LUPINSKI: It’s fall, so it must be pumpkin time!

Everyone associates this time of the year with Halloween and, of course, that means … getting lots of candy.

Last year at this time of the year, I wrote my column about what to do with all the candy your kids collect for Halloween (besides eat it all). I just want to send out a little reminder this year that there are ways to donate that candy and “get it out of the house.”

A program that will allow you to donate your candy to troops overseas is called Halloween Candy Buyback. There are two ways this program works.

If you live near a participating dentist (the closest one to us is in Macon: MaconSmiles), you can take your candy to their office and they will buy your candy back and send it to the troops overseas.

If you do not want to drive to Macon with your candy, you can send it directly to the program sponsors at Operation Gratitude/Army National Guard, 17330 Victory Blvd. Van Nuys, CA 91406. You can find more information about this program at http://www.halloweencandybuyback.com/. This program is a great way to give back to the people keeping to those who are so deserving and also teach your children a lesson in the process.

Beyond Halloween and candy fall brings with it lots of new vegetables. An obvious one is pumpkin.

Of course, pumpkin pie is a favorite around this time of the year, but it is also not the healthiest version of a pumpkin treat that you can have. The downfall of pumpkin pie is not necessarily in the pumpkin, but the pie crust (of course).

So, I am going to give you a few yummy and health pumpkin recipes that will be perfect this time of the year. Keep in mind that canned pumpkin should be used to make these recipes and not the pumpkin that you scrape from the inside when you are creating a jack-o’-lantern.

One of my favorite muffins recipes are homemade pumpkin muffins. Easy to whip up and oh so yummy. Combine 1