No holiday is a bigger deal to Trisha Yearwood than Halloween. She loves costumes and adores making any dish that fits the occasion, from spooky Spider Web Deviled Eggs to sweet Red Candy Apple Slices. Trisha shows off her most-outlandish Halloween costumes and the epic recipes, like pumpkin-shaped Jack-o'-Lantern Stuffed Peppers and Pizza Tentacles, that she's made while dressed up.
It's the horrifying finale of Halloween Wars! After taking down the competition one by one, the final two teams made up of a pumpkin carving expert, cake artist and sugar artist go to battle one last time. The team that can best capture the scariest and most demonic wedding ever imagined will be crowned Halloween Wars champion and win $50,000. Bitsie Tulloch, actress from the hit series Grimm, joins as special guest judge.
In the spine-tingling finale of Halloween Wars, the final two teams made up of an expert pumpkin carver, a cake artist and a sugar master have slaughtered the competition and are ready to face off in an epic showdown with actor Caleb McLaughlin from Stranger Things as guest judge. The team that can best turn a classic fairy tale into a terrifying scary tale is crowned Halloween Wars Champion and takes home $50,000!
Four fan-favorite kids bakers dare to return to a kitchen that has been transformed into a spooky Halloween haunt. Hosts Duff Goldman and Maneet Chauhan challenge them to create a Halloween mask pie using ingredients the bakers collect while trick-or-treating, but they must be wary of a sudden, shocking twist! What isn't scary is the impressive $10,000 prize package of baking tools and equipment that goes home with the best pie-maker!
Each year, the best bakers in the country are pitted against each other in epic challenges of spooktacular desserts. Now, the spirits of Halloween Baking Championship have spoken, and a recap of the fiercest battles features the creepiest sweets and most-ghoulish ingredients.
Four of the country's best amateur pumpkin carvers square off to put a new face on a Halloween classic. There are three rounds of competition: the traditional Jack O'Lantern, 3-D pumpkin carving and a free-style round where anything goes.
Television personality, national bestselling author, celebrity chef and entrepreneur Lorraine Pascale has made a name for herself globally over the years through her delicious recipes, health and wellness guidance, inspired living and more. A household name in the UK, selling over one million books and starring in countless television series, Lorraine brought her expertise over to the US nearly 5 years ago and has become a staple in the Food Network family. She currently serves as a judge on Food Network’s Holiday Baking Championship, Spring Baking Championship and Worst Bakers in America.
Pascale got her start in the entertainment industry at just 16 years old, being discovered as a model and skyrocketing to fame throughout the 1990’s. She was the first black British model to appear on the cover of Elle Magazine (US), appeared in the1998 Sports Illustrated coveted swimsuit issue, and was the face of high-profile campaigns for Versace and Donna Karan. While modeling kept Pascale busy, she had aspirations to become an entrepreneur and found her niche after taking a diploma cookery course at the prestigious Leith's School of Food and Wine in London. She went on to graduate with first class honors, Summa Cum Laude in Culinary Arts Management at London’s University. During her final year of school, Pascale opened her first bakery in Covent Garden selling cakes, tray bakes, and cupcakes, and filmed her first television series Baking Made Easy for BBC 2. Pascale went on to film Home Cooking Made Easy, How to be a Better Cook for BBC and Cooking Channel’s Fresh, Fast and Easy Food. Her series have aired in over 70 countries worldwide.
While Pascale has become a trusted name in television, she also landed the accolade of being the most-successful cookbook author in the UK, releasing six best-selling books. Her debut book, Baking Made Easy, was released in 2011. Additional titles include Home Cooking Made Easy, Fast, Fresh, and Easy Food, A Lighter Way to Bake, How to be a Better Cook, Everyday Easy, Eating Well Made Easy, Best of Lorraine and“Bake: 125 Show-Stopping Recipes, Made Simple. Pascale is currently penning her next book, which will focus on overall wellness, health and inspirational topics.
Pascale was born to Jamaican parents and became a foster child shortly after birth. She was adopted at 18 months old, however her parents divorced when she was three and she went to live with her mother. At seven years old Pascale’s mother fell ill, and she landed back in the foster care system, living with several families. In 2014 Pascale filmed a documentary entitled Fostering & Me, in which she looked at her own experiences as a foster child and the experiences that other children have had.
On the charity front, Pascale is a patron of TACT (The Adolescent and Children’s Trust), the largest organization providing fostering and adoption services across the United Kingdom. In summer 2012, she was made the ambassador of the National Careers Service launching the service with Skills Minister John Hayes. Pascale also visits schools to talk to children and young adults, spreading positivity and motivation.
Pascale currently splits her time between London, Los Angeles and New York City.
The Kitchen is making the best versions of classic dishes! Jeff Mauro starts it off with The Sandwich King's Ultimate Breakfast Sandwich, and Alex Guarnaschelli makes Chicken Parmesan with Vodka Sauce. Katie Lee Biegel prepares her best Shrimp Scampi, and guest Zac Young stops by to give the scoop on the new season of Halloween Baking Championship and makes The Ultimate Carrot Cake.
In 2014, Gavin Kaysen was conquering New York City. He’d won a Michelin star for his work as chef de cuisine of Café Boulud, and the James Beard Awards had dubbed him a Rising Star. Faced with imminent stardom, he took the next logical step: he moved with his wife and children back to his hometown of Minneapolis and opened his first restaurant, Spoon and Stable. It was a risk that reaped one of the biggest rewards a chef could earn: in 2018 Kaysen won a James Beard Award for Best Chef: Midwest.
Why ditch the Big Apple for the Twin Cities? It had something to do with Kaysen’s love for the frenetic, fleeting seasonality of the upper Midwest. "There's something to be said for how you feel emotionally as one season gives way to the next, when it snows, rains, or is sunny," Kaysen says. "I never thought about that growing up here, but coming back, I see that now."
At Spoon & Stable, Kaysen might match grilled carrots with a delicate tarragon cream sauce, or serve rainbow trout laced with the earthy punch of a black truffle vinaigrette, blending his hometown sensibility with the classical French training he's received over the past two decades. Starting in 2001, Kaysen worked at Domaine Chandon in Yountville, California; L'Auberge de Lavaux in Lausanne, Switzerland; and the famed L'Escargot in London before becoming executive chef at El Bizcocho in San Diego, where he was named one of Food & Wine's Best New Chefs.
Most of all, Kaysen credits Daniel Boulud, the godfather of French cuisine in New York City, for his culinary education. "It was like getting my Master's and Ph.D. with Daniel and his organization," he explains. "When he cooks, it’s all about spontaneity, which I have discovered is how I really thrive, too."
Now that he’s back in Minnesota, Kaysen also gravitates toward traditional Heartland dishes—the kind he grew up eating and cooking: "I love the classics. Starting with my grandmother, we always cooked very classical American dishes, like pot roast and chicken."
Kaysen's recipes for Panna are delicious updates of these standbys, including roast chicken with charred scallion vinaigrette and homemade waffles with berries. What we love about his dishes is that each one is infused with years of professional experience, while staying anchored to a love of simplicity and good ingredients.
Gavin's Restaurants:
Spoon & Stable (Minneapolis, MN)
Bellecour (Wayzata, MN)