Want Some Candy?

My costume on Halloween night...

Happy Halloween!

IT'S FINALLY HERE!

The greatest day of the year - I've literally been up since before dawn thinking about all that I have to get done today - there's no rest for the wicked on this, as Edgar Allan Poe called it, "Night of all nights in the year." I'm looking forward to filling treat bags, carving jack-'o-lanterns, watching scary movies, getting the yard haunt ready for action, and getting my own costume on. I think it would be wise if I could cram a nap in there somewhere since I was up with the rooster - but I'm sure I'll be too excited to sleep. I'm thinking there might be a pumpkin spice cappuccino in my future...

Here's wishing everyone a happy, haunted, Halloween! I urge you to remember your mythical past and call to mind why we celebrate this darkest of days. Remember that tonight the veil between the living and the dead is at its thinnest. Remember to be a kid (if only for one night). Be safe. Have fun. Remember the rules. I'll be out long after the last trick-or-treater has begged for candy. Stop by - if you dare...

TRICK OR TREAT!

-Hallowzing

Dirty Secret

Caramel Candy Corn
Originally uploaded by m kasahara

Here's a dirty little secret that you probably never knew about me: I hate candy corn. Yes, it's true - this lover of all things Halloween detests those little conical October treats. I'm not sure when this happened - it's been a good two decades or more since I've last tried one. Well, in the interest of mad science, my wife brought home the haunting season's first bag of this stuff (which naturally my kids can't get enough of), so I decided to give the corn confection another try. The result? Nope - still don't like them.

Strange...I remember eating this stuff as a kid myself and not having a problem with it. Maybe too much candy corn at some post-trick-or-treating candy binge in my mom and dad's living room when I was a kid has left me in this terrible condition? I will say that the taste seemed to have changed a bit (or my taste buds, anyway). It wasn't as strong of a 'candy corn' taste that I associated with my youth, but a more mellow, sugary, conr-syrupy taste - disgusting in its own peculiar way. Regardless, the traditional Halloween treat of candy corn still tastes utterly gross and it will probably be another couple of decades before I try this experiment again.

Man - it feels good to get that off my chest...