This Celebrity Chef Buys 100 of This Fall Essential to Gear Up for the Holidays

Because, obviously! “It’s not Halloween without pumpkins,” Zac said. But we’re not just talking about your classic orange pumpkins. “We’ve moved far beyond the orange carving pumpkins,” he said. “There are all the pastels; the Cinderella pumpkins; all the crazy, weird, warty gourds. I literally just had a palette delivered.” One thing about Zac? He’s serious about his pumpkins. He told me he bought “probably 100” pumpkins to decorate his entire house.

Not only does he like that they can transition from Halloween to Thanksgiving, he’s also a fan of just how much you can do with them. “You can do anything from chic and Martha Stewart-y to the really warty, dark, creepy ones,” he explained. “They also serve as vessels, too,” he mentions, noting you can “line them with foil and put food in them” or add flowers for on-theme centerpieces. “They’re just so multi-purpose.”

If you’re not ready to purchase 100 just yet, start with this six-pack of mini pumpkins for your table and build up from there. According to Zac, you can’t have too many!

Another of Zac’s tabletop essentials? Burlap, cotton muslin, or canvas by the yard. “It’s Halloween. It’s going to get messy, whether you’re pumpkin carving, whether you’re making gory baked goods or regular baked goods,” he said. “This is not the time to pull out grandma’s tablecloth.” Instead, he suggests grabbing some fabric from the store or online, like this burlap runner from Michaels, to use on your table. Plus, this particular runner is just $18 for 10 feet of fabric.

Zac’s Halloween parties aren’t complete without pumpkin carving, and a multipurpose rotary tool is an essential for that. It is “excellent for pumpkin carving, and also you will find many uses for it once you have one,” he said. This one from Amazon is currently on sale for $26 and comes with 69 attachments, so you’ll be able to use it well beyond Halloween.

Some additional uses Zac mentions: “Trimming your pet’s nails … fine woodworking, hanging pictures. I mean, there’s a reason it’s called a multi-tool.”