Happy Halloween everyone! Here are some old Halloween pictures of the kids. The Minnie Mouse and Cowboy picture is from 2004. The Chinese outfits from 2005. And Iron Chef Nathan is from 2002.

So what are your plans for the big day?

Lucie will be having a Halloween party at preschool. However, Nathan won’t. Costumes and parties are too distracting at school. In fact, the negative impact is so great on learning that they might as well stay home for all the work that would get done. So no Halloween activities at school for the big kids. I don’t have a problem with that since there are so many things to do in the community for Halloween.

Still as a family, we tend to keep it low key. Usually all we do is take the kids out trick or treating (Paul’s job) while I’ll be at home passing out candy. Nathan’s going to be Spider Man and Lucie’s going to be a kitty.

So the big question is, what to do with all that candy? CDKitchen has some great recipes for leftover Halloween candy, like this one for Candy Bar Smoothies:

Candy Bar Smoothies
Makes: 2

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup chocolate milk
2. 1 cup chocolate ice cream
3. 2 Kit Kat candy bars, chopped (this would probably be good with Snickers, Butterfingers, or any other type of chocolate candy bar)

Directions:

1. Combine the milk and ice cream in a blender; process just until smooth.
2. Pour into a bowl; cover and freeze 3 hours or until frozen.
3. Stir with a fork until slushy, and stir in wafer bars. Serve immediately.

I also like this one for Candy Bar Stuffed Baked Apples:

Candy Bar Stuffed Baked Apples
Makes: 4

Ingredients:

1. 4 medium apples (7 to 8 ounces each)
2. 1/4 cup coarsely chopped chocolate covered toffee candy bar
3. 1/4 cup coarsely chopped chocolate covered nougat candy bar
4. 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
5. 1/4 cup finely chopped chocolate covered toffee candy bar
6. 1/4 cup finely chopped chocolate covered nougat candy bar
7. 3/4 cup apple cider
8. 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

Directions:
Note: the double listings of candy bars is intentional. You need both coarsely chopped AND finely chopped.

1. Position rack in center of oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Place the apples on a cutting board. With a sharp knife, carefully cut the top 1/2-inch from each apple. Using an apple corer or a small melon baller, scoop out the stem, core, and seeds from each apple, leaving the bottom intact. Stand the apples in a 9-inch square baking dish, cut side up.
3. Divide the coarsely chopped candy bars among the apples, about 2 tablespoons of candy per apple. Place 1 1/2 teaspoons of the butter inside each apple, on top of the candy bar pieces.
4. Again, divide the finely chopped candy bars among the apples, about 2 tablespoons of candy per apple, placing candy on top of the butter inside each apple.
5. In a small bowl, whisk together the cider and sugar and pour the cider mixture over and around the apples.
6. Using oven mitts or pot holders, place the baking dish in the oven and bake the apples uncovered until tender, about 1 hour and 20 minutes.
7. Using oven mitts or pot holders, carefully remove the apples from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes. Serve hot or warm, spooning the pan juices over the apples, and add vanilla ice cream if desired.

Warning: These apples are very hot when coming out of the oven, and there is a lot of hot juice. Be careful not to spill any on you!

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