain ants, crispy scorpions, stir-fried crickets or white sea worms.

More familiar, and certainly sounding more appetizing, is the Halloween menu at the Wine Bistro in Studio City. Here, dishes such as roasted lamb with red wine sauce called Silence of the Lambs and linguine with calamari titled The Deep are part of the Hollywood-inspired dinner bash 6 to 10:30 p.m. Oct. 31, a two-course, $22.50 meal with seven appetizer and eight entree choices.

Costumes are encouraged and there will be raffles, prizes, tricks and treats. Wine Bistro is located at 11915 Ventura Blvd., Studio City. Reservations necessary: [phone].

Border Grills are at 1445 Fourth St., Santa Monica and at 260 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena. Reservations: [phone] for Santa Monica, [phone] for Pasadena.

Typhoon is at 3221 Donald Douglas Loop South, Santa Monica. Reservations: [phone].

- Larry Lipson

CAPTION(S):

4 photos

Photo:

(1) no caption (Peeps Ghosts)

(2) no caption (See's candy Witch container)

(3) no caption (``Recipes from Around the Mediterranean'')

(4) no caption (McCormick & Co. Inc Gourment Collection)