October is officially here, and who's ready to celebrate? We sure are! If you want to throw a party to greet the changing season, whether it's a fall-inspired or Halloween-inspired kind of shindig, here are a few deliciously timely recipes to try out onboard!

Drink: Homemade Root Beer by Luvngrams

Ingredients:

6 cups white sugar

3 1/3 gallons cold water

1 (2-ounce) bottle root beer extract

4 pounds dry ice

Directions:

Stir the sugar and water well in a large cooler, then add the root beer extract. Carefully add the dry ice and loosely cover with the lid (don’t fully secure it). After brewing for about an hour, it’s ready to serve. (Side note—make sure you know how to safely handle the dry ice!)

Dinner: Pumpkin Stew by Cathryn Gross

Ingredients:

2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1 inch cubes

3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided

1 cup water

3 large potatoes, peeled and cubed

4 carrots, sliced

1 large green bell pepper, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 onion, chopped

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 (14.5-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, chopped

2 tablespoons beef bouillon

1 (10-12 pound) sugar pumpkin

Directions:

Brown beef with 2 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat. Add water, potatoes, carrots, green bell pepper, garlic, onion, salt and pepper and bring everything to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer about two hours. Then dissolve the bouillon into the stew and mix in the tomatoes. Preheat the oven to 325°F and cut the top off the pumpkin, cleaning out the seeds and pulp. Set the pumpkin in a heavy baking pan, fill it with the beef stew, and brush the outside with the rest of the oil. Bake for 2 hours (or until tender). Scoop out some of the pumpkin with each serving of stew.

Dessert: Black Chocolate Cake by Jeanie Bean

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

2 cups white sugar

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup cocoa powder

1 pinch salt

2/3 cup shortening

2 cups boiling water

2 eggs, beaten

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease/flour a 9x13 inch pan. Sift the dry ingredients together. Melt the shortening in the boiling water and mix it with the dry ingredients. Beat in the eggs and add the vanilla. Pour the batter into your pan and bake for 30 minutes (or until a toothpick poked into the center is clean).

Side note: To make the spider web, frost the cake with chocolate frosting after it’s cooled and pipe concentric circles of white frosting (like a target) on top. Repeatedly drag a knife perpendicularly through the white circles from the center to the edges.

 These recipes are found at AllRecipes.com. Check out more at Houseboat magazine’s Pinterest page!