Tag Halloween

Children of the Candy Corn

Michael 2 Comments

Listen up everyone.  Today, as is October 30 of every year, is National Candy Corn Day!  And you thought you had to wait for the last day of the month for the only good holiday in October.

Candy corn is good stuff.  Butter, sugar, honey.  What more could you ask for?  Add some food coloring and a little more than an hour of your time and you have the ultimate fall candy.  Better still, hop on down to the grocery store and buy packs of the stuff in a little more than a minute.

Some of you reading this might remember making or getting home made candy and treats for Halloween.  Candy corn, candied apples, fudges, cookies, popcorn balls, and gooey nut clusters were classics where kids would memorize the houses for year to year gratification.  Then some psychopath decided it was a good idea to stick razor blades in apples and now all any self-respecting parent will let a child keep is whatever comes sealed by the manufacturer.

Today if you want home made you better hope that a very generous soul invites you to his or her (or their) house party. Or, bring back the traditions and make your own for your own.  Nothing wrong with that.  And you control the ingredients.  Perhaps a splash of rum added to the popcorn balls’ caramel paste or some bourbon infused marshmallows to hold the nut clusters together.  Maybe bobbing for apples in a barrel of Riesling.  Now that’s a party!

But back to the candy corn.  Yes it’s fall and yes the ultimate is chowing down on those little kernels usually before they even hit the candy dish.  But there is so much more one can do with these a-maize-ing treats.  Sprinkle them on your cupcakes like, well like sprinkles.  Let them play with your cereals either in your Rice Krispy treats or Chex mixes.  Add them to a batch of chocolate chip cookies.  Mix them with the peanuts before adding that whole kit and caboodle to popcorn and caramel for an even sweeter popcorn ball.

And finally, three words that will serve you well for the entire fall season:  Candy Corn and Prosecco.  It doesn’t get any better than that.

Now that’s what we think. Really. How ‘bout you.

 

Let’s Be Careful Out There

Michael Leave a comment

The great candy/costume countdown has begun!  Depending on where you live it could be just 4, 5, or 6 short days till Treat or Treat Night.  We’d say till Halloween but that’s always October 31 no matter what calendar you’re using.  Why the varied time spans?  Because October 31 (Halloween, remember) is on a Friday this year.  We don’t know about where you are but here that’s high school football playoff time.

So people don’t have to decide between the lessor of the two evils (or greater of the two hauls), many municipalities within school districts involved in the playoffs are opting to move one or the other.  Since football is an immovable feast, Trick or Treat is the one to go.  It seems like that might confuse the ones who are the most excited about Trick or Treating (Halloween party attendees excluded).  Those would be the little ones, the same little ones who watch the television sit coms and specials that feature their stars Trick or Treating on Halloween – a sort of novel concept for this year.

A quick check on the Internet revealed that at least 26 communities in our county (out of 100+) are holding onto tradition, including both He and She’s. It just seems right that Trick or Treat happens on Halloween.

But there could be issues.  And not just football conflicts.  Most places allow Trick or Treating from 6 to 8pm.  Most football games start at 7.  There could be a mad rush at the beginning of the tour with folks hurrying to still make it to the games.  And it is a Friday.  There will be parties – house parties, office parties, bar parties.  All of them will have people rushing to and fro, mostly in SUVs way too big for just one person versus multiple children.   And then we’ll add that here our local weather forecast is calling for mild and clear all week long, except for Friday night when it will be cold and rainy.  Translation: it will be slippery and extra dark.

Even with the potential for problems Halloween fun belongs on Halloween, including Trick or Treat.  Kids are kids only once (Halloween party attendees excluded).  We just have to make sure that the potential for avoiding problems is stronger than the reverse.  Halloween night, it’s always a great evening for a neighborhood stroll – just be careful out there!

Now that’s what we think. Really. How ‘bout you.

 

Peanut Butter Wars

Michael Leave a comment

Just a day more than 3 weeks and it’s Halloween.  And we have a problem.  For a generation He of We has passed out peanut butter cups, sticks, and pieces on Halloween night.  Now that 120% of all the children in America are allergic to peanut butter, what is he going to do?

It never used to be this way.  People have been grumbling about peanut allergies for years yet every year the children have ripped through their peanut laced wrappers almost before even leaving his porch and never once did the following morning’s paper headline scream “Children Suffer Mass Allergy Attack!”  But this year seems different.  It even seems that there aren’t as many of the bright orange packages in the stores as there had been.

It could be a conspiracy.  There might be nothing wrong with any more American children now than there was fifty years ago.  What if the Twix people are no longer satisfied battling Left against Right and now have turned their combined sights on the Reese’s Sticks, Snickers aficionados are attacking Nutrageous bars, the venerable M&M is concerned about being overtaken by Reese’s Pieces, and the Mallow Cup is attempting to unseat the Reese’s Cup?  All this on the backs of the unsuspecting children who just happened to have been stung by a bee while eating a peanut butter sandwich in the park last summer.

What if it’s the parents who need something to talk about while sitting in the soccer stands since we all know that no American understands soccer just as much as we know parents must talk about something?  One-upping on allergies could be the way to go to keep the peanut butter purchases in check.

What if it’s the peanut people themselves?  No more lowly peanut butter for them.  They could be pushing their supply to the more lucrative Thai prepared dinner market, commercial thickening agents, or cosmetics!  Imagine denying a pre-teen his or her peanut butter cup because someone wants to make an animal-tested-free moisturizer.

Of course, it could be that allergies are on the rise and mothers actually know better what their children can eat than their children.  After all, kids still today eat worms and drink out of garden hoses.

So what is he going to do?  Break tradition?  Or save the children?  It never used to be this complicated.

Now that’s what we think. Really. How ‘bout you.

 

Merry Ghosties

Michael Leave a comment

There are 33 days until Halloween.  That’s an important number to keep in mind.  Thirty-three days.  Just last week on a news report, we were told that Americans would spend about $7 billion on Halloween this season.  There is one local couple who won’t be in that spending frenzy.  They were spotted last weekend buying a Christmas tree.  For them, Halloween must have been purchased sometime in July!

We all know that the stores have Christmas merchandise out already.  Folks are perusing the aisles with shopping carts filled with fall decorations and often will stop to ogle the rows of pre-lit, pre-decorated, pre-gifted Christmas trees before moving on to the motion activated ghoul door ornament.  But nobody buys those things yet.  The Christmas trees, not the ghouls.

If people start buying Christmas now where will the analysts be next year when predicting Halloween spending?  They could be out of jobs and then who will buy their door knocker embellishments be they ghoulies or evergreens for them?  If we have any plans on reading how much we’ll be spending on Halloween 2015, we have a lot of shopping to do now for 2014!

To make the predictors close to being right we need to spend about $3 million in costumes, $2 billion in candy, another $2 billion in decorations, and a couple hundred million on pet costumes and goodies.  How do we think we’re going to manage those sums if people are out there already buying Christmas trees?  It’s enough to make you think if you need more eggs for Easter.

Now that’s what we think. Really. How ‘bout you.

 

Prepping for Halloween

Michael Leave a comment

Tonight is All Hallows’ Eve, better known as Halloween, better known still as Trick or Treat.  It’s a holiday, a festival, a night out for the children, but darned if we don’t enjoy it too.  No, not at costumes parties.  At the front door watching the little ones parade up and down the street.

She of We doesn’t see many trick or treaters.  Other than a next door neighbor, all the little ones have grown into real adults.  But her porch is still festive for the day.  Scarecrows greet you from the street to the door.  Number Two Son of She has turned into a pumpkin carving expert, pairing up two carved gourds as kid friendly couples ala Woody and Buzz Lightyear to the children’s delight.  He of We mounds some plastic pumpkins for a less labor intense look.  They are all different but all say the same.  Come on up and let us treat you.

Now, pumpkin carving, mum selecting, hay stack gathering all notwithstanding, the hardest part of prepping for Halloween is selecting the treats.  So many choices.  Do you go with full size candy bars and let word spread down the blocks that yours is the house to visit?  Do you go for fun size and insist that each T-n-T-er take several at your one stop variety shop?  Do you have treats targeted to specific age groups knowing the smallest of the crowd, those carried in a patient parent’s arms, will not appreciate the same caramel filled goodies as the six your olds?  So many choices.  And then there is the quantity.  You don’t want to run out but how much is enough.  Will impending foul weather shrink your number of visitors?  Will you need more for a projected 50 degree night than if it were a 30 degree evening?

Yes, here is where the real planning takes shape.  You know you’ve hit it right when you turn off the light, close the door, and have a piece left for each treat distributor.  Of course, if you should happen to have a few hundred pieces left over, well, it’s not right to waste food.

Now, that’s what we think.  Really.  How ‘bout you?

 

Sincerity, Thy Name is Pumpkin

Michael Leave a comment

Yesterday was Halloween.  You can’t tell it from where we live.  We’re in the vast portion of the country between the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast.  More recently known as Superstorm Sandy’s Playground.  The local officials aren’t eliminating Halloween but they are postponing it.

A lot of postponing went on the past few days here and probably across most of the country.  If you mess around with plane and train schedules on one half of the country, the other half is pretty much going to be in disarray also.  When most retailers have their headquarters in the storm zone, distribution is slowed, sales strategies stay buried on someone’s computer, and ads don’t get approved.   Almost all of our coal is brought to or carried over that eastern U.S. surface, some of which is 14 to 20 feet underwater.  Let’s not even think of how it is below the surface.

Yep, lots is delayed, lots has to be rebuilt, lots is going to be different. 

But what isn’t going to be different is a child’s awe at a pumpkin’s smile glowing from within.  What isn’t different is how many children get their first taste of independence when they pick up their treat bag and get to walk up and down the street on their own.  With an older brother or sister.  And don’t cross the street.  And be back by 6:30.  But still they are on their own.  What can’t be different is a child’s look of amazement as the treat bag is tipped onto the dining room table revealing the kid equivalent of a pirate’s booty and worth even more.  What won’t ever be different is a child’s first laugh when Charlie Brown looks into his bag and says, “I got a rock.”

Yep. Lots is still the same.

Charles Schulz’s little gang is always there to teach us something.  Who else can teach us how to duck a baseball batted back over the pitcher’s mound, how to make a feast out of toast and popcorn, how to decorate a Christmas tree, and how to turn a rock into a Halloween treat?  Those little guys have a lifetime of wisdom to pass on to us youngsters.

Yep, lots is going to be different. 

Here’s hoping that the only thing different for you is that when you went looking for your own Great Pumpkin this morning is that your pumpkin patch was sincere enough last night.

Now, that’s what we think. Really. How ‘bout you?

 

 

Trick, Treat, Really

Michael Leave a comment

A funny thing happened this year on Halloween.  It rained.  We still sat out in the driveway handing out treats to the little ones (and some bigger ones) that braved the elements for a free peanut butter cup.  But that rain kept some of the smarter ones indoors, knowing there’d be a Halloween next year.

The cool thing about sitting out in the driveway on Halloween is that you get up close and personal with the treaters.  You get to see them in their natural element – the costumed herd …pack? …covey?  They spread out in front of you.  You aren’t forced to see them in that single file parade as they squeeze into your open doorway.  You see the parents who are brave enough to walk up the driveway with the young ones.  You get to wave to the parents who are brave enough to let their young ones walk up to you alone.  You get to hear the kids talk and sometimes say more than “Trick or Treat…Hot Tamales! Cool…Love your costumes.”  Did we mention we get dressed up to sit on the driveway?  (Actually at least one of us gets dressed up and goes to work like that all day.  It’s a thing, what can I say.  But not the funny thing.

The funny thing that happened on Halloween was that it rained.  Yes it rained and the treaters weren’t in their usual droves.  They more or less sputtered.  There would be a small herd(?) of them, then a pause.  Then there would be mini pack(?) of them, then a pause. There would be… you get the idea.  Lots of time to sit in the rain at the top of the driveway, under the tent (we might be a little nuts but we aren’t crazy), watching the world go by.  And what did we notice as the world went by?  Where are all the cool costumes?

We don’t mean the portable blow up with its own battery operated fan sumo wrestler costume.  We don’t mean the matching Bam Bam and Pebbles costumes.  We don’t mean the hot dog or the M&M or the Darth Vader.  We mean the really cool ones.  The ones you and your parents made yourselves when you were 10 and you didn’t have all the imagination sucked out of you by the most recent computer game.  You remember them – the bunch of grapes made out of purple balloons and a hunk of green fabric for the stem.  Maybe a radio made out of a cardboard box the size of a small refrigerator that you couldn’t hold a treat bag when you had it on but you wore it anyway.  You just made your best friend who you couldn’t go trick or treating without carry your bag.  Or how about the year you spread ashes over your face, called it a beard, found your dad’s oldest lawn mowing shirt, got some jeans, and went as a hobo.  Today you’d be chased down the street by a TV crew doing a future award winning special on the cruelty of children making fun of our homeless brethren.  Back then that was just cool.

No imagination any more.  But the kids come by it honestly.  After a couple hours sitting in the rain (under our tent) we hauled everything into the garage, freshened up our costumes, and headed out to the corner tavern for a round of appetizers and an adult beverage.  What did we find?  Three other couples.  None in costume.  Fourth year running.  On the only day of the year that we are encouraged to be somebody else nobody wanted to.  Bet there were a lot of people at work the next day wishing they were anybody else.  Take a couple minutes once a year to be somebody else.  You’ll be better at who you are for it.

That’s what we think.  Really.  How ‘bout you?