Happy Halloween & National Caramel Apple Day!

The first one to be mentioned today is of course Halloween. As this year’s Halloween falls on Monday, the first weekday, so a lot of people might have gone trick or treating yesterday. Us too, as today is also National Caramel Apple Day, we indulged Sunday-Funday with a nice brunch.

 

<Today’s Food>

Caramel Apple Belgian Waffles

Waffles – store bought, frozen food. It was my first time trying frozen waffles at home, and I loved them for being perfectly crunchy and fluffy!

 

Ice Cream – Store bought, the seasonal limited edition flavor of Caramel Apple Pie! Vanilla is always my first choice, but this time the fall themed flavor was calling my name so here we go! I loved the rich flavor of caramel apple, but where is “pie”? Maybe they’re hiding in the bottom, so let me have another couple of scoops now!

 

Chocolate Drizzle – I mixed Nutella with a little oatmilk to make the texture more like sauce instead of spread. 

 

Powdered sugar – I’m ready to see real snow this year!…Well, my neighbor doesn’t snow so I’d see edible snow scenes like this haha!

 

Some crushed pecan nuts – roasted and crushed…be careful not to burn your fingers! (Yes, am I listening to it!? Oops!)

The “treat” this year was great! We enjoyed the gorgeous brunch and headed to the farmer’s market after that. Bought several fresh goodies for another “treat” …It was great weekend:)

 

<Halloween in the US> 

It’s always good to see cute kids wear their favorite costumes and go trick or treating. But after living in the US for more than 15 years, I learned a very important fact, especially for small kids. According to my dinner buddy, even though they collected so many candies from trick-or-treating, the majority of them won’t be in their mouth. That’s because parents are afraid that so much sugar goes into their kids…probably within a single day or for the longest, a week. Therefore, while the kids are not looking, they hide them from the kids’ reach and who knows where they go? Parents’ mouth, of course. Some people have probably seen their parents have to make a dentist app after around a month later, or suddenly start exercising…Am I right?;)

 

This story reminded me of the Japanese custom in the New Year called “otoshi-dama.” In the family gathering event after New Year’s Day, we get a small envelope containing some money. (I think it sounds very familiar to Chinese people. It’s quite similar to “red envelope”, right? The Japanese one doesn’t have to be red, and I think it’s the only difference between them.) Immediately after our relatives handed that envelope to the kids, their parents appeared from nowhere and took the whole envelope by saying “Here, I’ll save it for you. I shall go to the bank to put them in the saving account with your name on it.” When kids get older, sometimes they succeed to have the whole money on their own. But, “the kids get older” means the age around 15~16, so the majority of the money goes into “only-god(and parents)-knows-where.”

 

If you have good parents, yes they come back in full or more…or less when they go to college/get married or any lifetime event happens. But in January, I’ve heard a lot of quarrels in public happened like below. 

 

Mom: “Can you hold my bag for a sec?”

Kid: “Sure…hey it’s my otoshi-dama! And why did the content get less!?”

Mom: “Oh! Well actually when I tried to pay at the grocery cashier, I realized I didn’t have enough money. I’ll put them back for sure.”

Kid: “No you won’t! Why didn’t you ask me permission first!? It’s stealing! Give me back my money!!”

Mom; “Kid, please! We’re in public!!”

 

Until now, I’ve never heard of kids yelling for missing halloween candies, but I wonder if a similar situation happens for Halloween candies. Did your Halloween candies disappear mystically when you were a kid? Did you succeed to find them and get them back? Or…the easy one, what is your favorite Halloween treat? (Mine is Twix…when I get them I feel as if I won the lottery haha!) I don’t usually buy these candies but I’m willing to learn what kids love for snacky-snack, so let me know:)

 

Happy Halloween, enjoy your trick or treating!

 

<Treating Ideas>

“Treat” doesn’t have to be sweet! Kabocha Squash Croquette

Healthy options available! Dried Apple Chips

Not too sweet, so don’t worry too much! Sweet Potato Pie

Enjoy home cooking and your own creation of homemade food:)