It&rsquo;s easy for Shannon Yates to scare up some good food. A raw food enthusiast, Yates always has fresh fruits and vegetables on hand and ready to eat.</p><p> Yates says there is no trick to maintaining a healthy diet when consuming fresh vegetables and fruit. The treat, Yates says, is spending time in the kitchen creating extravagant, special-occasion meals, which he shares with friends, his two grown children and extended family.</p><p><strong> Residence: </strong>Kansas City</p><p><strong> Occupation: </strong>Manager of Chambers of Edgar Allan Poe haunted house</p><p><strong>Special cooking interest: </strong>Raw food</p><p><strong> Have you always liked Halloween? </strong>Growing up, we used to create haunted houses in our basement, and now I get to work on building a haunted house year-round. You also get to dress up, cut loose and be someone else in costume during Halloween. I love this time of the year, too, because it&rsquo;s harvest time. I feel alive when I have my hands on fresh fruits and vegetables and am able to harvest food from my garden.</p><p><strong> Have you always planted a garden? </strong>My parents came from farms, and growing up in Raytown, we had a peach orchard and always had a garden. This year, I planted tomatoes, onions, melons, beans, squash and herbs in my own garden and like eating the food as soon as it&rsquo;s picked. I also enjoy going to orchards and picking whatever is in season &mdash; berries, peaches and apples.</p><p><strong>So is this love of fruits and vegetables what brought you to become a raw food enthusiast? </strong>I have an appreciation of simply grown fruits and vegetables and respect them. There&rsquo;s life in the raw vegetables and fruit I eat, and I just feel better when eating this way. It&rsquo;s not very exciting, but it&rsquo;s a way of life for me. I will eat several salads throughout the day with cabbage, beets and carrots dressed with olive oil and lemon juice. I eat simply and love kale, raw almonds and apples. I do like to mess around in the kitchen on special occasions and enjoy making a spread, whether it&rsquo;s an Italian feast or turkey with the trimmings, complete with a lemon pie for dessert.</p><p><strong>So why did you choose this recipe to share? </strong>I have been managing the Edgar Allan Poe haunted house for three years now and have a great fondness for Poe&rsquo;s literary genius. I&rsquo;ve read his writings, and the main character in &ldquo;Some Words With a Mummy&rdquo; especially liked Welsh rarebit &mdash; sometimes called Welsh rabbit, although it doesn&rsquo;t contain any meat. I like to think that Poe had a weakness for this gourmet grilled cheese. Welsh rarebit is a savory cheese mixture served on toasted bread that has been around since the 1700s. I think it is especially delicious when served with ripe pears. Some people say I look like Poe, but I think it&rsquo;s just fun to dress in costume, take on another character and be a kid again. That&rsquo;s what Halloween is all about.</p><p><hr class="infobox-hr-separator" /> <div class="infobox"> <strong><span class="subhead">Welsh Rarebit</span></strong></p><p>Makes 4 servings</p><p>4 thick slices white sandwich bread</p><p> 3/4 cup grated aged, sharp cheddar cheese</p><p>1 heaping tablespoon finely chopped sage leaves</p><p>2 green onions, finely chopped</p><p>1 teaspoon mustard powder</p><p>4 tablespoons brown ale</p><p>1 large egg, beaten</p><p>2 drops hot pepper sauce</p><p>Cayenne pepper</p><p> Preheat oven broiler. Place bread on broiler pan and toast under broiler until crisp and golden brown. Remove pan from oven, carefully turn bread and brown other side. After browned, remove broiler pan with bread from oven and set aside.</p><p> In a mixing bowl, stir together cheese, sage, onion, mustard powder, brown ale, beaten egg and hot pepper sauce until well combined.</p><p> Spread mixture evenly over top of 4 browned slices of bread. Sprinkle each with cayenne pepper.</p><p> Place broiler pan, with bread and cheese topping, under broiler about 3 minutes, or until cheese is melted, golden brown and bubbling.</p><p> Cut each piece of bread into quarters. Serve immediately with fresh pears or a side salad.</p><p><em>Per serving: 215 calories (42 percent from fat), 10 grams fat (5 grams saturated), 76 milligrams cholesterol, 20 grams carbohydrates, 10 grams protein, 354 milligrams sodium, 1 gram dietary fiber.</em></p><p></div> <hr class="infobox-hr-separator" /> <div class="infobox"> <strong>Chambers of Edgar Allan Poe</strong>, 1100 Sante Fe St., will be open Thursday through Sunday. For more information, go to <a href="http://www.chambersofpoe.com">www.chambersofpoe.com</a>.</p><p></div>