OT: Trick or Treast

I think DD would love the beads and the ramen.

Cheryl

For Halloween I always go to Costco and pick up a BIG box of Flavor Ice, and that always goes over very well with both the kids and their parents. It's individually packaged, doesn't get stale, and won't hurt a dog or cat that might get into it. Also, the parents get to control when it is enjoyed. As for leftovers -- I keep them and put them in my freezer in spring or early summer when weather gets hot.

Years ago, before Halloween got dangerous, I had friends who were college professors who gave the kids HOT DOGS! The parents in the neighborhood always took their kids to the Williams' house first, and when Tom or Emily answered the door he or she called to the one in the kitchen as to how many hotdogs to pull out of the pot on the stove and put into buns. The deal was that the kids were to eat the hotdogs on the porch before they went to other houses, which meant they were too full of hotdog to eat much candy that evening. People loved it! They normally served about 100 kids that night, and it was at the beginning of the evening since people went to that house first. The hotdogs were dropped into the pot a pound at a time, and the buns opened as needed, and any extras were put into the freezer for wiener roasts later in the winter.

Halloween has never been all that big in Oz until recently, when the odd group of kids will come knocking and asking for sweeties. We've never 'done' Halloween in our family but DD had a sleepover on the weekend and went for her first-ever trick-or-treat with the group of friends over with whom she slept.

One enterprising lot of Uni students was ready for the trick-or-treaters with piles and piles of standard party food. In Oz, that means sausage rolls, cocktail franks and party pies, all served with gobbets and gobbets of tomato sauce.

Guess what? That was the most popular place they visited all night! The kids really enjoyed the party food and were too full to want much more in the way of sweet stuff.

We had a similar house in our old neighborhood. Wouldn't see these neighbors all year, but on Halloween, their house was the social hub. Hot dogs to go. And beers for the parents. We learned to go there first, and I'd get a bottle and nurse it all along the trick-or-treat route.

We hardly had anyone come by last night...must have been the drizzle and overcast that got to them, but also it was a Saturday, so perhaps there were more parties during the day. I wonder if actual trick or treating is somewhat anticlimactic after partying for a couple of days (Friday and Saturday).

sue