Wordless Wednesday: a Gaggle of Healthy Witches

I think it's great that more and more schools are adopting healthier food policies, banning birthday cupcakes from the classroom. But when it comes to Halloween class parties, being limited to healthy items can take the fun factor down a notch. When I was assigned snack duty for my son's classroom Halloween party this Friday, I was terrified that I'd be forever known as the lame mom who brought the boring vegetables.

But thanks to the powers of Google and clever ideas from Parenting.com and Cute Food for Kids, I started seeing the event as a challenge instead of a limitation. Soon I was carving ghoulish fingers out of carrots to plant into cream cheese and painting these little pretzel witches with melted white chocolate. I know, I know, white chocolate is not healthy at all, but it's only a decoration, and after all, it is Halloween.

I'll also be making this Vampire Bloody Fruit Punch.

Cute Pretzel Witches
Ingredients:
1/4 cup of green Wilton candy melts (or white with green food coloring)
Honey Wheat Pretzel Sticks
1/4 cup of shredded coconut
1 handful of chocolate chips

1. In a microwave-safe container, melt the white chocolate chips. If needed, stir in the food coloring to desired color.
2. One by one, dip the pretzel sticks in the chocolate and swirl to coat evenly.
3. Roll 3/4 of the chocolate covered pretzel tips in the coconut. Top with a chocolate chip that you dipped in a little melted chocolate.
4. Put the pretzel sticks carefully on a plate and refrigerate for 5 minutes.
5. Melt the remaining chocolate chips in another microwave-safe container. Dip a toothpick in the melted chocolate and paint the eyes and mouth. It's okay if you shake a little, that will just make these little witches spookier!

Wednesdays are a time to use pictures as a writing prompt. Check out the Wordful, Five Minutes Wordless, not so Wordless and Way-back wednesday posts to see how others were inspired today.

How To Make a Halloween Haunted House Cake

A Ghoulish Halloween Cake

As a kid, I was so frustrated when my mental images didn't come to life with paint and paper, but my problem was that I wasn't using the right medium. When I started playing around with cakes and frosting, I realized that I'd found my true canvas.

Now I make cakes for every occasion. In fact, I'll use any excuse to go all out on a cake, and my favorite non-birthday occasion is Halloween. With ghosts, skeletons, blood and gore, there's just so much fun to be had in creating a really ghoulish yet delicious cake. My kids have been nagging me to get our Halloween decorations up since early September, so I'm kicking things off with a Halloween-themed cake.

To make this terrifyingly yummy haunted house, I didn't need much equipment.

Halloween Sneak Peak

Halloween begins early here in Columbus. First because the trick or treating takes place before Halloween - tomorrow night - to avoid the gruesome risk of children being run over by drunk drivers on the weekend. But the festivities actually began last weekend at the North Market when children were invited to trick or treat on Sunday.

We didn't have our act together to actually come in costume but we took advantage of a very skilled face painter and some props to pretend as though we did.

Happy early Halloween and happy Wordful, Wordless and Way-back wednesday!

This is an original Chefdruck post. Please don't copy without my permission.

When Did Halloween Become a Training Ground for Girls Gone Wild?

Bella chose her Halloween costume early this year. Right after school started, she began combing through the mountains of costume catalogs that were flooding our mailbox. Within a couple of days, she had found her dream costume and talked about it endlessly.

"I know just what I'm going to be for Halloween this year! A cheerless cheerleader."

To be honest, I hardly paid attention. I nodded absently every time she brought it up, and probably said, "That's nice honey. A cheerleader is a great costume."

It wasn't until October 15 that I finally took a look at this cheerless cheerleader costume. And I instantly lost all traces of cheer.

Because my first born, innocent, still five long years away from her teenage years little girl, had chosen a costume a hooker might feel bashful wearing.

I headed to Target to check it out, and it was even worse than in the catalog. The belly was bare, covered by orange fishnet. The same construction orange fishnet hung down as the only leg coverage below the shockingly short skirt. It hung next to other costumes of its ilk with names like "the bad girl" and "the frisky shipmate."

Since when did Halloween become a training ground for Girls Gone Wild?

When Bella came home from school that night, I uttered schoolmarmish words I never thought I would be saying to an eight year old. "You can't wear that costume. It is too sexy. It is simply not appropriate."

And of course, the tears came gushing out, along with the desperate cries that I was the worse mother in the world, that everyone else was wearing it, and that it simply was not fair. Doors were slammed. Sobs were muffled in pillows. A full fledged teenage crisis was had... in second grade.

A few hours later, once tempers had cooled, we headed back to Target and Bella and I found a mutually agreeable purple witch costume to buy. And the Halloween preparations were able to resume, without the specter of having to photoshop my whored up daughter from our family shot.

At least until next year.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! For the first time since we moved to New Jersey, we were completely cleaned out of candy. We actually had to turn out all the lights and hide, crossing our fingers that we won't get tricked by older kids. My sugar high is long gone, the kids are finally passed out, and I'm looking forward to passing out on the couch while catching up on one of my many guilty pleasures: 90210. Cheesy teeny-bopper shows go well with the sugary deposits left on my teeth.

Hope your Halloween was as fun as ours... Here are a few pics from the day:


Even superheroes get red-eye!


The school parade on a gorgeous day

Commander Jack reporting for mission.


Supergirl ready to take the neighborhood by storm!


And finally, getting down to business with the loot and doing some serious trading.  What you don't see here is me raking in the 100 Grand Bars and the Reese's Peanut Butter Cups!  It's all for their own good...

Carving Out Some Fun

We're getting ready... practicing our Trick or Treats Smell My Feets... This year, after much consideration, we're going carved instead of painted. We'll see what the squirrels and chipmunks think.

Happy Wordless Wednesday!