Silver Salute

As a benefit for the Shoreline Soup Kitchen and Pantries (shorelinesoupkitchens.org), The Bee & Thistle Inn (100 Lyme St., Old Lyme; 860-434-1667, beeandthistleinn.com) is hosting "The Silver Palate Dinner: A Celebration of the Life and Cuisine of Sheila Lukins" on Oct. 30 at 7 p.m.

Lukins' influential Silver Palate gourmet shop and series of cookbooks helped shape the new American style of cooking in the 1980s, with recipes for big, flavorful dishes using everyday ingredients and easy-to-follow instructions. The dinner features Lukins' recipes for chicken liver pate with green peppercorns; new potatoes with buck caviar; scallop bisque; chicken Marabella (a Silver Palate classic, with olives, prunes, capers, brown sugar, oregano and white wine); an all-arugula salad and carrot cake. Call for reservations ($80, inclusive of wine) or send an e-mail to innkeeper@beeandthistleinn.com.

Boo, Moo

On Oct. 31 from 10 a.m-2 p.m., Common Ground High School (358 Springside Ave.; 203-389-4333, commongroundct.org) invites kids and their families to trick-or-treat throughout the farm, visit with the animals and taste healthy, garden-grown fall treats such as freshly-picked vegetables and herbs, corn bread, mini pumpkin muffins and other good-for-you goodies. The farm animals won't be in costume, Common Ground's Heather Kordula assures us, but the staff will be. The event's free for all ages. Also free at Common Ground is a full moon campfire and guided night hike Nov. 3 from 5-7:30 p.m., with marshmallow roasting and stargazing. The campfire's appropriate for all ages, but the guided night hike is recommended for ages six and over. Bring your own flashlight.

Sing For Your Supper

Come dressed in costume or in black tie attire to an "Opera and Wine Lovers Dinner," Oct. 31 at the New Haven Lawn Club (193 Whitney Ave.; 203-777-3494, nhlawnclub.com) — an evening of food, wine and music to benefit the Yale-New Haven Hospital Auxiliary (ynhh.org), a non-profit that promotes health education in the community. The event features food historian Francine Segan, author of Opera Lovers Cookbook, based on thematically-tied music and food pairings (for example, operas set in Spain are matched with recipes for tapas, such as "Carmen's Tapas: Melty Manchego with Spicy-Sweet Tomato Jam"; and a recipe for "Linzertorte Music Bars" honors Mozart's Austrian birthplace). On the menu are dishes prepared from Segan's cookbook (guests receive a complimentary copy), plus wines presented by Massimo Sensi of Sensi Vineyards, with a performance of opera arias sung by vocalists from the Yale School of Music. Cocktails kick off at 6 p.m., followed by dinner at 7 p.m. For reservations ($225), call 203-688-5717.