Definitely a Treat!

Note the UNICEF tag beside the Jesus print. Photo taken June 26, 2011, at the closing of Byers UMC.

To some, it may seem sacrilegious to mention Halloween and church in the same breath. But at the little country church of my childhood, Halloween meant a time to trick or treat for UNICEF.

Byers United Methodist Church, Byers, Kansas

We ghosts and goblins at Byers United Methodist Church had school-lunch-sized milk cartons decorated with the UNICEF logo. As we collected our sweet treats, people would drop coins for UNICEF through the crudely-cut slots at the top of the carton.

Some of us would stay in Byers and go door-to-door. I always wanted to go on the northwesterly country route by car so I could have one of my Grandma Neelly's homemade popcorn balls in my goodie sack.

Unlike today, our parents (and grandparents) didn't have cell phones with cameras to document the festivities, so I couldn't find a photo from one of my childhood October 31 forays. There are still some churches that trick or treat for UNICEF. (A former pastor posted a photo last weekend of she and her two boys dressed and ready to trick or treat for UNICEF at their Nebraska church.)

But many more churches today now sponsor Truck and Treat events. This past Friday, Randy and I got to join Kinley and Brooke at Susanna Wesley UMC's version. And, of course, Grandma pulled out the cell phone camera to take a photo before we departed.

Before we arrived, I wasn't sure what to expect when Kinley said she was going to be a raccoon. The raccoons around here are more often on the "naughty" list than not. Grandpa Randy would say they are into tricks, not treats. But I could see the appeal after I saw Kinley's version. My mental photo of Brooke's princess unicorn was much easier to conjure up before the big day.

Jill and Eric decorated their trunk with an under the sea theme. They were told they needed to plan for 1,000 trick or treaters! I haven't had that many ghosts and goblins visit my rural door step in my lifetime!

Pinterest for the win! It turned out really cute.

The girls had quite the entourage, too. We were there. And so were Eric's parents.

 

Grandma Christy helped us get in the spirit of the event by providing ears. She had the kitty ears. I had the bunny ears. The minister surmised that both Randy and Alan were dressed up as Bill Snyder for Halloween.

The girls fixed my ears, and we took off through the maze of car trunks.

I thought it was fun to see Kinley's tail in this shot.

Then it was time for some games.

 Afterwards, Brooke joined Mommy to hand out the treats, while Kinley played with her cousins.

Brooke had to hide behind Mommy when there was a creature with a scary mask.

The next day was definitely a treat when our K-State Wildcats pulled out an upset over No. 5-ranked Oklahoma ... and we were there to see it. (Brent was, too: I just didn't get a photo of him.)

After the game, it was on to the Little Munchkin Pumpkin Patch near Alma for some more Halloween fun. Like Goldilocks says: It was just right!

There were slides ...

... and photo stops.

Jill says Kinley has been talking about a corn maze all fall. Even though it wasn't corn, Kinley was satisfied with her adventure through the maze. (And we didn't lose anyone.)

There were plenty of opportunities for sliding, bouncing, running and playing.

Grandpa bought some do-it-yourself s'more kits. He originally bought them for the girls, but then he "claimed" he'd never had a s'more himself. So he bought another kit. For the record, he says he's roasted plenty of marshmallows: He's just never put them inside a graham cracker and chocolate sandwich. He has evidently led a sheltered life. Now he knows what he's been missing.

The girls tolerated Grandma's desire to take lots of photos.

And Grandma even relinquished the camera for a shot with Brooke.

Even though we don't get to witness the girls' trick-or-treat festivities tonight, we were thrilled to get in on the fall fun this past weekend.
All the ghosts and goblins in our neighborhood have grown up. It doesn't seem so long ago that our two were making the rounds to Grandpa Melvin's and Grandma Marie's - where they were surprised by a couple of spooks.

I hope our raccoon and princess unicorn have as much frivolity tonight as these two did - once upon a time.

No Tricks! These Are Tasty Treats

It's "H" week in Pre-K. Brooke told me that's because it's Halloween week.

Brooke and her sister will have more reasons to celebrate the spooktacular holiday this week, since their Mommy got creative and has several spooky suppers on the meal plan. Randy and I got in on one of them for Sunday lunch after church.

As with most Pinterest creations, the "real" version wasn't quite like the air-brushed and "fluffed" photo:

Photo from Pocket Change Gourmet

For one thing, Jill knew that her diners would prefer their salad in a separate bowl. Brooke still ate her fair share of the green stuff, but it stayed separate from the spider's "web." Jill also knew that the leftovers for her and Eric's lunch would be less soggy without the lettuce touching the bread. Jill also served homemade guacamole and salsa with chips. (And the girls - and Daddy - might have had one piece of candy from their stash after their church's Trunk and Treat.)

Even if it didn't look exactly like the photo, the girls seemed to like the results of Mommy's nod to the upcoming holiday.

Also on the menu plan this week are these Candy Corn Quesadillas. (Eric wanted to make sure it didn't involve melted down candy corn. It does not: It's a savory "candy" corn.)

For the recipe, go to Taste of Home's website. (Click on this link.)

And if you want to "spin" your own excitement for supper this week, here's the recipe Jill used:

Spider Taco Ring

1 lb. ground beef, cooked and drained

1 small onion (about ½ cup) chopped finely

½ cup green pepper, chopped finely

1 package taco seasoning

¾ cup of water

2 tubes refrigerated crescent rolls

1 tube refrigerated bread sticks (you will only need 4)

2 tablespoons butter, melted

Shredded lettuce

2 large pitted black olives

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brown ground beef with onion and green pepper until cooked through and the vegetables are tender; drain well. Return to pan; add taco seasoning and water. Simmer until liquid is gone, about 15 minutes.

On a round pan or cookie sheet, lay out the crescent rolls in an overlapping circle with the small point facing out. Add ground beef mixture around the ring. Flip the crescent dough rolls into the center.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 20-30 minutes or until golden brown.

Spider Legs

Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray. Divide each breadstick in half, then form a "V" and place on cookie sheet. Bake for about 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Assemble

Add lettuce to the center of the taco ring, then add olives for eyes. Add legs. Serve salsa and cheddar cheese on the side, if desired to make the dish a little more filling.

Jill has also made this mummified Cheeseburger Roll-Up during other Halloween seasons.

Mummified Cheeseburger Roll-Up

And here are some treats with a Halloween or fall theme. (Click on the links under the photos for the recipes. They are definitely treats - not tricks!)

Fall Harvest Snack Mix

Scarecrow Bars

 Oreo Blondies 

 Brown Sugar Toffee Bars
Homemade Twix Bars 

Pumpkin Pie Crunch Mix

A Halloween Migration

We made a flying trip to Manhattan to catch the Halloween migration of a couple of the rarest, most beautiful butterflies. The inhabitant of the house above seemed just as awestruck by their dazzling wings and glittery bodies as I was.

Migrating butterflies are often faced with obstacles. But a little snow and chilly temperatures didn't keep them from flying from house to house in the neighborhood.

  

They did have to revert to their warm cocoons before venturing out on their adventure. 

 

(A couple of years ago, Kinley was a Kitty Princess. I guess this year, their kitty winter hats made them Kitty Butterflies.)

Grandpa and I were given a glimpse of their unwrapped beauty.

This photo was taken before Brooke realized she was going to have to wear a coat with her beautiful dress. She wasn't all smiles when she had to dress in layers. A little candy helped cure the cocoon blues!

While their beautiful blue eyes don't need any enhancement in their grandparents' eyes, a little glitter never hurts (until it's time to peel the stickers off the face ... then it hurts a little.)

Brooke offered a little supervision to Mommy ...

 

... before getting her own beautiful transformation.

They had a wonderful time flitting from one house to another, ...

... But butterflies prefer the warmth. Once they had enough nectar gathered for the journey back home, they were happy to pass out treats to the ghosts and goblins who stopped by. Grandpa and Uncle Brent filled in on candy duty while the butterflies were traveling the neighborhood.

For Grandma and Grandpa, it was a short trip. But it was worth every mile in the car!

Today, we start another migration of sorts. We will start bringing pairs home from summer pasture.

Sweet on Halloween

Source: CandyStore.com.
It's expected that $2.7 billion will be spent on trick-or-treat candy this year.

Yes, that billion with a B!

A couple of weeks ago, an email from Candystore.com showed up in my inbox. (It was fortuitous timing: I needed to come up with a PEO program for October.)

They had evaluated sales data from all 50 states and put together an interactive map featuring favorite Halloween candies by state.

Kansas' most popular Halloween candy has changed since last year. Reece's Peanut Butter Cups have edged out M&Ms, which dropped to second place. Candystore.com says that 231,476 pounds of peanut butter cups were sold in Kansas, compared to 230,082 pounds of M&Ms.

You'd think with all the corn grown in Kansas, candy corn would be the obvious choice. However, our third-place winner was Dubble Bubble Gum at 159,092 pounds. (I find it hard to believe, but that's what the website says.)

On this Halloween, we're headed to Manhattan to trick or treat with a couple of cute butterflies. I am guessing they aren't going to want to cover up their beautiful costumes with coats. Let's hope for stretchy wings! I remember one Halloween when it snowed so much that Jill's and Brent's Halloween excursion was curtailed to Grandma and Grandpa's house 2 miles away.

Now that our neighborhood children have all grown up, we don't have trick or treaters on the County Line anyway. Actually, we never have had many small visitors on October 31.

I grew up trick or treating in the country, but most of Stafford's rural kids just went to town for the holiday. I was so disappointed the first year we were married. I had my bowl of treats and my porch light was on. I waited. And waited. And waited. No one ever came.

(Photo taken June 26, 2011, at the closing of Byers UMC)

When I was a child, our little country church - Byers United Methodist Church - trick or treated for UNICEF.  At first glance, it may seem sacrilegious to mention Halloween and church in the same breath. We ghosts and goblins had small milk cartons decorated with the UNICEF logo. As we collected our sweet treats, people would drop coins for UNICEF through the crudely-cut slots at the top of the milk carton.

Some of us would stay in Byers and go door-to-door. I always wanted to go on the northwesterly country route by car so I could put one of my Grandma Neelly's homemade popcorn balls in my goody sack.

I learned a lot about myself at Halloween. As a chubby princess, I declared I would never wear high heels again. My Dad proclaimed that he wanted a recording of that bold statement. But as it has turned out, I do prefer flats.

Another year, I learned that a computer made from a large box is tough to cram into the back seat of a car, especially when you're wearing it. (I wish I had a photo of it.) I was apparently ahead of my time. I didn't really work on a computer until journalism classes at K-State. But they were evidently in the news, since I decided to craft my own from a cardboard box that year. In hindsight, it would have been a better costume for walking the streets of Byers. But then I wouldn't have had the tale to tell, I suppose ... or Grandma's popcorn ball!

Our two always started the evening trick or treating in the country before meeting up with friends in town.
I think they missed their calling. They should have been actors. (These photos probably aren't politically correct anymore. But they make me smile, and they were done in good fun back before I even thought about such things.)

The Halloween candies are already being edged out in the big box stores as the merchandisers make way for Christmas goodies. Sometimes, you can find seasonal candy on sale the day after the holiday. Candy prices seem to be high to me this year, so if you can score a bag of discount candy, you could make one of these tried-and-true treats, tested on The County Line. (Does anyone else find it depressing that all prices seem to go up ... except farm commodities?)

Happy Halloween!

Milky Way Blondies

Peanut Butter Cup Banana Bread

 Scarecrow Bars

Butterfinger Blondies

 Peanut Butter Fluffernut Blondies

Fall Harvest Snack Mix

 

 Monster Cookie Bars