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Today at the Tar Heel Tavern, we're going to be whipping up a Halloween recipe, and we've got seven different cooks in the kitchen to help us out.

Erin over at Poetic Acceptance gets us in the mood with a scary food story, warning us that baking while pregnant can go oh so wrong.

"It was mid summer, in the 90's, the oven's been on, there's no A/C, I'm pregnant, stressed out, pissed off and cussing... Oh yes, there was much cussing that day."

We all quickly sympathize because who hasn't had something go wrong in the kitchen?

At this point, Bora at Science and Politics reminds us that it's not just our own kitchens that can be a scary place. And thoroughly grosses me out in the process with his tales of fish eyes.

"The fish, alive and flapping, was looking up at my brother. The waiter produced a knife and a fork and watched with amusement and apprehension."

Laurie at ... slowly she turned lightens the mood up a bit as she pulls some pictures of costumes past out of her wallet. She asks us to decide: Scary, or funny? Her husband is a very good-natured man.

"Men in drag are funny. They just are. From Milton Berle to Tootsie, from Monty Python to the Kids in the Hall. My apologies to you male cross-dressers out there, but you have got to be PRETTY good at make-up not to be funny in drag. Heck, I look pretty funny in make-up and women's clothes myself."

Meanwhile, over in the corner, Lilburne from words fitly spoken and Screwy Hoolie from Scrutiny Hooligans talk politics, a scary subject sometimes to be sure. Lilburne weaves a Halloween tale, complete with ghosts of our past. And Screwy Hoolie brings us a nearly-NSFW picture that is now burned into my retinas -- readers beware.

Ron over at 2sides2ron quickly changes the subject and offers to tell us some spine-tingling family tales.

"It is time to start sharing the stories that I have been holding back, the ones that make the flesh crawl just a bit. As a Southerner exported from the British Isles, I come from a family with a rich tradition of ghost stories.

With the hairs on our necks and arms standing at attention, we look around and realize that one cook has yet to contribute to the pot. Mandie steps forward with a captivating glint in her eye and offers us a luscious image with which to cleanse our minds.

"The cheesecake was TO. DIE. FOR. *insert evil laugh* Really."

It's especially fitting, since the photo is taken at the site where Darth Tater first made an appearance.

With our tummies full and our scariness quotient met, we say our goodbyes and depart the Tar Heel Tavern, agreeing that this has indeed been a Halloween treat.