A Whale of a Tale and it's All True, I Swear By My Tattoo!

Saturday night was our Ward's costume party/trunk or treat. For those of you playing along at home, this means that all of the Halloween costumes for this year had to be completed on or before that day, a full week before Halloween proper. Most years, an earlier deadline like this would spell trouble (the year the activities committee scheduled our party 2 weeks before Halloween caused me to nearly lose my mind!) but I can reveal to you that all of the costumes did get finished in time--with at least an hour and a half to spare before the party started. Definitely a new record for me!

So the drama this year wasn't the costumes, it was the dessert. Because this is Halloween, my FAVORITE holiday (I don't include Christmas and Easter in the running, just so you know) I can't just show up toting a plate of regular brownies or some such. That wouldn't be honoring the day. Instead I spent quite a while Friday morning searching the Interweb for creepy-yet-adorable Halloween themed treats. I decided on bedecking chocolate cookies with Martha Stewart's marshmallow skulls. I further decided that the cookies should be made using a brownie mix (to save time and ruin the cookies all in one swift motion) covered with chocolate ganache (to further complicate the process and ensure that if the brownie mix didn't ruin the cookies, this topping would). Mid morning Saturday I made the cookies. They were terrible. The edges were so hard I was worried that someone at the party would need emergency dental work after biting into one. And then that ganache. Oy vey. It wouldn't set up! The marshmallow skulls were easy and adorable, until I realized an hour later that marshmallows setting out for any length of time tend to want to shrivel and harden. By the time I was done, this is what I had:

(Cute, but inedible)

So I hurried up and decided on Plan B. I called Pie on his way home from whatever it is he does all day Saturday--I think it is work--and asked him to pick up a box of miniature ice cream sandwiches. He did. We unwrapped them and he artfully placed them on a plate covered with aluminum foil (SPOOKY!) while I swiped the skulls off the cookies and slapped them on the sandwiches. The sticky ganache sure came in handy then!

On to the party. About a week ago, while perusing the Halloween aisle at Jo Ann's, I happened upon my Halloween costume. Two full sleeves of tattoos. $9.99. I snatched those beauties up and knew I had a winning look. I showed up Saturday at the party in my usual outfit (Khaki's, black short sleeved Tee) and looking classy in my tats. My mother hated them, and didn't even take my picture. (But don't worry kids, this is just the first post about the costumes and is just meant to whet your appetite for the next few posts--with more pictures--to follow.)

Here are the 4 kids who dressed up this year. Sid has decided he no longer needs my services. I'm a little sad but also relieved. He always wanted the most complicated costumes!

Just in case you need help: Josie, Gingerbread Man. Jon, Rudolph. Tommy, a scary ghost! And Calvin, a chicken.

(Plus Sid)

The after-party. The kids with all their loot, trading candy. Some of my kids may have a future selling shares on Wall Street, or something. All I can confirm is that by the end of the evening, Tommy had very little candy--all of it sucky. And the others had a lot of high quality stuff. Go figure.

Can't wait to do it again Saturday! Oh, and Friday too. Another Trunk or Treat party and a neighborhood soiree.