Halloween is just around the corner — and judging from the hype on the morning news shows and party store displays, the annual ghostly celebration appears to be enjoyed as much by the adult crowd as it is by the traditional younger-than-16 gang. And even though my own little goblins are in the almost-too-old/cool- to-go-begging-for-candy phase of their pre-adult life, I know that they still take pleasure in carving pumpkins and checking out the costumes of the neighborhood kids.

But at our house, it appears that as I get older, so do the ghosts and goblins that show up on my doorstep — most notably in the form of adult friends and parents who know that I usually have a bottle or two of wine open and ready to share when the doorbell rings. Plastic wine glasses compete with plastic pumpkins and paper bags, extended at arms length, looking for a liquid goody of the red or white varietal.