Erzsi wrote:I'm getting ready to take our kids out in a little bit. They're still small ish (4 and 6) and they don't like to go door to door after dark. They are hoping to get something peanut related since after two days of Halloween parties with 'nut alert' flyers going home they didn't get anything like that.

I've got about 300 pieces of candy to give out, and I guess I'm getting old, but my hard and fast rule is no costume, no candy. (I.e the 14 year olds that show up at 6:30 carrying a pillow case better have a creative answer to "what are you for Halloween?")

I always tell them if they don't have a good costume they need a good story. This year one middle school aged boy got frustrated when his first answer of "schoolboy" had already been given by someone else and I told him he better come up with something better. He frustratedly say, "Just give me the candy" which, me being a middle school principal, cracked me up and definitely did NOT earn him candy. After fumbling for another minute or so, he gave up and went on to the next house. After we stopped laughing, we thought we could have given him the option of singing "I'm a Little Teapot" for some candy. Later, some high schoolers, only one in costume, but all about 6'2", came around. Given the option of a good story or singing, one immediately dropped his bag and sang the teapot song complete with gestures. Earned his candy fair and square!

Marmish wrote:Later, some high schoolers, only one in costume, but all about 6'2", came around.

I haven't seen fear mentioned so far in this thread, but when we get these older "kids" at the door, I get scared. And also because they tend to show up later in the evening, later than I want to be answering my door for anybody that I don't know who isn't the pizza guy. I guess it depends on the neighborhood you live in. Maybe in Wilmette or something I wouldn't feel that way. I'm glad your "kids" turned out to be harmless.

I actually think it would be a good idea for Mayor Daley to use his bully pulpit to declare, "No trick or treating in Chicago after 7 PM, and no one older than 12." It couldn't carry the force of law, of course, but it would get some compliance. And it would give all of us who don't like older teens ringing our doorbells after dark an extra "permission" not to answer the door. Which might reduce the incidence of it in subsequent years.

I have a dream. I would like to hand out individually sealed cheeses (but not those over-priced little red ones). It’d be very convenient if some visionary Wisconsin cheese maker with resources (Roth-Kase, Crave Bros…?) could package small-ish tasting servings of their cheese selection. It’s for kids, so it wouldn't have to be fancy. Monster cheese? Kids like that. Another zillion dollar idea, offered up free. Happy Halloween.

David Hammond wrote:I have a dream. I would like to hand out individually sealed cheeses (but not those over-priced little red ones). It’d be very convenient if some visionary Wisconsin cheese maker with resources (Roth-Kase, Crave Bros…?) could package small-ish tasting servings of their cheese selection. It’s for kids, so it wouldn't have to be fancy. Monster cheese? Kids like that. Another zillion dollar idea, offered up free. Happy Halloween.

With mini bottles of New Glarus.

Louisa Chu wrote:

David Hammond wrote:I have a dream. I would like to hand out individually sealed cheeses (but not those over-priced little red ones). It’d be very convenient if some visionary Wisconsin cheese maker with resources (Roth-Kase, Crave Bros…?) could package small-ish tasting servings of their cheese selection. It’s for kids, so it wouldn't have to be fancy. Monster cheese? Kids like that. Another zillion dollar idea, offered up free. Happy Halloween.

With mini bottles of New Glarus.

I'm coming to your house for this treat of my dreams!

David Hammond wrote:I just got back from the Oak Park Farmer's Market where I picked up a bushel of Swiss Gourmet apples.

Now, when I was a kid, I never liked getting apples on Halloween, and I'm not going to foist fruit on any unwilling trick or treater, but these are marvelously full-flavored apples...plus, they look terrible. I was talking to Mr. Skibbe, and he said the Swiss Gourmets, usually mottled, were especially horrific this year because they had been exposed to frost, so their skin lumped up and became even more horribly mishapen and unnaturally discolored. Inside, however, they are cool and crisp, very sweet with a tart touch.

So, I'm going to offer my entire arsenal of treats for each kid to choose from. When we get to the apples, I'll explain that "They look monstrous but taste much better than any other apples I've had this year." I will also point out that there's a moral there somewhere, though I'm not exactly sure what it is.

Hammond

Walter Skibbe has been banished from the Oak Park Farmers' Market for one week for selling fruit grown by someone other than him:

http://www.oakpark.com/News/Articles/10-23-2012/Vendor_suspended_from_Oak_Park_Farmers_Market_for_selling_fruit_he_didn't_grow

David Hammond wrote:Walter Skibbe has been banished from the Oak Park Farmers' Market for the 2013 season:

http://www.oakpark.com/News/Articles/10-23-2012/Vendor_suspended_from_Oak_Park_Farmers_Market_for_selling_fruit_he_didn't_grow

The article said he was suspended for a week and was back the following week--did something else happen?

boudreaulicious wrote:

David Hammond wrote:Walter Skibbe has been banished from the Oak Park Farmers' Market for the 2013 season:

http://www.oakpark.com/News/Articles/10-23-2012/Vendor_suspended_from_Oak_Park_Farmers_Market_for_selling_fruit_he_didn't_grow

The article said he was suspended for a week and was back the following week--did something else happen?

Corrected. My careless error.

It's that time of year again.

stevez wrote:It's that time of year again.

Crest, Oral B and others in the Dental Industrial Complex encourage you to eat more candy this Halloween...and every day!!

Hi,

Years ago, I bought a gross of rubber skeletons. I still have them, still give them out on Halloween. I have the occasional kid stop by to remind me how much they have liked them.

One member of my family is embarrassed that it is the same old rubber skeleton I am giving out again. They buy candy anyway, which we end up eating.

Regards,

I'm down with rubber skeletons. It's a nice change after multiple Snickerses.

I s'pose our Trick-or-Treater days are officially over. We're in a 6-flat with a buzzer and intercom system, and kids usually bypass those. Well, if we get kids after all, I have off-brand pumpkin puree and Polish soda to hand out. Now that's what I call Halloween.

Pie Lady wrote:I'm down with rubber skeletons. It's a nice change after multiple Snickerses.

I s'pose our Trick-or-Treater days are officially over. We're in a 6-flat with a buzzer and intercom system, and kids usually bypass those. Well, if we get kids after all, I have off-brand pumpkin puree and Polish soda to hand out. Now that's what I call Halloween.

You could sit on the stoop and hand out treats from there. Puree and sodas might be a tough, though: you pretty much need to hand out packaged items and soda is in glass, so that's a problem.

We've laid in a stock of really pretty good individually packaged herbal teabags...and, of course, the usual bags of mixed little candy bars, because we feel like we have to give those out. When the kids select the tea, I always express extreme admiration for their "adventurousness" and provide a few brewing tips.

We have nary a stoop. I like your tea idea. Will the candy complement the tea and vice versa?

Pie Lady wrote:We have nary a stoop. I like your tea idea. Will the candy complement the tea and vice versa?

Yes, I pretty much "sell" tea as a good "pairing" with candy...and it is!