(upbeat digital music) (air whoosh) - Find out what's on the menu for this year's Dia De Los Muertos celebration.

We visit the Philly home of Edgar Allan Poe, plus a parade of pooches in Wow Wow dresses.

And the Philly Kids Store that's helping eco-friendly customers avoid filling up landfills.

(upbeat digital music) - Welcome to you Ought To Know I'm Shirley Min.

- And I'm Regina Mitchell.

Do you have kids or even grandkids?

If you do, I am sure you are tired of picking up all their toys, which is why a local mom came up with an idea that is absolutely genius.

She opened a toy store that loans out things kids love to play with, like a library loans out books and it's helping the planet.

Take a look.

- Welcome to Rutabaga Toy Library.

We are a lending library of toys, and games and books and puzzles and all sorts of things for children from ages zero to 10 years old in the Philadelphia area.

- From the ceiling to the floor there are toys.

Big toys, little toys, toys to build, toys to sit on, but none of these toys are for sale, instead, owner Krystal Cunillera created Rutabaga as a place where kids can borrow toys, play with them at home and bring them back to exchange for something else.

As a mom, Cunillera got her business inspiration from home.

- A toy library just made sense.

As a parent, the idea of cycling through so many toys, not knowing what to do with them.

I mean, I was trying to find homes for toys, give toys away, donate toys and so I talked to other families and it made sense to them too.

My goal with building out Rutabaga is to not buy new.

We went from about 300 toys to now we have 1700 items in the library.

A lot is secondhand, it goes along with our mission.

There are so many things already produced in the world.

Instead of buying toys, families become members like a subscription monthly, bi-yearly or yearly.

The membership is for the family, not per child.

So you can decide how many toys you add to your membership, take the toys home for up to four weeks or bring 'em back the next day and exchange unlimitedly throughout that term.

We inspect all the toys, we clean all the toys.

We ask families to return things without, you know, snack gunk and animal hair.

And we make sure that all the pieces are there or that there's enough pieces that it's still completely functioning.

We also do nature arts camps where children are outdoors creating with what is outside.

And we kind of get children used to, you know getting their hands dirty and having fun with nature.

Another really important part of our business is our eco-friendly birthday parties.

So just think of all the things that you would go to Party City and buy, we provide.

(all exclaiming) It is so rewarding to be a resource for sustainability.

To be a part of not just my children, but our neighborhood and our community to create something where people want to come and gather.

And I believe that Rutabaga has created a space where everyone feels good.

- And on Saturday, October 29th, Rutabaga will hold its third annual East Falls Halloween Parade.

The free event will be from 7:00 to 10:00 PM on the 3400 block of Conrad Street.

For more information, you can check out their website.

(air whooshing) - Family caregivers take care of loved ones who might be elderly, chronically ill or disabled, but they often neglect their own needs.

November is National Family Caregivers Month and with that in mind I reached out to Elissa Lewin, the founder of Nancy's House.

She explains how her nonprofit arms caregivers with self care tools and provides much needed support.

(gentle music) - Nancy's House is created to break the isolation and exhaustion that can come with taking care of somebody else who's chronically ill or disabled.

So Nancy's House is really dedicated to creating a community of support and giving people the skills they need so they can stay healthy while they're in this very stressful role.

- And caregivers often suffer from detrimental effects to their own health.

- So depending on whose numbers you read, 40 to 75% of all caregivers have symptoms of major depression.

According to aging care.com, 30% of caregivers will die before the person they are taking care of.

Yeah, yeah.

Caregivers have increased rates of heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, inflammatory responses, certain cancers all as a result of the constant stressors that are going on in their body.

- If caregivers are not getting that respite because the stress is continuous.

- Right.

- Tell me about the retreats that you offer and what caregivers can expect from being at one of your retreats.

- So when somebody shows up to one of our three day, two night retreats the first thing they get told is there are two things that are absolutely mandatory.

They must eat and they must sleep and everything else is optional.

People have time to get a massage, you know, and really let somebody pamper them release all that tension that's in their body.

There are yoga or movement classes there are meditation classes, and we offer a variety of meditations because it's not one size fits all.

And then there's also stress management techniques.

And then in between those classes they're scheduled downtime.

And in the downtime people can talk with other caregivers they can take a nap, they can read a book.

So one of our guests did some paintings while she was in her downtime.

I found her sitting at a picnic table in a little wooded area and she was just creating these really delightful paintings and note cards, you know, so that, for her this was an expression of who she is, right?

It was her creativity coming out again that had been squelched for so long.

One of the one day retreats that we hold and one of the workshops that I do is called You Do Have Time, 'cause the thing I hear all the time is "I don't have time."

You do have time.

And we start with a ten second deep breath.

Well, that drops your whole stress reaction.

- If we know of a caregiver, what can we do for that person?

- Ask them, would it be helpful if I came and took care of the person you're taking care of for whatever period of time you can give them.

So you can go out, take a nap, take a bath go get a glass of wine with a friend or a cup of coffee with a friend, you know, whatever.

So you are actually giving them that little break.

That is a huge gift.

Reaching out and calling them on a regular basis, staying in touch.

Friends have a way of falling away when we are immersed in these really intense situations.

So, you know, if I'm feeling better if I'm feeling more in control, I'm going to be much better at taking care of everybody else.

- All of the Nancy's House programs are run by mental health professionals.

So you can access one on one counseling if you need it.

Retreat costs are priced on a sliding scale and Elissa says she never turns anybody away because they can't pay.

The nonprofit also helps with arranging home care while you're gone.

And next week is the organization's fifth annual conference for family caregivers offering some really helpful workshops on things like improving your sleep and teaching caregivers how to say no, among other things.

The conference is virtual and here's where you can learn more and register.

Over to Love Park now in Center City where six standalone murals encourage passers by to vote.

The cluster of murals is called "To the Polls" and were created by six artists.

WHYY photographer, Kim Painter, captured some of the artists working on their popups.

Street art blog, Streets Department.com teamed up with Mural Arts to create the temporary pieces inspired by the mood of this tumultuous year.

Curator, Conrad Ben, created this mural of a crowd protesting at night with their faces lit up by their phones.

The exhibition is designed to encourage people to take their own photos of the works and post them to social media to spread the message to vote this year.

WHYY is a media partner in "To the Polls" and one of the murals features the station's logo.

You have until November 4th to check out the freestanding murals.

Election day is Tuesday, November 8th.

- Halloween evokes everything spooky and scary yet nothing can raise the hairs on the back of your neck quite like the writings of Edgar Allan Poe.

Let's learn more about the author and his time in Philadelphia.

- This is the Edgar Allan Poe national historic site.

Edgar Allan Poe moves to the city of Philadelphia in 1838.

Big factor bringing him here was the publishing industry.

When he comes to Philadelphia, he is going to write some of his best known works.

"The Fall of the House of Usher", "The Gold Bug", "Masque of the Red Death", "The Tell-Tale Heart", "The Pit and the Pendulum", and "The Black Cat".

This is actually a big reason why Philadelphia today will claim that literary legacy.

(exciting orchestral music) A visit to the Edgar Allan Poe national historic site begins in Edgar Allan Poe's next door neighbor's home.

As you can see, we have panels here discussing Poe and publishing, Philadelphia through Edgar Allan Poe's Eyes and another panel about Poe and his Family, as well as the timeline of his very short life.

Edgar Allan Poe only lives 40 years, in fact, highlighted in gold here are his six years spent in the City of Brotherly Love.

Right now I'm standing in between two pictures of the author himself.

This one here to my right is the most recognizable image of the author.

Right here i'm standing next to a publication of "The Tell-Tale Heart", one of the historic artifacts that we have here.

This one printed in 1843.

Now there's actually a lot of Edgar Allan Poe artifacts to be found here in the city, notably at the Philadelphia free library including Grip, the stuffed raven which had actually been a pet of Charles Dickens.

Dickens was actually acquainted with Edgar Allan Poe.

And now we're in the house.

This is the parlor.

This is the room that the Poe family whether it be the author or his wife, Virginia or his mother in-law, Maria Clem would've welcomed their guests.

Now as you can see, the walls here look in a bit of a dilapidated crumbling state.

Believe it or not, a lot of visitors really kind of take to this look.

We often get a lot of positive comments about just how it evokes imageries of Poe's stories.

Some of his best known works, many stories involving themes of death and decay.

And this is the kitchen.

This would've been the workspace of this lovely lady here, Maria Clem, Poe's mother-in-law.

Now there's actually three stories to this house, up above we have Poe's bedroom, we have Maria Clem's bedroom we have of course his wife, Virginia's bedroom, but there's also a cellar as well.

Now, the cellar would've been accessed right around the corner here, down the stairs.

And we think of the cellar as really being the creepiest part of the house.

This is the cellar of the site.

And we think of this as the highlight, you might say mainly not just because it's creepy but it also has a direct connection to Edgar Allan Poe's short story, "The Black Cat".

We believe this actually inspired his writing of that tale because the way that he describes the cellar in that particular story just so happens to be like the one that we're in right now.

Over here, this is a feature referred to as the false chimney.

The character in this story, is going to hide something in this chimney.

What exactly he hides?

Well read the story to find out.

Poe's influence can't be denied.

He was such an innovator in the horror genre.

The fact that he knew tragedy throughout so much of his life certainly plays into a lot of his themes.

He did move around quite a bit, lived in a lot of different cities and as such, a lot of cities will get into the mix.

It's almost kind of a friendly competition, you might say over who deserves Edgar Allan Poe the most.

But as we would like to say here in Philadelphia Baltimore may have the body, but we have the body of work.

(intense music crescendo) - Indeed we do.

The Edgar Allan Poe National historic site is open to the public three days a week, Friday to Sunday.

- Celebrations for Dia de los Muertos are on November 1st and 2nd.

Our Kae Lani Palmisano sampled a dish that'll be on the menu at Casa Mexico.

- Hola.

- Hello.

- [Cristina] Hello, hello.

(Latin music) Hola Richard.

Mhmm.

(Christina giggles) - Hi, I'm Kae Lani Palmisano and I'm here at Casa Mexico with Chef Cristina Martinez to talk about Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead.

Cristina, tell us a little bit about this holiday.

- (speaking in foreign language) - It sounds like there's a lot of food associated with Dia de los Muertos, but one of the things that you're gonna show us today is Elote, the Mexican street corn.

Show us how it's made.

- Okay.

(speaking foreign language) - [Kae Lani] We have our corn ready, the cheese is ready, what are the next steps?

- (speaking in foreign language) - [Kae Lani] Now it's time to do the fun part, - Okay.

- Dressing up the corn.

(Latin music) - (speaking foreign language) Ooh, look at that.

(speaking foreign language) (both laughing) - It's beautiful!

- And food is just one part of the celebration.

Tune in tonight to "Dia de Los Muertos, A Musical Celebration" featuring performances and vignettes explaining the deep traditions of this holiday.

That's tonight at nine o'clock right here on WHYY TV12.

- Some people believe things happen for a reason.

For a Philly designer, a sad situation turned into the beginning of a wonderful new chapter.

(upbeat music) - Before I start my fashion life I work construction and things like this.

One day somebody throw something through the windows in the middle to the highway.

Thanks God is no more car, no more people, and me and my friend stopping and when see something moving, it was her.

The vet tell me she was three weeks old.

I start to dress up her when she was maybe five months old.

(upbeat pop music) My friends has start to bring dresses to her for Christmas, for Valentine, for these things and one day, I say like, you know what?

I think so, I can make dog's pelt because I know how sewing.

(bright pop music) All my family love fashion, work for fashion.

My grandmoms, she teach me how match color.

This color is no match with this, this match with this and I start to make a dresses for Princess.

And then I start walk her in the block, they start to see her dress and they start to ask me like, "Oh, where you buy those dresses?"

So I tell, you know what?

I made the dress.

"You make the dresses?

Oh my god, can you make for my dog?"

So I then start to make dresses for my neighbors dogs.

And that is how I start Wow Wow Ugarte Collection.

Every dog have personalities like a human.

(upbeat pop music) Dogs can dress every day, but they like chic.

they like nice, they like fancy.

Princess have a favorite outfit, of course it's red.

When she's wearing this she feel like extra special, I think so.

She feel like so pretty, I feel so like me.

When I put a dress on her she's ready to go out.

When I walk her in the street and dress up she think it's a runway.

She's working like a model in the street.

Anytime that I have stress, I take a piece fabric, come here and like in one hour I can tell you, and seeing me here, I'm the most happy person in the world.

Princess is inspiration to all these things that you see, all my fashion life is about her.

(upbeat pop music) Everything, who I am right now is because her.

She was like, an angel.

- I know what you're thinking, no he can't make the dress in your size, I already asked.

It's just for four legged friends.

And these days Gustavo is putting on pet fashion shows in Miami and many other places.

He also has added a cat to his household who's a fashionista like Princess.

For information on Wow Wow Ugarte Collection you can check out his work on Facebook or Instagram.

- Who says Halloween's just for kids?

Well, definitely not us.

Here with us now is Christopher Mullins from McGillin's Old Ale House.

Christopher, thanks for being here.

- Thank you so much for having me.

- And from what I understand, you have brought a bevy of pumpkin themed drinks from McGillin's for us to try.

- Absolutely, McGillin's brings the booze during Halloween season.

- It's Christmas!

- Exactly.

So yeah, so we brought our pumpkin martini which is a classic drink that we've been making at McGillin's for 20 years.

We have our Halloween theme margaritas and old fashions that we're gonna share with you all later as well.

And we're really excited to be here.

- I can't wait to try it.

- We're excited too!

Yeah!

- Now McGillin's is the oldest continuously running tavern in Philadelphia and so with that, you all have some ghosts too, right?

- We sure do.

We're 162 years old.

- [Shirley] Wow.

- So being that old you can expect some people hanging around from past generations.

So mom McGillin graces us with her presence.

She's known as the Lady in White and she's been seen by staff and customers and you know, for generations.

- Wow.

- Have you seen her?

- Me personally?

No.

But again, she always seems to appear to the new staff members, you know?

She kind of teaches, guides, scares you into- - She's a real mom!

That's what a mom does, she comes in, cracks the whip, makes sure everything's running right!

- Exactly.

- She's doing her job.

(Shirley laughing) - She keeps us on our toes.

- All right, so I think you're gonna be making the Signature Pumpkin Martini for us.

So how do we get started?

- So we start with a shot of your favorite vanilla vodka.

- Okay.

- That is key.

And then we add to it, this Bols or any kind of pumpkin liqueur.

Now the one thing I'll tell you is it's hard to find.

- Okay.

- So we at McGillin's kinda secured the inventory for quite some time, so if you're gonna make it at home you may want to try like a pumpkin cream which is pretty common.

- Okay.

Yeah.

And then to it, we add half and half to give it a little nice little creaminess.

- [Regina] Now I don't drink milk.

Do I have to have half and half?

- No, I think you can modify this any way you want.

And for you, I brought some almond milk.

- Ooh!

- Yeah, and I think, cause you can really try anything.

I was even thinking coconut milk could great in this too.

- Oh yeah.

- And then they have coconut almond milk.

They do, yeah.

So it's really, there's a million ways of making them great.

The key is, the booze.

(laughing) - Okay.

Yeah.

- So, I've rimmed the martini glasses with cinnamon sugar too.

Which helps every last sip be delicious.

- Now, how do you come up with these drinks?

Cuz' I would be stressed to always try and find a new drink.

Something no one's heard of.

- Well the key is for us, we stick with tradition which is the pumpkin martini.

And then we also always add a twist on something popular.

So for example, we have the old fashioned which bourbon right now is super popular.

- Yes.

- And we've made candy corn simple syrup in there.

And that gives it a nice twist on an old favorite.

- Listen, Shirley and I love candy corn.

If you have a few more, we'll just pop those in.

- Yeah, that is right up my alley.

- Yes, oh thank you.

- Oh my goodness.

Thank you.

I just need to give this a try real quick.

- Yes, wanna do a little cheers.

- Cheers!

- Oh, ahh!

- Girl.

- I know, I can't waste liquor.

That's good.

I like that.

I like that.

- It's actually too easy to drink.

- It is.

- Which is scary.

- It is.

- So, you have to be careful.

- It's very smooth.

- It's very rich, very delicious.

- Okay, so we also have some other drinks.

I'm just gonna move things around here and tell me about the old fashioned.

- So the old fashioned, we use bourbon and then we add to it a simple syrup that we mix with candy corns.

So you melt the can corn down into the sugar.

- Oh my gosh.

- Ah, I see them!

- And it's garnished, and you'll see some candy corns in the bottom.

And it really is delicious.

And then of course we garnish it with a little spider as well too.

- And I love that.

Like you took something very simple from your childhood, you know?

- Absolutely.

- Oh, you just use it as a cute decoration.

- So then, you know, on a any busy Friday night you'll have the whole room is filled with people wearing the fun spiders.

- Okay, so this is the margarita.

- Oh, thank you.

- This is the, it has black salt on the rim.

- Black salt.

Black Mexican salt on the rim.

Yes.

And this is- - All right, this is it!

- And the key is- - I'm done!

- We like that.

Even in October you could still enjoy a margarita.

- Oh my gosh, it's so good.

- In that we use fresh lime juice, at McGillin's always.

And then the tequila and it's rimmed with black salt.

- Oh this is perfect!

- Yes.

- That is really good.

And I love the glasses.

- Yes.

- Thank you.

- Okay.

These are so delicious.

And you can enjoy them for yourselves at McGillin's Old Ale House, which is open every day.

- But check their website first for their hours.

- Yeah.

- So Christopher, thank you so much for being here.

- Thank you for having me.

- Thank you for bringing these drinks.

Truly.

It is like Christmas here.

(laughing) - Come for Christmas.

(laughing) - All the spirits, everything!

- Yes.

- Yeah.

- Well thank you everyone for watching.

- And we hope to see you again next week.

Good night.

(upbeat pop music)