November 4th is National Candy Day

Once in a young lifetime one should be allowed to have as much sweetness as one can possibly want and hold.
— Judith Olney, author of The Joy of Chocolate

Raise your hands, who has a sugar hangover from Halloween? So, now that we’ve eaten all the candy we can in the last 3 days, what do we do with the rest? I’ve always subscribed to the “eat as much as you can the first couple of days, then get it out of site” theory. To get it out of sight, I usually put the hard candy in a baggie under the passenger seat, for something to pull out on long rides. For the chocolates, I freeze them and we pack them when we go skiing or to the beach or on hikes or picnics throughout the year.

Today is National Candy Day, so I thought I'd share some ideas:

A few years ago my friend, Jeanine, and her daughters gave me a brilliant idea! Bake with it!! Where you would ordinarily put chocolate chips or nuts or raisins, put crushed Halloween candy. The crushing is easiest if you freeze it first, then you only need a few whacks with a meat mallet or a rolling pin. You can put M&Ms or crushed Snickers in brownies or crushed Milky Way in oatmeal cookies. Or, try this version of chocolate chip cookies, just use your favorite Halloween candy in lieu of chips.

Halloween candy cookies
Makes about 3 dozen

2¼ c flour
1 t salt
1 t baking soda
¾ c sugar
¾ c brown sugar
1 c butter (2 sticks)
1 t vanilla
2 eggs
3 c crushed Halloween candy

Preheat oven to 375°. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in large mixer bowl. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in crushed candy. Drop by large, rounded tablespoon onto baking sheets. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

By popular request ... On Friday night, we had friends over to visit while the kids were trick-or-treating. I thought I’d augment the candy “take” with some appetizers. No one’s going to eat a real meal with all that candy going on.



So, I prepared my favorite Friday night meal: Appetizers. This easy, easy appetizer from my friend, Marilyn, was the hands-down favorite. (Forgot to take a picture of it though. I am trying to be better about adding “visual interest” to my blog; I recently read a comment from someone who doesn’t even try a recipe if there isn’t a picture: “If it wasn’t good enough to photograph, it probably wasn’t good enough to eat.” Mind you, I don’t necessarily subscribe to that theory, if there’s not a photo with one of my blogs, I probably had some number of my four kids vying for my attention while I was trying to get whatever I cooked on the table, or whatever I wrote posted to this blog. Or they ate it before I could find the camera. Anyway, from here on out, I’ll be making the effort to include pictures, hopefully of the food.)

And so, back to the food, these Bacon-wrapped breadsticks are so easy, and so different, and so good. They’re always a hit! And you can easily keep these four simple ingredients on hand. My sister, Regina, often substitutes prosciutto where bacon is called for. She read it’s lower in sodium and my parents and her husband both need to watch their sodium intake (I think it’s lower in sodium mostly for the fact that you use a thinner piece, but the substitution would probably work here). It’d also be interesting to play with other spices and sweeteners (a pinch of cayenne pepper with brown sugar will make is more fiery, maple syrup and crushed pecans for crunch, brown sugar and dried mustard for bite). I haven’t yet, because I don’t make them often enough that I’m looking for a change just yet, and my family definitely subscribes to the “If it’s not broke, don’t mess with it” theory. If you do try other combinations, please let me know.

Bacon-wrapped breadsticks

1 package long, thing breadsticks (I use Pastene, Marilyn uses another brand that escapes me now, Stella D’Oro are too thick)
1 pound bacon
¼ c brown sugar
¼ c chili powder

Preheat oven to 350°. Combine brown sugar and chili on a plate. Place foil on a rimmed cookie sheet.

Wrap each breadstick in bacon, spiraling it about halfway down the stick. Roll bacon in brown sugar-chili mixture. Place on baking sheet. Bake for about 20 minutes, until bacon is cooked and starting to crisp.

Remove from oven and let stand about 5 minutes, until bacon firms up. These are great served in a tall mug or glass for visual interest on the table, just make sure the bacon is no longer flacid or they droop, and that’s not a pretty sight.

Once in a young lifetime one should be allowed to have as much sweetness as one can possibly want and hold.
— Judith Olney, author of The Joy of Chocolate

Raise your hands, who has a sugar hangover? So, now that we’ve eaten all the candy we can in the last 24 hours, what do we do with the rest? I’ve always subscribed to the “eat as much as you can the first couple of days, then get it out of site” theory. To get it out of sight, I usually put the hard candy in a baggie under the passenger seat, for something to pull out on long rides. For the chocolates, I freeze them and we pack them when we go skiing or to the beach or on hikes or picnics throughout the year.

A few years ago my friend, Jeanine, and her daughters gave me a brilliant idea! Bake with it!! Where you would ordinarily put chocolate chips or nuts or raisins, put crushed Halloween candy. The crushing is easiest if you freeze it first, then you only need a few whacks with a meat mallet or a rolling pin. You can put M&Ms or crushed Snickers in brownies or crushed Milky Way in oatmeal cookies. Or, try this version of chocolate chip cookies, just use your favorite Halloween candy in lieu of chips.

Halloween candy cookies
Makes about 3 dozen

2¼ c flour
1 t salt
1 t baking soda
¾ c sugar
¾ c brown sugar
1 c butter (2 sticks)
1 t vanilla
2 eggs
3 c crushed Halloween candy

Preheat oven to 375°. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in large mixer bowl. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in crushed candy. Drop by large, rounded tablespoon onto baking sheets. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Halloween fun food

Growing up, we always had Sloppy Joe's on Halloween night before going out Trick or Treating.

Is anyone doing anything fun for Halloween Dinner?

Have you ever been “BOO”ed? Here’s how it works:

1. Copy this poem, these instructions, and this ghost TWICE.
   
   
2. Pass TWO "scare" packages (include Halloween-themed treats, candy, stickers, face paint, you get the idea) on to your neighbors.
   
   
3. Once you've been “BOO”ed, place this ghost in your window for neighbors to see. That’s how they’ll know not to ghost you again.
4. Watch to see the fun spread around the neighborhood.

The air is cool, the season fall

Soon Halloween will come to all

The spooks are after things to do

In fact, a spook brought this to you

This “BOO” is a shield from witching hour

Just hang it up and watch its power

On your front door where it works

It wards off evil spirits and scary jerks

The treats that came with crypted note

Are yours to keep, enjoy them both

The power comes when friends like you

Will copy this and make it TWO

Then others here among our friends

Will give warm fuzzies that do not end

We’ll all have smiles upon our faces

No one will know who “BOO”ed whose places

Just one short day to work your spell

And don’t forget a nifty treat,

Like something cute or something sweet

Please join fun, let’s really hear it

And spread some “BOO”s and Halloween spirit