Halloween Trick or Treat

[lancastermike]

Tonight I am in charge of handing over the ransom to the little bast... I mean the little darlings when they pound on the door. Actually, I very much enjoy seeing the kids out in their costumes. It always makes me smile to see them.

I give them what they want. CANDY!!! And the name brand stuff too. Nothing healthy or wholesome hits their sack from my hand.

How about everyone else? Anyone make stuff to give them? Any of those hated people who give out apples or grapes or something? The other year some of the kids came by and said the lady down the street was giving out little bags of broccoli. I could not believe it. Broccoli?? Give me a break. She is lucky they did not burn her house down

[Chris Amirault]

You're handing out the goods on Friday night?

We've got standard issue big bag stuff at our house. Having been one of those kids who egged homes for poor treat selection, I take no chances.

[Darienne]

Halloween in Moab UT means the Annual Pumpkin Chuckin' Festival. And besides the chucking of pumpkins...some very ingenious...one year a team came from I can't remember where with some amazing 'machine' which chucked the pumpkin one whole mile...or so I am told.

OK. All the community organizations have booths and give out pamphlets, sell t-shirts, etc. I have donated 6 dozen lollipops to the Moab Humane Society to sell as my contribution. Otherwise, I just hide in whatever house I am living in...

[lancastermike]

You're handing out the goods on Friday night?

We've got standard issue big bag stuff at our house. Having been one of those kids who egged homes for poor treat selection, I take no chances.

Yup, in our town it is tonight.

[heidih]

I buy decent chocolate mini/snack size in the large on sale bags. The kids hear about nutrition constantly at school and probably at home as well. This is a special day and I am not handing out granola bars or baby carrots!

[EllenC]

I hand out full sized candy bars. Kids should know they are special. Tonight is a church party and Sunday I will hand out more.

[Kim Shook]

We are handing out the standard good kid candy. Chocolate with... I try NOT to buy my favorites, but I think Mr. Kim has purchased Reeses Cups.

My MIL hands out small packs of microwave popcorn. I dunno. Is popcorn all that special anymore?

[Jaymes]

Handing out the treats on Friday? Huh? Whatever happened to Halloween? Nobody has come here tonight, and our little ones are happily in front of the TV watching The Great Pumpkin.

What's this about Friday?

Is this like Castro and Christmas and the sugar harvest?

[Marlene]

We have bags of chips for the smaller ones, plus chocolate bars. The big kids get the mini chocolate bars.

[Katie Meadow]

Here are my criteria for purchasing Halloween candy:

It has to be something kids like (no granola bars, lifesavers, peppermints, fruit roll-ups, raisin boxes or apples). It has to be professionally wrapped and sealed so parents don't worry their kids are going to get poisoned (other than by the normal toxicity of drug-store candy bars). It has to be relatively cheap, like 2 packs for price of one, or coupon-friendly (spending money on mediocre or worse candy is painful). There has to be a certain percentage my husband likes so he won't be disappointed (butterfingers or baby ruth or Kit Kats). It has to ALL be stuff that I don't like; that isn't too hard because the only commercial candy that really tempts me is M & M's or sour skittles. It can't be too pathetic, because if any is leftover you don't want to be embarrassed taking it to work. And finally it has be mostly chocolate, so that the parents will have something worth stealing and the kids will have to learn to be clever about hiding it. Learning to hide candy is an important skill for everyone involved in Halloween, whether before or after the event.

[Darienne]

Here are my criteria for purchasing Halloween candy:

It has to be something kids like (no granola bars, lifesavers, peppermints, fruit roll-ups, raisin boxes or apples). It has to be professionally wrapped and sealed so parents don't worry their kids are going to get poisoned (other than by the normal toxicity of drug-store candy bars). It has to be relatively cheap, like 2 packs for price of one, or coupon-friendly (spending money on mediocre or worse candy is painful). There has to be a certain percentage my husband likes so he won't be disappointed (butterfingers or baby ruth or Kit Kats). It has to ALL be stuff that I don't like; that isn't too hard because the only commercial candy that really tempts me is M & M's or sour skittles. It can't be too pathetic, because if any is leftover you don't want to be embarrassed taking it to work. And finally it has be mostly chocolate, so that the parents will have something worth stealing and the kids will have to learn to be clever about hiding it. Learning to hide candy is an important skill for everyone involved in Halloween, whether before or after the event.

Wonderful!!!

[onrushpam]

When DH and I were first married, many years ago, we lived in a neighborhood where we had 100s of kids knocking on our door each Halloween. DH always bought the goodies, mostly Reese Cups, because those are his favorite. Then, we moved to the country, where we never had trick-or-treaters. But, DH continued to buy the big bags of Reese Cups. Every year I would get annoyed with him for leaving the little brown paper cups lying about the house.

In those days, I was nearly blind without my glasses (I've since had eye surgery).

One weekend morning after Halloween, as I stumbled through the house to get my coffee without my glasses, I grumbled as I picked up a little brown paper cup... But, this one was warm, fuzzy and moving! It wasn't a paper Reese cup wrapper, it was a baby mouse!

I sent the poor critter flying! DH scooped it up and deposited it outside. And, he ceased leaving the Reese Cup wrappers lying about.

We now live even further out in the country, at the end of a dark, narrow, rutted lane. No kids are coming to our house. But, DH still buys the Reese Cups!

[Fat Guy]

Trick or treating a day or two before Halloween is a common strategy especially where younger children are concerned -- it can keep the little ones away from the big ones on the actual date. Also, this year, because Halloween is on a Sunday, some folks would just rather not deal with that -- they'd rather do Friday night.

Katie's list of criteria is great. To that I'd add no nuts. That seems to be the most common serious allergy.

If your trick or treating crowd is small scale -- just occasional kids coming to your door -- it's nice to offer a choice of items. If you're involved in something large-scale, where you might have to hand out to hundreds of kids, it's best to have all the same thing so the line keeps moving. Kit Kat minis seem to work well.

[Darienne]

Dear Onrushpam,

So far you take the prize!!!

I won't begin to tell you of our childhood Halloweens, long before the days of razorblades in the apples. We were never bullied. Bullies were dealt with swiftly then. And of course we didn't have candy regularly. Canada during the war years was not a place of sugar and butter. Perhaps we were very lucky.

[CKatCook]

Halloween is kind of a sad affair around here. Last year we didn't have one kid knock on the door. The year before we had our car sprayed with whipped cream for not having candy. This year, I am not doing anything. Last year I had tons of cheap candy all over the house for weeks after. Most around here trick or treat in special situations, like the malls hold special events or various churches.

Sad, really sad....

[Jaymes]

When I have a substantial amount of candy left over, I take it to a local retirement home. It's true that not all of the elders can eat sugar, but many can, and in years that I've returned to the same home, the folks at the reception desk tell me that "everybody will be so happy to see that you've come back again this year."

I dunno. Maybe they're just being polite. But I figure taking it to them beats my eating it.

Which is what happens when I leave it lying around here.

______________________

Edited October 30, 2010 by Jaymes (log)

[Fat Guy]

Some leftover Halloween candy can also be repurposed in your holiday-season baked goods. There are recipes all over the web for things like Butterfinger banana cake and Mounds brownies.

[baroness]

Since the number of trick-or-treaters here varies wildly, I stock up on fancy Halloween-themed multi-colored erasers and decorated pencils. Any leftovers can be stored for next time!

[codheadred]

As a lancastrian a clip round their earhole for their cheek would be my favoured gift, as personally I'd rather give a penny for the guy (and theres plenty of them out at the mo), but the OH has bought a load of drumstick lollies so thats what the little darlings are getting.

Edited October 30, 2010 by codheadred (log)

[kayb]

Back in the day, Mama used to make popcorn balls and caramel or candy apples. That's out the window these days, as homemade treats, unless the little imps' parents know the giver, are tossed unceremoniously. So I save those treats for parties and such. I tend to buy the big bags of Hershey's minis, because kids like 'em and I don't, so I can safely have them lying around the house until the Big Night, and leftovers lying around until I remember to take them to work. And Smarties. I love Smarties. Will eat an unconscionable amount of them.

I also have to go buy candy corn, which I love anyway, but have had a flash of brilliance that I ought to be able to substitute it for chocolate in my favorite fudge recipe and have candy corn fudge, and I just can't wait to try that....

Oh, and you can always take Tootsie Roll pops, cover the pop with a Kleenex, tied around the stick with a black ribbon, and a little face drawn on. Just kinda cute.

[Fat Guy]

I've got to say, having spent the day out and about with a five-year old, New York City has got to be the world's greatest place to trick or treat.

We started at 2pm at the American Museum of Natural History, where they were holding their 15th annual Halloween celebration. The whole museum was transformed into a fantasy land. They had a live performance by David Grover, arts, crafts, pumpkin carving, various roving characters (e.g., Curious George, the Cat in the Hat) and trick or treating.

Then we hit Carnegie Hill, a neighborhood on the East Side where there are a lot of 19th Century townhouses and the residents decorate them really well. We went from house to house and PJ collected plenty of loot. The neighborhood stores also all had candy on offer, as did the larger apartment buildings (in their lobbies).

After that we visited the block where I grew up. They have a very active block association that organizes Halloween in the lobbies of all the buildings. Thousands of kids come through, and the buildings compete heavily in the decoration department. It's a little bit chaotic and overwhelming, but it's pretty amazing.

Finally, we went through a friend's apartment building. In this instance, the building had put together a list of all the apartments that were participating in trick or treating. We started on the 17th floor and worked our way down floor by floor. On average there were about 3 participating apartments per floor, so it was quite a haul.

We have sacks and sacks of candy. Most people did the standard stuff: mini packs of M&Ms, Snickers, Tootsie Rolls, etc., and they generally tell the kids to pick two. In Carnegie Hill, some people did little sacks of candy that were pretty huge -- like a dozen pieces in a sack. There were a few people who were more ambitious. One guy did chocolate truffles. Another guy did a fancy candy called "cherry in rum."

[ScoopKW]

I buy one bag of decent candy and a lot of cheap crap.

Here in Las Vegas, I get mostly young teens in haphazard costumes -- kids with nothing better to do than wear a bed sheet and ring the bell for some sugar. They get the cheap crap.

Neighbors' kids and anyone who looks like they put some thought and effort into the costume gets the good stuff.

[caroled]

Tonight, We gave out 8lbs of the cheap, Palmer brand chocolates (so roughly 400 small pieces), 86 ActII popcorn balls and 140 full sized candy bars ( 36 Hershey, 24 Resses cups, 20 Hershey Cookies n cream, 12 Almond joy, 12 kit Kats, 12 Hersheys w/ Almonds, 12 Special Dark, and 12 Thingamagigs, ( used to be called Whatchamacallits, had been retired I guess, these said limited edition)

We gave the kids a choice of 1 or the other of the large items and a piece or 2 of the small.

We always just set up a table or two in the yard and set up camp... set out the pumpkins, scarecows and other decorations, sometimes dressing up ourselves and just wait for the kids to come. It's too much of a hassle to stand at the door, or sit in the living room and wait on them to knock. When they are coming in droves, literally 10 -12 at a time sometimes , this is just an easier solution.

I had to go in more than an hour early tonight as I ran out of stuff, and the little tykes were still thick up and down the block

[JTravel]

I've got to say, having spent the day out and about with a five-year old, New York City has got to be the world's greatest place to trick or treat.

We started at 2pm at the American Museum of Natural History, where they were holding their 15th annual Halloween celebration. The whole museum was transformed into a fantasy land. They had a live performance by David Grover, arts, crafts, pumpkin carving, various roving characters (e.g., Curious George, the Cat in the Hat) and trick or treating.

Then we hit Carnegie Hill, a neighborhood on the East Side where there are a lot of 19th Century townhouses and the residents decorate them really well. We went from house to house and PJ collected plenty of loot. The neighborhood stores also all had candy on offer, as did the larger apartment buildings (in their lobbies).

After that we visited the block where I grew up. They have a very active block association that organizes Halloween in the lobbies of all the buildings. Thousands of kids come through, and the buildings compete heavily in the decoration department. It's a little bit chaotic and overwhelming, but it's pretty amazing.

Finally, we went through a friend's apartment building. In this instance, the building had put together a list of all the apartments that were participating in trick or treating. We started on the 17th floor and worked our way down floor by floor. On average there were about 3 participating apartments per floor, so it was quite a haul.

We have sacks and sacks of candy. Most people did the standard stuff: mini packs of M&Ms, Snickers, Tootsie Rolls, etc., and they generally tell the kids to pick two. In Carnegie Hill, some people did little sacks of candy that were pretty huge -- like a dozen pieces in a sack. There were a few people who were more ambitious. One guy did chocolate truffles. Another guy did a fancy candy called "cherry in rum."

Thanks for this view of how it is in the big city. Fascinating. As an old grouch I am amazed that people in apartment buildings seem eager to have guests, whom they don't know, and who only come for goodies.

We live on a busy street in the burbs which is not conducive to walking....no kids in neighborhood, so no goblins for several years. I enjoyed it when neighbor kids used to visit.

Off to Wegmans to see if they have marked down the candy, it's good for holiday baking.

[abooja]

We bought four bags (2 for $5) of snack-sized Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Kit Kats, Snickers and Nestle's Crunch, and still have every last one of them. Not one visitor. I counted them all (79 in total) before dumping them into a giant, red bowl. Unfortunately, I do not actually have 79 GPS tracking devices to attach to each candy, as I threatened, ensuring that my diabetic husband actually distributes them to his staff, and not to his belly. Thank god for the glucose meter.