Sweets & Treats

Halloween: It's all about the candy.

OK, not entirely true. It's about dressing up, having fun, carving pumpkins, getting scared (in a fun way), hanging out with friends, and (in the Midwest anyway) having one last hurrah before winter comes in and puts the kibosh on fall fun.

But the treats are where it's really at.

If you were big into trick-or-treating like yours truly, you usually had some kind of game plan. You knew which houses to avoid (like the dentist who always gave out those plastic vampire teeth and - not even kidding - toothbrushes) and which to hit early in the night (the awesome couple who gave out full or king size candy bars every year). To ensure maximum candy collection, you might have decided ahead of time who would ring the doorbell at each house or might have gotten the largest pillowcase you could find in hopes of filling it to the top (a goal that I sadly never reached). No matter what, the highlight of Halloween was checking out the loot at the end of the night.

Being a particularly quirky kid, I didn't settle for pouring out my candy and eating it right then and there. No, I had other plans. I would pour out the candy, grab a pen and paper, and tally up all the goods. I'd make piles of each brand and mark them down as I went. By the end, I knew exactly how many Reeses cups or Twizzlers I had and knew the overall candy count from the night's haul. 

Why? Two reasons. First is that I'm just OCD. I love making lists and taking inventory. Seriously. Second reason was for trading purposes. If someone had something I wanted, I knew how many of which candies I had to barter with. Say someone had a delicious 100 Grand bar. I could check my list and see that I had plenty of Kit-Kats to spare (which, while tasty, are not among my favorites). Likewise, if someone wanted my Nestle Crunch and I only had 2, I knew that trading wasn't an option (love me some Crunch!).

My parents never had to worry about me eating candy while out and about that night because it would have thrown off my overall count, and I couldn't have that. (How did my parents not realize I was OCD??) So whenever those stories came out about kids eating candy that had needles in them, my parents got to relax, knowing they would be able to check my stash before any of it was consumed.

That having been said, today I will share with you my top 5 tips for successful trick-or-treating. You might be "too old" to go for yourself, but you can pass these along to any kids or teens who may want the inside scoop from a seasoned veteran.

1) Start early, stay late. This comes with a few caveats. Don't start before it's dark; that's when the little guys and gals get their turns. Likewise, if you know a family has little ones, they might not be home when you first start, so plan accordingly. And don't go too late. Remember the golden rule of trick-or-treating: If the lights are on, you're good to go; if the lights are gone, the answer's no. My best advice is to head out just after it gets dark (use whatever gauge you want; I like to use the street lights as my guide) and go no later than 9. Most houses will be done closer to 8, but any that are still going after that are likely to give you more candy since the night is winding down.

2) Keep your group smaller. I know, you have a huge group of friends and you all want to go together. That's fine, but it may slow you down. Slow = less candy. If you have a big group, consider breaking into two smaller groups as you go down the street. One group can start on one side and the other on the opposite side. When you're at the end, switch and meet back up at the other end. You don't have to keep the same groups every street, and you can typically move faster when there are fewer people to get through the process at each house.

3) Be polite. It doesn't sound like much, but think about it. If there's a group of younger kids heading to the same house as you, and you rush up to beat them, do you really think you're going to get more candy? No way. Let the little ones go first. They usually don't take much candy (so they're probably not going to run out before they get to you) AND the treat-givers are more likely to be generous if they see that you let the others go first. This is especially important the older (or taller) you are. Some people are weird about older kids on Halloween, so being nice and polite will give you the best odds at candy collection. Oh, and remember to thank people for candy. They don't have to give it to you.

4) Be enthusiastic! Seriously. If you show up at my door and mumble, "Trick or treat" or just stand there and look at me while holding your bag out or grabbing at the bowl in my hands, I'm not going to be inclined to shower you with candy. Same if you show up with little to no costume on (a scary mask while you're wearing a sweatshirt and jeans is not a costume). Put some effort into the night; it's a holiday for crying out loud! It's almost as much for the candy givers as the candy takers. I didn't realize that until I was an adult, but it's true. I love to see the creativity that comes along on Halloween, and I get a kick out of kids who are beyond thrilled to be at my door just for a few pieces of chocolate. 

5) Strategy. In most cases time is money; on Halloween, time is candy. Like I said earlier, knowing who is going to ring the bell BEFORE you get to the door helps you be more efficient. I'm not saying you should have a set schedule, but sharing the responsibility makes it more fun (who doesn't love to ring a doorbell?) and saves time in the long run. And knowing which houses you can skip will also save you some time (and some disappointment). Also, I suggest taking a bag/container with handles. Pillowcases are fun and I admire the goal of filling them, but they aren't that easy to carry around, especially as the night goes on. Handles give you a better grip, and a smaller bag will make it seem like you got more candy. Use some common sense; if a house is swamped when you get to it, head across the street instead. By the time you're done there, the crowd will probably have subsided.

So, there you have it. Do I miss trick-or-treating? You're damn right I do. But I'm all for helping kids get more out of their Halloween experience. :)

Happy Halloween!

Ahhh, it's here at last!  The wonderful day where you can dress up as whomever or whatever you want (although, hopefully within some bounds of reason), gorge yourself on candy (Pixy Stix are my addiction this year), and delight in a magical mixture of spooky and silly.  Yes, my darlings, this is Halloween!

As previously mentioned, our backwards little city held its "official" trick-or-treating yesterday afternoon.  It started out slow, just as it has in years past.  In the first hour we got about 3 groups of kids (so, MAYBE 8-10 children).  Hubby and I had decided to stop the show we were watching, in case things picked up.  They didn't.  In fact, it started to rain around 2 or 2:30.  Ugh.

So we decided to start carving our pumpkins, a tradition that I don't think I'll ever grow too old for (people might deny me candy if I tried trick-or-treating, but I'll be damned if a store is going to reject my money and deny me a pumpkin to carve).  About 10 minutes or so into carving, the doorbell rang.  Some kids were braving the rain to get their candy.  In fact, we seemed to get MORE trick-or-treaters in the rain!  That, my friends, is something I can respect, and to those kids, I tip my hat.

When we finished pumpkin-carving, we finished our show (American Horror Story pilot episode - perfect for Halloween).  Then it was time to choose one of my annual Halloween movies to watch.  We decided on "Young Frankenstein" (because Mel Brooks is always a good choice) and made a delicious chuck roast for dinner (which had been marinating since 8 PM the night before).  We watched a bit of 'Punkin Chunkin' to wrap things up before Hubby headed to the garage and I headed to my computer.

Today, I am sadly sans costume.  I was going to paint my face black and white, put on my panda ears and frown a lot (get it?  I was going to be a sad panda!), but it just seemed like a lot of effort when I don't plan on going anywhere.  Instead, I'm just calling myself either a stressed college student or a disgruntled employee, no costume required.

Alas, I will NOT let my lack of costume or the grey, cloudy day ruin my Halloween!  Tonight, we shall watch another of my Halloween movies (possibly 'Repo! The Genetic Opera') and toast some pumpkin seeds.  And in the meantime, there's plenty of awesome Halloween music waiting to be heard!  Need a few examples to get you started?

1) "Thriller" by Michael Jackson - Probably the most epic music video ever, "Thriller" is a perfect Halloween anthem.  Werewolves, zombies, and kick-ass choreography; what more could you need?  Of course, if you're looking for something a little different (or don't have time for the almost 14-minute long video), Glee's mash-up of "Thriller" and the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs' "Heads Will Roll" is also a ton of fun. 

2) "Purple People Eater" by Sheb Wooley - If you didn't grow up listening to the radio around Halloween, then there's a tiny chance you aren't familiar with this song.  Fix that.  Now.

3) "Monster Mash" by Bobby Pickett - A staple of any good Halloween event.  I'm still not exactly sure how to do the monster mash, but I'm pretty sure any kind of movement will suffice as long as you're having fun. 

4) "Calling All the Monsters" by China McClain - If you have kids, or if you just love the Disney channel, then you're most likely torn between hating this song for being overplayed and loving it for being so damn catchy.

5) "This is Halloween" from 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' (written by Danny Elfman, my hero) - Boys and girls of every age should love this song AND this movie.  If you don't, no sweat.  I'll just judge silently from afar.

Now go get your ghostly groove on and have a happy Halloween!

The Halloween Revolution

So, in looking at the website for the lovely city of Greenfield the other day, I discovered that our "scheduled" trick-or-treating is from 1-4 PM on Sunday, 10/30.

Hold up.

WHAT?!  That's insane!!

1) Early afternoon trick-or-treating?  Lame.  That's fine for trick-or-treating events at the local mall or the zoo, but not for the real deal! 

2) Trick-or-treating is the best part of Halloween.  So why the hell would you do it the day BEFORE Halloween?  That's like hunting for Easter eggs on Saturday afternoon.

Hubby says that it's been this way in the Milwaukee area his entire life.  Ew.  I can't even imagine growing up that way.  In Madison, we had no restrictions on trick-or-treating, and I sincerely hope it stays that way.

Here's how it went.  Younger kids usually starting coming through around 5 on Halloween night, looking cute and shyly asking, "Trick or treat?" (as if anyone's not going to give candy to the adorable little pirate or princess standing outside their door...).  As it got later (and darker), more kids would come out and form clumps moving from one house to the next.  The whole process usually lasted about 2-3 hours, depending on when you got started.  When you were done, you headed home to check out the night's haul, eat yourself sick on candy, and finally go to bed.

There were rules.  Some were imposed by parents: Must carry flashlights or glow sticks at all times, say thank you, stay in the neighborhood, don't leave each other behind and, for one sad year, don't eat any candy until it's been checked out by a parent (that whole needle scare had parents pretty freaked out).  Others were self-imposed, almost unspoken, but universally understood: Don't ring the bell if the porch light is off, take turns ringing the doorbell (even if that meant racing for the privilege), let little kids get their candy first (bigger kids will be able to get to more houses and will get more candy anyway), etc etc.  Of course, some houses would get TP'd, and there was the occasional egging, but for the most part, the rules we followed kept Halloween fun and safe.      

It works for Madison.  Why can't Milwaukee make it work, too?  It can't just be a size thing; my best friend in Las Vegas says they don't have scheduled trick-or-treating, and Vegas has Milwaukee beat several times over in the "Who's Bigger?" contest.  It can't just be crimes, because crime happens damn near everywhere.  Milwaukee just seems to have a stick up its ass.

That being said, I truly hope we get some rogue trick-or-treaters on Halloween night.  Kids need to experience the joy of trick-or-treating as it's intended, or else they'll never understand how truly awesome it actually is!  Someone needs to lead these kids on a Halloween revolution and reclaim October 31st as their own.  They need to take back All Hallow's Eve and tell Milwaukee to back off their holiday.

Who's with me?

Moronic Monday - Valentine's Day Edition

Fair warning: This post will offend some people.  If you don't like it, don't read it.  Or read it, and then post an angry comment.  Or start your own blog to complain about my blog.  I don't care.  The point is, these are MY feelings.  Word.

So, there are a few things about Valentine's Day that really bug the shit out of me.  Don't get me wrong - I actually like Valentine's Day.  It's not my favorite holiday, but I think it's a fun way to show people you care about them.  But some people or things really rub me the wrong way on February 14th every year.

1) Engagements.  Okay, I get it.  It's a romantic holiday and you want to embrace that with some huge romantic gesture.  But really?  Be more original, FCOL!  Unless it just so happens that you met/started dating on a Valentine's Day or something incredibly meaningful happened on Feb 14th at some point in your past together, there's NOTHING romantic about a V-Day proposal.  Tons and tons of other couples are doing the same exact thing.  And even if it comes from your heart and you're truly in love, it just seems too easy.  Make some other random day special, and then you can really look back on that together.

2) "Every day is Valentine's Day with my sweetie!" Yes, we know, you're madly in love and every day is wonderful, but seriously?  Get over it.  I love my husband dearly, and he is wonderful to me, but that does NOT make every day Valentine's Day.  Do I look forward to each day with him?  Sure!  But there's something nice about a day to do something different or special just because.  Also, you sound really cheesy saying something like this and it's bound to make people cranky with you.  Just saying.

2b) An alternate to this one is something like, "I don't need a holiday to show how much I love (fill-in-the-blank)!"  Often this is along the same lines, but also tends to scream, "My significant other didn't get me anything, so I'm going to make it seem like I really don't care by playing it cool!"  You care.  You SO care.

3) "Valentine's Day sucks."  Way to sound like a joyless person who wants everyone else to be miserable with you.  It doesn't actually make you cool to dislike a holiday.  And all your friends will likely just think you're a sad, lonely individual who couldn't get a date for Valentine's Day OR that you've become so jaded that nothing they can say or do will ever make you feel better.  Neither sounds particularly like someone I want to hang out with.  But that's me.  

I guess I shouldn't say that these people are all morons.  They probably aren't.  Many of them are just hopeless romantics or have been scorned too much to appreciate the day.  But some of them are just idiots.  Proposing on V-Day because you can't come up with anything better?  Trying to make yourself feel better by writing off an otherwise sweet notion of a holiday?  Bah humbug much? 

How about you just go buy a box of chocolates, find a good movie, and enjoy the day.  No matter who you are, chances are you love SOMEONE, so celebrate that, whether it's your best friend, your pet, your family...  It doesn't matter!  Celebrate love.  It makes the world go 'round. :-)

For real?

November, I am SO not ready for you.  I want October back!

Anywhoozles, came home last night to find this beautiful orange kitty on our front step, sitting with our pumpkins.  Had it not been so dark, I would've taken a picture - it was too perfect.  Friendly little thing, too.  And so soft!  Sometimes I miss having a cat.  Too bad hub's allergic.  Le sigh.

Visitation was fine, but good GOD (pun only semi-intended) - the rosary went on FOREVER.  I had no idea they were going to say it, or how long it would take, but for crying out loud!  What in the world does repeating the same thing over and over and over do for you?  If God didn't hear it the first time, what makes you think the 23rd time is going to matter?  Or the 50th??  (Sorry if I offend any of my more religious friends; I respect your decision to believe anything you want and worship accordingly, but from an outside perspective, it just seemed a bit ridiculous!)

Also, we have a metric shit-ton of leftover Halloween candy.  I think we got a total of 15 trick or treat-ers... At most.  Candy, here I come!  Om nom nom nom nom!! 

Well, here's hoping that I can handle whatever November brings my way... 

Happy Halloween!

Here's hoping everyone has a spook-tacular, wonderful, magical, epic, fantastic, whatever you want it to be kind of Halloween!  Me?  I had quite the scare last night at the Mumford & Sons concert when it looked like flannel was making a comeback...  Eep!

As for my Halloween, I will try to make the very best of it.  Planning on carving pumpkins with the hubby this morning, then watching some football and attending to the few trick or treat-ers that come by (this is why living on a dead end street is sort of a bummer sometimes) before heading off to a visitation for the hub's grandfather.

If nothing else, there is candy to be eaten, and this pleases me.  Huzzah!

Trick or Treat

Growing up, Halloween was by FAR my favorite holiday.  When else do you get to dress up, run around with your friends for hours on end, and eat tons of candy?  With parent approval!!  Hell yes, this is the best holiday EVER!!!  

I went trick or treating EVERY YEAR until I was 19.  (Ok, so at 18, my attempt was rather futile - people on campus weren't very into it, and the surrounding houses looked at me like a lunatic for walking up to their houses alone, since my friends walked with me, but wouldn't take part - but I still went!)  All through middle school and high school, this was the one night of the year I truly looked forward to.  It was the best night ever!  

So why do some people believe that trick or treating should stop around age 12 or 13?  Because they're "too old" for it?  How the hell do you tell someone they're too old to have fun and eat candy?  Seriously?!

Here are several reasons kids should be not only allowed, but ENCOURAGED to trick or treat as long as possible:

1. Know what kids who aren't trick or treating do on Halloween night?  No, they don't sit at home and pass out candy.  That's lame.  They go out and look for things to do.  Things like egging and TPing houses, or going to Halloween parties with older kids.  Yeah, that's better than trick or treating... 
2. Trick or treating sparks creativity!  As you get older and more capable of picking and making your own costumes, your creativity can run free.  You now have MORE control over your costume, so you can make it to YOUR liking.   
3. What better way is there to encourage recycling and reusing, not to mention the concept of thrift?  With some imagination and an adhesive, you can turn old clothes or household items into costumes and accessories.  What was once a mop is now a pom pom or a wig.  That old shirt you never wear anymore can be turned into something special for Halloween.  You can even wear some of your family's old clothes as retro-inspired costumes!  The sky's the limit!
4. Exercise.  Seriously, how often can you get kids to run around outside for hours on end without complaints?  Um, the answer is pretty much once a year: Halloween.  Yeah, I know, they're eating candy and that kinda negates the whole point of exercise, but come on...  At least they're getting outside!

Essentially, think of it this way.  If teens are excited about trick or treating, and are willing to put in the effort to make/find a good costume and have a good attitude about it, why would you NOT want to reward that?  Teens are known for being so sullen and distant and wah, wah, wah...  So why take away something that lets them be the fun, playful kid they once were?

And to those of you who STILL think trick or treating should end at 12 or 13...  Be warned: Your houses will get egged.  And you really have no one to blame but yourselves.