My Halloween Mission: Success!!!

Mission accomplished!!!

Okay, let me back up a bit.  This weekend, I discussed my Halloween mission with my dear husband, who pointed out that homemade cookies would turn into homemade cookie dust in a trick-or-treat bag.  So, I decided to give away homemade cookies to kids who wanted to eat one immediately, and give away candy for their goody bag.

This afternoon, I whipped out my Kitchen Aid stand mixer and a bag of Toll House chocolate chips.  Following the recipe on the bag, I made a double batch of cookie dough.  After the first batch of cookies expanded too much, I changed the baking method to create cookie bars.

Then, I waited.  Usually, we have a small horde of preschoolers show up between 4:00pm and 5:00pm, dressed up as ladybugs and firefighters and accompanied by their moms.  Today, no one showed.  Not one single kid knocked on our door between 4:00pm and 6:00pm.  If fact, it was almost 7:00pm before we got the very first trick-or-treaters for the night.

However, once we had trick-or-treaters, everything went smoothly.  We gave out homemade chocolate chip cookies to the trick-or-treaters to eat now (with permission from the parents for the wee ones), as well as giving out candy to take home for later.  Not only did we run out of cookies, but a friend of my son who was not going trick-or-treating called us, asking if we still had cookies left.  He was going out to trick-or-treat at our house, just to get a cookie!

No one called the cops.  No one accused us of attempting to poison their children.  And all the children enjoyed the cookies.  In fact, given the feedback we've gotten so far, I think we may make this a new Halloween tradition.

My Halloween Mission: Chocolate Chip Cookies

When I was growing up, my sister and I went trick or treating alone, from house to house, all around our neighborhood or town (depending on where we lived at the time).  We received packaged candies, apples, and homemade treats such as brownies or cookies.  Mom and Dad never checked our candy or treats for "tampering" nor did they limit how much we ate.  (They believed a stomach ache cured all children of overeating candy.  It did.)

Then the fear mongering began. Suddenly, only psychopathic child haters gave out homemade treats or fresh fruit.  Parents needed to accompany children of all ages trick or treating, since children somehow magically lost the ability to do this alone.  Packaged candy needs to carefully examined by a responsible adult to ensure the candy isn't poisoned.

Where did our common sense go?  How did it get to be so bad?

This year, I am going to rebel against the fear mongering, against the insanity of it all.  This year, I am going to make homemade chocolate chip cookies and hand them out in sandwich bags as treats.  I may even include my phone number, so that concerned parents can call and ask me questions.

Why am I doing this?

Because someone has to.  Someone needs to point out the wrongness of this situation.  And it might as well be me.  The only question I have is, how many people are willing to join me?  Will you give out homemade treats or fresh fruit this year?  If the answer is "yes", please leave me a comment and I'll cheer you on.  If the answer is "no", I'd like to know why.