Monster brownies

We were invited to a Halloween party and asked to bring our scariest
dish. I was going to try these but then came across this recipe and changed plans.

They weren’t very tasty, probably because I used a mix and I’m just
not impressed with brownie mixes these days. But they were a lot of
fun to make and they looked good. River had the job of unwrapping all
of the mini Reese’s. I applied the white frosting, then he put on the
chocolate chips as pupils. I had to go out and buy some supplies to
make the hair, but I have big cake decorating plans for River’s
upcoming birthday, so it makes sense to start collecting some basic
supplies.




At work unwrapping the Reeses





A plateful of eyes




Our monster brownies


If I were to make them again and actually wanted them to taste good,
I’d look for a good brownie recipe. But for fun and a good
impression, they definitely did the job.

Halloween

This was the first Halloween that River was able to anticipate,
understand and fully participate in, which made it so much fun. For
the first time ever, I put up Halloween decorations. We went on a
walk through the woods, we went trick or treating, we attended a
party. Throughout, he never expressed the slightest discomfort with
the skeletons, spiders and witches, but accepted it all as part of the
fun. He enjoyed the trick or treating and loved his pumpkin basket,
but his interest was more in the impressive decorations than in the
receipt of candy.

“I don’t need any more candy,” he said, after visiting several houses.
But he loved seeing the other kids in costume and examining the yard
decorations.

He wore an Elmo costume that we got for free and was very well
received. Even a middle-schooler we passed on the street said it was
a very cool costume. Hopefully it will still fit next year.

Since he didn’t go to all that many houses, his stash of candy wasn’t huge. I
let him have several treats on Halloween itself, plus he ate a copious
amount of peanut butter frosting, while helping me make the monster
brownies. He did get some less damaging treats – like pretzels and
packets of goldfish and teddy grahams. So after he went to bed, I
cleared out the corn syrup, highly artificial and highly
gooey/cavity-causing bits, leaving some lollipops, the less harmful
treats and a selection of toys, stickers and other knick-knacks. I
think the pumpkin still had enough stuff in it for him to go through
that he won’t notice or mind the disappearance. But I’m not sure how
to handle it in future years.

I think Halloween is going to become an important celebration in our
house for at least the next decade or so. It’s so much fun to see his
excitement, wonder, and enjoyment. It’s also one of the only times we
get to see some of our neighbors. For a short while, we all get to
become kids again.

What is your Halloween candy policy? How does it work for you?

Baby's First Halloween

We made it through River’s first Halloween pretty successfully I think. At 5:15 we made a short loop around our block to say hi to the neighbors. At 6 my Pakistani friend Hina came over with her 3-year-old son Nasir. It was Nasir’s first time trick-or treating. He wore a beautiful golden Pakistani shirt with loose white pants and carried an Elmo trick or treat basket. River was a Winnie the Pooh.

We walked over to the Nobel Prize winner’s house, where River got a Reese’s peanut butter cup. I separated it from the rest of the candy, as though I could do something special with it. We did take a picture of him at the door with this man, who was dressed up as the famous person who used to inhabit his house. I guess I can take a picture of River with the peanut butter cup and later tell him who it came from.

It was so much fun watching Nasir trick or treat. At the beginning, he couldn’t even say trick or treat. When he came to our house, he disregarded my offers of candy in his excitement to say hi to the baby. It didn’t take him long to learn though the magic that “trick-or-treat” could bring. He was soon running so fast toward the houses and up to the front porches that he fell at least twice. But he had a great time and so did his mom, who thanked me for urging them to join us.

They have been having a very rough time because they have been forced to be separated from Hina’s husband (and Nasir’s father). Both Hina and her husband were Fulbright scholars. Her husband did an MBA and Hina is working on her Ph.D., both at Ivy League universities. Fulbright rules require recipients to return to their home countries for two years after finishing their degree. The purpose is to offer their skills to their home country. Which is all well and fine. Unless you have a wife who is not done with her degree yet. You think they might offer him an extension and let him stay with his wife and young son until she finishes her degree. Nope. He was forced to go back and the family is separated by thousands of miles. These are brilliant people who want to return to Pakistan. They are integrated into American life, speak perfect English, can be wonderful ambassadors between the two countries. And then the program that is supposed to help relations pays no attention to a family’s desire to be together. I digress, but I think it’s really sad and made the Halloween fun all the more special for this little boy who has just lost his father.

One of many interesting features of my town is that there are multi-million dollar houses located just blocks from what is locally referred to as “the ghetto” or “the barrio.” This area is not bad as far as ghettos or barrios go, but it is the poorest area of town. We were having dinner there, so on the way, we stopped at a couple of multi-million dollar houses just for the fun of approaching places we normally don’t come near. The residents of the street we walked down did a great job on decorations. One house offered us small cups of merlot. Most of them gave out the same snickers, Reese’s peanut butter cups and Milky Ways as everyone else. They had hordes of kids coming by, some of whom were pretty grabby.

We continued walking to the barrio, where we had pizza with Hina. Nasir had passed out from the excitement and slept in his stroller all through dinner. River remained intrigued. He liking holding his plastic pumpkin.

We had a 15-20 minute walk home and that was tough for River, since it was way past his bedtime and (bad parents) we’d lost his bottle on the walk. But he’d held up well until then and seemed to have fun. We got some nice pictures – his first trick or treating, him at the door with a famous guy, pictures with our friends and other fun shots. When we got home he sat on the potty and pulled his loot out of the pumpkin one piece at a time. We won’t be letting him eat it, but I was glad he got the enjoyment of emptying it!

All the walking ending up being good for the parents. I counted 15,000 steps on my pedometer. Hopefully that will neutralize some of the negative effects of the weekend candy consumption.

I’m pretty excited to be back in the Halloween swing of things after a 20 year or so absence. I realize it will be an important holiday for us for at least the next 10-15 years. And I’m cool with that. I think it’s a fun celebration and I look forward to our family actively participating.

Kiddie Halloween parade

On Thursday afternoon our town’s art’s council organized a kiddie Halloween parade. Tons of kids, dressed in their costumes congregated along with their parents in the center of town. The fire department let kids try sitting in a truck. A band played upbeat music. People milled around, looking at all the darling costumes.

The police closed off the streets and the participants filled the streets, parading two blocks to another area where another band played and they were treated to Rice Krispie bars, animal crackers and juice boxes. It was such a nice event and so much fun for kids of all ages.

I’m not sure whether or not we’ll be here next year. This is a perfect place to raise River – a small, safe, well educated community, with excellent public services and great public schools within walking distance of home. It’s not the best place for me to continue my career. So I’m looking into potential jobs elsewhere. But I attend an event like this Halloween parade and I wonder why I even think of leaving.

Halloween and Babies

Following up on yesterday’s post, I’m thinking about what to do on the real Halloween, October 31st. Up until the family Halloween party, I didn’t think we’d do anything. Maybe hand out some candy at home.

Seeing how much fun River had with the festivities and the ghoulish items made me think he’d enjoy more than sitting at home. I thought I’d take him treat-or-treating. The idea hadn’t occurred to me before, but hey, we have a costume, we have the time, we have plenty of houses in our neighborhood and I haven’t been trick or treating in about 20 years. I’d enjoy it too.

I was all excited about my plan, until I saw some people grousing online that they don’t like it when adults with a baby come to their door because they think they just want free candy. Granted, my income is low at the moment. But my husband’s is decent and if I really wanted candy, I could buy it at bargain prices shortly after Halloween.

Basically, I want to have a fun time with River. I want to have pictures of his first time trick or treating. I’m not sure whether we’ll still be living here next year, but this is an amazing place for a first trick-or-treating experience – safe streets, lots of kids, some fantastic houses to visit. One house within walking distance looks like the Munsters and I know of at least one Nobel Prize winner who will be handing out candy.

So, what would you do if you had a sociable, friendly almost 11-month-old who cannot say trick-or-treat, nor eat the candy, but would probably have a blast being out with other kids, meeting people, and having things dropped in his pumpkin?

Family Halloween Fun

Ever since my nieces came along, 9 and 11 years ago, my mom has held a Halloween party in her home for them. Each year, she tries to add another scary tchotchke to her collection. Every year, the decorating gets better and better. But the traditions remain the same – a family dinner together, pumpkin carving, a search for the big hairy spider, photos with all kinds of corny accessories, and dessert.

I participated once, years ago, when my nieces were still small. I wore a blond wig, someone else wore a cat’s face. My nieces had a small table just to themselves, where I helped them frost Halloween cookies. I still love the goofy pictures from that celebration. And I was so excited to bring River for his first ever Halloween party.

Here are the decorations:

And the fun:

These days, they get gift bags.

We might start replacing Christmas with Halloween as the high priority annual visit.

Do you have any special Halloween traditions?