I got this recipe from Tears’n'Tantrums and I had to share. I’ll be using this for the holiday bake sale at my children’s school. The nice thing about fudge is that it’s hard to screw up, though I’ve managed to do so with the pumpkin pie fudge I made at Thanksgiving. This recipe is much better – lots more detail about how long to boil it, etc.

The nice thing about fudge is that it keeps and travels well. And if you leave the nuts out of it, almost anyone can eat it.

Eggnog Fudge

Ingredients:

1. 1/8 cup butter, chilled
2. 3 cups sugar
3. 1 cup eggnog
4. 6 ounces white chocolate chips
5. 1 1/2 cup mini-marshmallows
6. 1 cup almonds, chopped (or other nut)
7. 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
8. 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions:

1. Line a 9 x 9-inch cake pan with aluminum foil and set aside.
2. Spray the sides of a large saucepan with butter-flavor non-stick spray.
3. Add the eggnog and sugar, and bring to a rolling boil over medium to medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Boil for two full minutes.
4. Fold in the marshmallows, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Bring back to a rolling boil for another 6 minutes, stirring constantly.
5. The mixture will start to turn brown, which is normal, but if you see brown flakes in the mixture then turn down the heat a little.
6. Remove from heat and add the butter, chips, and nuts. Stir until thoroughly mixed or until the mixture starts to lose its glossy appearance. Pour into prepared pan.
7. Cool at room temperature. Remove from pan, remove foil, cut into 1-inch squares.

While you’re waiting for the fudge to cool, stop by my Win a Holiday Gift Basket of Children’s Books contest. You have until December 12 at midnight to enter!

Hate that you have buckets of Halloween candy, but feel guilty about throwing it in the trash? Here’s some ideas for what to do with your Halloween stash.

1.  Last year I suggested you make Candy Bar Smoothies or Candy Bar Stuffed Baked Applies in Trick or treat – what to do with all that leftover candy.
2. Call your local food bank and see if they’ll take it. While we can all agree candy is hardly nutritious, everyone likes a treat once in awhile.
3. CDKitchen has some great ideas like Butterfinger Trifle
4. Squidoo’s ideas for leftover candy are Apple Candy Bar Salad, Butterfinger Layer Cake, Candy Bar Cookies, and Homemade Fudge. Can’t you feel your rear end getting bigger by the second?
5. Parenthood.com has 10 ideas of their own. I love the idea of freezing it and then saving it to use on gingerbread houses at Christmas.
6. Anyone you know hosting a birthday party? Donate it for goodie bags. Or save it for your child’s next holiday party at school.
7. Families.com suggests chopping up the candy and combining it with ice cream for an ice cream pie. Why not use the candy as a “mix in” like at those fancy ice cream shops. Make sure the ice cream is a little bit melted – zapping it in the microwave for 10 seconds helps – before trying it out.
8. Lela Davidson at HubPages suggest sending the candy to soldiers in Iraq. Have the kids send some homemade cards and pictures along with your gift. Another idea is contacting your local military base or VA hospital and ask if you can make wounded vets some candy goodie bags.
9. Bring it to work (or send it with your spouse to work). The office vultures will take care of it in no time.
10. The Portsmouth Herald has a list of suggestions and recipes. I really like this one for Milky Way Pain Au Chocolat.

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I recently came across The School Secretary from the Black Lagoon at our school’s Scholastic Book Fair. I had to laugh as a few of the school secretaries are my friends. Most of them aren’t scary like in the book, though I think some PARENTS would disagree with me.

(Really, most school secretaries are nice. Their offices are NOT the “room of doom.” They’re just a little grumpy. I would be too if I had to deal with all those kids and the principal. Eesh!)

The Black Lagoon series of books by Mike Thaler are perfect for Halloween time, especially for kids ages seven to nine who like to complain about the “awful” school nurse, teacher, principal, vice principal, custodian, substitute, bus driver, cafeteria lady, gym teacher, music teacher, etc.

Visit Mike’s website to see what new books are coming out. He also has the Black Lagoon Adventures series of chapter books for more advanced readers.

Now for a pumpkin recipe from The Pumpkin Nook. Pumpkin Pie Fudge anyone? (IT’S AWESOME!)

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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!

Kristen from The Mom Trap was asking about good Halloween books for toddlers. Well, a great one is Usborne’s That’s Not My Monster – That’s not my monster…its eyebrows are too hairy, indeed!

Usborne’s Touchy Feely books are among their most popular titles with both parents and kids. For ages 9 months and up, even preschoolers love these books.

Make some monsters of your own with these seemingly easy to do how-to directions from Martha Stewart for Halloween Candy Creatures.

Monster Candy Creatures

You will need white and black gumdrops, a lollipop, 3 white spice drops, a green candy mint, black shoestring licorice, and a red sprinkle. Cut top and bottom off white gumdrop and press to top of lollipop. Cut top off black gumdrop and add for monster’s hair. Cut a white spice drop in half lengthwise for arms, and cut tops off two more to use for legs; press into place. Poke holes and add mint nose, snipped licorice eyes and neck bolts, and red sprinkle mouth.

I’m not sure where Martha’s staff got the lollipops. If you can’t find such large ones, maybe you can use a large marshmallow instead. Use marking pens (the kind with the edible ink – available at craft stores) or food coloring and a paint brush to decorate.