That's right. It's too late to get any backordered Sarah Palin glasses. But somehow you've done it again — waited to the very last minute to cobble together a decent costume for that party tonight. Well, this awesome resource might help: Costume Idea Zone. They've got tons of easy costume concepts, and clearly it's OK with them if you steal their ideas!

Wanna go dressed as "Partly Cloudy with a Chance of Showers"? Easy peasy. Just stick cotton balls all over your blue outfit, and carry a spray bottle everywhere you go.

How about "Mucho Dinero," the guy with printouts of Robert DeNiro all over his clothes?

Not impressed yet? Try a "Running Nose." Wear a track suit and write 'No' all over yourself.

Yeah, yeah, these are costumes for the pun-inclined and laaaaazzzyyyy. But if you're here right now, I'm betting you're a lazy costumer. So check out the Costume Idea Zone. And please post your other costume ideas in our comments section below.

See also:  Orange and Black and Green — 5 Tips for an Eco-friendly Halloween 

Happy All Hallow's Eve, folks. Tis the season to celebrate pumpkin beer, and here are some ideas to get your mouth a-waterin'.

From the crew over at Beer America TV:
Pumpkin love continues, but this time with a twist, it's not an ale but a lager, the only one of its kind in the world! Lakefront Brewing gets a look and a taste with their Lakefront Pumpkin Lager. We also drop some knowledge about one of America's Founding Fathers.

* Some intrepid brewers make their pumpkin beer ... imagine this! ... INSIDE A PUMPKIN. Check out this slideshow: Brewing in a Pumpkin.

* Read about that "experiment" in more detail in Pumpkin to Tunkin: Last Call 

* One of those intrepid brewers is a contributing writer for Mother Earth News. Read his latest article: Brew Your Own Beer 

Also of seasonal interest:

* Make Your Own Hard Cider 

* Those Beer America guys also took a look at Sam Adams Octoberfest.

Now what?

Now, I drink pumpkin beer! Here are the brews from my neck of the woods that I'm planning to try this weekend:

* Brooklyn Brewery Post Road Pumpkin Ale (New York)

* Greenpoint Beer Works/Heartland Brewery Smiling Pumpkin Ale (New York)

* Smuttynose Pumpkin Ale (New Hampshire)

But what about you??? 

Yes, you should try some pumpkin brew too. Drop a note about your favorites in the comments section below.

Ready ... Set ... Go!

Hey pumpkin carvers: Stop. Wait. Don't waste all those yummy seeds! (Happy Halloween, by the way.) You can save those seeds from ending up in the garbage can with 4 easy steps:

1. SOAK THE SEEDS in water for a few hours. Fill a bowl with water, drop in the seeds and rub them between your fingers to start loosening up any attached pulp. Don't worry about getting every last bit off, because soaking them for a while makes it easier to rub all the pumpkin-ey pulp off later.

2. DRY THE SEEDS on a towel for a few hours, or until they are dry to the touch.

3. SEASON THOSE SEEDS with whatever's on-hand and sounds yummy. Sweet and savory both work well — be creative. (Our friend Kim Wallace, over at Natural Home magazine has a step-by-step recipe for sweet cinnamon-n-sugar pumpkin seeds.) Using a little bit of honey or oil will add flavor and help herbs and spices stick well. For the pumpkin seeds I made as a salad topping (see below), I tossed the dried seeds in extra-virgin olive oil (Global Gardens 2007 Harvest first cold press, a wonderfully fruity and aromatic premium olive oil) and Maine Coast Sea Vegetables organic kelp with cayenne pepper blend (one of my long-standing favorite seasoning blends).

4. ROAST THE SEEDS in a 300-degree-Fahrenheit oven for about 10 minutes. Keep an eye on them: They'll be done when they're golden to light brown.

Crunchy seaweed- and cayenne-spiced roasted pumpkin seeds make a fabulous topping for a fresh arugula salad, and counterbalance the sweetness of crispy cucumber and pear slices.

More pumpkin know-how: Grilled Pumpkin with Rosemary and Sea Salt * Pumpkins Make any Dish a Smashing Hit * 7 Great Pumpkin Carving Tips * Wacky and Wonderful Halloween Pumpkin Designs * Three Phunky Pumpkins * The Great Pumpkin * The Great American Pumpkin * Make a Jack-'O-Lantern ... And Eat Pumpkin Pie, Too! * About Pumpkins * Beer America TV Pops the Top on a Pumpkin Lager 

Halloween! Ghosts and goblins and glowing jack-o’-lanterns! But all that mess and fuss and expense! Finding the perfect pumpkin, cleaning out the inner goop and deciding on the perfect design … or you can create a cornucopia of jack-o’-lantern designs on this virtual pumpkin carving site. And if you make a mistake, hit the reset button to start all over. Just use the virtual knife to draw your best design, click done and your Halloween face glows with a virtual candle. You have an instant “carved” pumpkin without the mess but with all of your ghoulish inspiration.

If you prefer the old-fashioned method of turning pumpkins into works of art, here are some ways to be successful:
• Preschoolers can use fat black markers to draw a face onto the ribbed surface of a child-sized pumpkin.
• Find articles on how to carve a pumpkin with a lid that doesn’t fall into the center, and tricks for making wonderfully original faces.
• For inspiration, check out these marvelous and malevolent 3-D pumpkin sculptures.

If you have an inspiring pumpkin carving experience, share it in the comments below.