A Halloween Hack

Who needs to hack Halloween, you ask? When in prior years you've been known as the Grinch of Halloween (me), you (I) need a few tricks up your (my) sleeve to get through. I'm pleasantly surprised to report that we all had a wonderful Halloween, and I wasn't grinchy at all.

George and I had a busy morning preparing all the things—candy bowls filled, dinner made, servingware set out, costumes and trick or treat bags laid out—so that after we signed Eloise out of school early after her parade, we could relax for a couple hours and spend time with my parents, who were here watching Mimi and George while Nick and I attended the parade.

Around 4:00 I served this spinach dip along with baby bell peppers, baby carrots, and pita chips. The dip was a hit with the adults, and I felt good knowing my kids would get their veggies in before the onslaught of sugar. It was just enough of a snack to tide everyone over for trick-or-treating and then we ate a slightly later dinner (chicken chili, salad, corn muffins) when we got home.

We did TWO streets (well, one and a half) for the first time this year, and the girls loved getting to hand out candy once we got back home. A great time was had by all.

And today I'm back to being the grinch, as I slowly begin to remove candy from everyone's bags and put it all together for Eloise's school collection for the troops.

I hope you had a happy Halloween!