eve of all saints, sweetened

topic number nine: pre-Halloween tricks for treats

Halloween, the eve of all saints day, is a holiday celebrated by many. The evening is often measured by festive parties, door-to-door trick or treating, costumes and home decorations which have endured and evolved through years of October 31sts. Many of us often share memories of a special costume worn, a savory candy treat or a great evening party or two. I can still envision and feel the excitement of the night, the crisp smell of the fall air, the sounds from a neighbor's haunted house, candlelit porches and the taste of pumpkin pie.

And then remember...the candy inspection.

Yes, a more recent, seldom publicized Halloween tradition of sorting out the good from the bad. It used to be disguised as trading treasures with parents upon returning home from the night's adventure with a stockpile of sweets. As kids, many of us thought our parents just liked unwrapped candy or candy with an easy open twist wrap. Little did we know that there were some "bad" treat givers out there. Those tricksters! And some of us actually believed our parents when they requested a few of our premium candy captures like Reese's peanut butter cups or Abba Zabba bars to save for "later". Where do you think they went? Regardless, there was definitely enough candy aka sugar for everyone on the inspection team and more.

Then much later in life, with a trick or treating daughter of my own, I began thinking about the excess of premium candy bars and about the ton of traditional candies immediately disposed of due to indiscriminate wrappers. I also could not stop thinking about the one treat I received as a kid that will be forever remembered. It was a single warm donut. No wrapper, no cover and we were allowed to eat it! It came from our neighbor down the street who owned a bakery. I guess this particular item stands out not only because of its extraordinary confectionery appeal, but because it was different. And I like different.

Thus comes my own custom assortment of Halloween treats with the thought of quality over quantity:

Boxes of Cracker Jacks

Individual portion packages of Pepperidge Farm Milano or Nabisco Oreo creme filled cookies

Kellogg's Rice Krispies Treats

Violet Crumble bars

Boxes of Red Vine licorice

and of course,

Reese's peanut butter cups

I hope this will inspire you this coming week to think out of the box, or jack-o-lantern so to speak!