Trick-or-Treat! Give Me Something Good to Eat

Our Halloween weekend was definitely full of tricks and treats. Friday evening Alex and I had a pumpkin-themed evening in. We carved our mini pumpkins, ate (crustless) pumpkin pie, drank Shock Top Pumpkin Ale, roasted pumpkin seeds and watched Hocus Pocus! (Alex had never seen it before, I don't think he was too impressed lol). I love having nights in with Alex like this. It's just nice to slow down every once and a while and enjoy the little things in life.

I decided to decorate the pumpkins a little bit more by adding a little black paint!

The next day we went tailgating at the football stadium and also to a Halloween party with our neighbors. Alex and I both opted for simple costumes. I dressed as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz and Alex dressed as an Ohio State football player (a mockery of everything going on recently with OSU).

It was great to get out and meet some new people. Alex played a prank on our neighbors at the end of the party. You'll have to ask him for the full story, but we'll just say they had a real treat waiting for them that night!

The next day we ended up meeting more new people through a friend from Columbus. We explored yet another orchard/pumpkin patch, this time in Georgetown, KY. Although we had already checked pumpkins off the list, we did stock up on more fresh apple cider (I'm slightly obsessed) and also bought some Snickers and Pumpkin Pie flavored fudge (they were both ridiculously delicious).

On Monday we finally bought our Halloween candy. I got a great deal by buying it at Big Lots! We weren't sure how much to purchase since this was our first Halloween with a house. Trick-or-Treating was due to start at 6 p.m. and about 5:30 p.m. you could start to see and hear all of the kids outside preparing for one of their favorite nights of the year. We lit the tea lights in our pumpkins and brought out some chairs so we could watch the madness first hand. We had a steady stream of kids of all different ages from 6 p.m.-7 p.m. I had some hot cider in hand, but skipped the rum! Although, a cup of Father Eric's Essence of Fall would have been perfect for the night.

My favorite incident was when Alex was speaking to a little girl (maybe 5 years old) and he was asking her what kind of candy she would like. He asked her if she would like some Dots, and then made a side comment about how they stick to your teeth. She chose the Dots, and as she's walking away she says to her mom, "Look Mom, I got Dots, they stick to your teeth." It was so adorable. Alex called after her and said "Don't forget to brush your teeth." We ran out of candy around 7 p.m. so we walked over to our neighbors to chat and hand out the rest of their candy with them. (If you weren't so lucky and end up with lots of leftover candy, check out the Trick-or-Treat bar recipe below, it's a great way to use up chocolate candy!)

When Alex and I bought our house, I had high hopes that we would make friends with some of our neighbors, and Katie and Len have definitely made my dreams come true! It's wonderful to have next door neighbors close in age that you get along with so well. I also love the fact that we live in a neighborhood with so many friendly families. I can't wait to celebrate more holidays in our home.


"Trick-or-Treat. Give me something good to eat."


CRUSTLESS PUMPKIN PIE
from Food.Com

• 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin
• 1 (12 ounce) can evaporated skim milk
• 3/4 cup egg substitute
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 -2 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice (I like mine spicier)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2/3 cup splenda sugar substitute

Directions:

1. 1
   Combine all ingredients and beat until smooth.
2. 2
   Pour into 9-inch pie pan sprayed with cooking spray.
3. 3
   Bake at 400 degrees F for 15 minutes; reduce temperature to 325 degrees F and bake for 45 minutes more.
4. 4
   Pie is done when knife inserted into center comes out clean

Note: If you have a 9" x 9" square pan this may work better for cooking the pie. 


TRICK-OR-TREAT BARS
An adaptation on Chocolate Chip Blondies from The Taste of Home Cookbook

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar

1/2 cup butter, melted

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1tsp vanilla extract

1- 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking power

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup chopped Halloween candy (even 2 cups would work, depending on how much you like chocolate)

In a large bowl, combine the brown sugar, butter, eggs, and vanilla just until blended. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt: add to brown sugar mixture. Stir in the chocolate pieces. 

Spread into a greased 13" x 9" x 2" baking pan. Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Cut into bars. 

ESSENCE OF FALL
Spiked Cider Recipe from Father Eric

• 1 gallon apple cider
• 1 gallon of apple juice
• Small package of cinnamon sticks
• 5 cups of sugar
• 2 bottles (750 ml) 151 rum
• 5 wine bottles or other bottles for packaging

In a large pot bring the apple cider, apple juice and cinnamon sticks to a boil. Turn off the heat and add the sugar. Stir and allow the entire mixture to cool. Add the rum, stir and then bottle!

I love the recycled bottle that we received.... how fitting for a Priest!