Halloween Cookin

There *is* no cooking on Halloween. It's my favorite holiday and I wasn't spending this year worrying about what everyone was going to eat. Not that there was time....

Today I took a vacation day. Yes, for Halloween. Partly because I was still working on The Bug's costume. He was Gaara from the Japanese comic Naruto. We made a big sand gourd for him to carry on his back (guess who carried it 60% of the time). The gourd, for those who are trying to figure out how to do it, was made thusly:

**Two rubber playground balls, one 16" and one 12", wrapped in plastic bags, duct taped together with a styrofoam disc separating them.

**Then, we paper mached over them with three layers of newsprint and one of white paper.

**When that was dry, we spray painted with a quick-drying water-based spray paint and decorated as needed.

Paper Mache Recipe
Boil four cups water with four tablespoons salt, one tablespoon cinnamon. The salt prevents mold, the cinnamon makes the "glue" smell much better.

Mix one cup of cold water into one cup of flour till smooth. Add to simmering water. Boil until well thickened. Adjust thickness as necessary. Let cool completely before using.

Please, this is *not* a food recipe. Don't eat it!

Absolutely nothing to do with anything: I don't understand why parents DRIVE their kids around from house to house in a development for Halloween. If all this is about is snagging the most candy, save everyone the hassle and buy an $8 bag at the store and just dump it in a bucket for the kid.

The Bug and I walked for almost two hours, watching the sun disappear, the moon rise, the stars brighten. As the air cooled wonderful aromas filled the air. On leaving one house I commented that they had something good cooking inside, and The Bug said, "YEAH. Smells like spaghetti. Wish they'd given me a bowl of THAT for Halloween!" (yeah, he's my kid.)

And if we were driving in our golf carts or minivans-with-the-doors-open we would have never been "pulled over" be the neighborhood firemen in their nice truck, with lights and sirens, and given a big handful of candy by nice, sweet do-gooders.

Ahhh--it was the golf-carters loss.