Of Sweets and Treats~~~~

Well Darklings,

Everything for the party is in place, just a few last minute things to get, decorations inside and outside are ready, the tables for the food are in place and the paper plates and such is all set out, on Friday we'll be making the frozen rings for the punch and jello molds of brains, hands, hearts and graveyard cakes.  Both Sis and I and Cousin Louise will be getting up early to make the main meals, mostly pasta dishes and salads, my brother is also bringing goodies as well and then they'll go back and get the children  and Monica after they do trick and treating in their neighborhood. 

And some of my friends are bringing pot luck goodies to help out, it will be I think more than enough,  invitations sent out and replies received.

Movies selected for the children, Hotel Transylvania is on the top of the list, plus Ghost-busters and Ghost-busters 2,   and Monster Squad.  So the house is decorated with cobwebs and spiders, fa la la la la....

And we set the clocks back one hour as well, oh that does make Halloween Night magical.

Doyle has suggested that instead of us cooking that we just get take out for the next few nights which makes so much sense to me.

And somehow he managed to secure an old hearse that has windows in it and a friend of his has rigged up a coffin inside it to look like someone is trying to get out, with sound effects.  I'm not going to ask Doyle where he found it, sometimes it's best not to know, but for me to not be surprised if it drives off at 1 a.m.   O.Kaayyy I'll accept that.

And CANDY, well I did find good deals at Target and Wal-Mart,  and the Candy Cauldron is ready to be loaded up.

So as the saying goes-----

Treat or Treat
Here we meet
Give us something good to eat.
Be it Candy
Be it Cake
Give us something good to take.

And speaking of Candy I came across this article that you Darlings might enjoy~~~

Now granted it is geared for the United States but perhaps others may find something simular


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Most Popular Halloween Candy in Each State

Rachel Bertsche

October 23, 2015

Halloween candy can be divisive — some kids love Snickers; others hoard Sweetarts. Almost everyone loves a peanut butter cup, but candy corn is a love-it-or-hate-it treat.

Product review site Influenster decided to get to the bottom of the candy debate, identifying the most popular Halloween treats by state. The survey polled more than 40,000 people from across the country. “Halloween is every American’s favorite fall holiday,” Aydin Acar, cofounder and CEO of Influenster, tells Yahoo Parenting. Because the the site focuses on customer reviews and consumer trends, Acar says, the survey was a natural fit.

Despite its controversial reputation, candy corn was the No. 1 pick in five states — Oregon, Wyoming, Texas, Tennessee, and South Carolina. No other candy won over that many states.

While Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups only won over two states —  Connecticut and Rhode Island — it was the most popular across users overall, scoring 4,348 votes. “If the U.S.A. were compared to other countries in the rest of the world, Reese’s would be our [national] candy,” Acar says. “I personally love M&M’s, so I stand by Michigan and Oklahoma.”

Of the 30 candies included in the survey, only three got votes from at least one user in each state: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Kit Kats, and Butterfingers. (Hungry yet?)

Some of the statewide winners seem obvious — Hershey’s Kisses (Mississippi and Missouri), Twix (Iowa and Washington, D.C.), and Twizzlers (Kansas) — but others were unexpected. Who knew that Airheads (Alabama and Washington) and Pixy Stix (Georgia) were such a hit?

The most important lesson here: When in doubt, hand out Reese’s.

Here’s a breakdown of the most popular candy in each state:

Alabama: AirHeads

Alaska: Snickers

Arizona:  Toblerone

Arkansas: Skittles

California: Life Savers

Colorado: Milky Way

Connecticut: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups

Delaware: 3 Musketeers

Florida: Nestlé Crunch

Georgia - Pixy Stix

Hawaii: 100 Grand Bar

Idaho: Butterfinger

Illinois: Snickers

Indiana: Reese’s Pieces

Iowa: Twix

Kansas: Twizzlers

Kentucky: Whoppers

Louisiana: Swedish Fish

Maine: Starburst

Maryland: Almond Joy

Massachusetts: Starburst

Michigan: M&M’s

Minnesota: 100 Grand Bar

Mississippi: Hershey’s Kisses

Missouri: Hershey’s Kisses

Montana: Kit Kat

Nebraska: Skittles

Nevada: Jolly Ranchers

New Hampshire: Tootsie Rolls

New Jersey: Sour Patch Kids

New Mexico: 3 Musketeers

New York: Sweetarts

North Carolina: Butterfinger

North Dakota: Sour Patch Kids

Ohio: Milky Way

Oklahoma: M&M’s

Oregon: Candy corn

Pennsylvania: Swedish Fish

Rhode Island: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups

South Carolina: Candy corn

South Dakota: Laffy Taffy

Tennessee: Candy corn

Texas: Candy corn

Utah: Nerds

Vermont: Almond Joy

Virginia: Reese’s Pieces

Washington: AirHeads

West Virginia: Oreos

Wisconsin: Laffy Taffy

Wyoming: Candy corn

District of Columbia: Twix

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In California Lifesavers is rated as the popular candy???   Excuse me but I prefer either See's Candies or Godiva Chocolates.    And if I know California's it's probably sugar free life savers.    Anyway Darklings I thought you'd be amused by this list,  although I do have to say that Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and Kit Kat have been doing heavy advertising. 

Next is drinks for Adults for Halloween...

Later Darklings

Of getting ready for Halloween~~~~

Hello My Darklings,

Are you all getting ready for Halloween?

I know I am.

With the help of Family (and a few friends) we were able to get the house decorated inside and out with all the Halloween decorations,  but Doyle wants to hold off on putting up Grim, and the fog machine.

The machine works very well and Grim has been checked out and is ready to go down stairs in the basement so all we have to do is take him apart in 3 sections, get him staked down set up the fog machine, a few tests the day before and we are good to go.

And we did buy more fog juice.  Doyle has the system set up so the fog goes through a pipe that runs through a Styrofoam cooler filled with dry ice and then out through another pipe that will be behind Grim, cooling down the fog will make it cling to the ground, so it will be buying the dry ice the day of Halloween.  And heavy leather gloves to handle it.

But it works very well. 

And candy, have we got candy!!!   Sis and I checked out the best prices on Candy and surprise but Lucky carried the Party house fun pack for a dollar cheaper than any place else, including Target and Wal-mart, between it and CVS I was able to get really good prices and deals, and I'm going back to Lucky tomorrow, Snickers I Need Snickers!!!  

We seriously loaded up, well we have to Halloween is on a Friday, and those little ghosts and goblins may be out later than usual.  So I have to have more than enough.

Brian our technical wiz was having fun setting up the video projector so we can have ghosts coming out of the wall in the Entrance Hall but it won't be blocked by people, and it will be on a loop I think things will be very interesting. 

When Halloween is on a Friday or Saturday Night I tend to go all out because one can rest the next day, but if it's on Sunday through Thursday I go a bit easier because people don't like to stay too late, many have to work the next day.

Some of the food will be made by myself and Sis, my brother and his wife will be bringing two dishes, my cousin is coming over and is also bringing something, and I know what everything will be so it won't be all salads,  the ovens and the microwave will be working overtime, but a lot of finger food, as well as plate food,  and drinks,  I've loaded up on soft drinks and wine and beer. 

In a way I'm glad I'm semi-retired, if I had to work full time I'd be DEAD!   Brian will be handing out candy over at Sis's place until about 9:30 then he'll join us, but after he's made sure that all the electronic stuff is working.

My house cleaning persons who clean for me once a week, I've asked if they would come over twice the week of Halloween  on Monday and Thursday to make sure everything is fluffed and dusted.  Of course I have to pay extra but it will be worth it.

I know the kiddies will be bored if it's a mostly adult party but I've remedied that,  I have a couple of fun Halloween movies "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken" "Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein" and "Hotel Transylvania" I think I'll lead off with Hotel first once the children sort of settle down and we'll play it in the ground floor room off of the Kitchen.  It won't be any problem to keep and eye on them.

But I have to see the opening sequence of "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken" it is one of the funniest bit's I've seen in ages.  I know it's on You Tube Darklings you need to at least see that.  And if the Kiddies are still up I have the two Elvira movies, Hmmm I think my oldest nephew if fine with that but I'm not sure about the younger ones.

I've been doing a lot of going here and there and Sis has been putting in overtime with some of her clients, Brian is visiting family for the weekend and Doyle is in the City in regards to some work, he just called me and will be home in an hour.  My feet are killing me so Sis suggest we call our favorite Chinese restaurant and just take it easy tonight.  And I agree.

Yesterday got a bit interesting we saw Crazy Joe out in front of his parents’ house with a Grim Reaper Halloween decoration, either it was given to him or he “borrowed” it from someplace else.  Now Doyle and I can observed Joe very carefully without him seeing us, but from what we could tell something is going on in his mind that he’s thinking that by putting his “grim reaper” up that it will somehow adversely affect us.  We know this because a neighbor told us that Joe told him that he (Joe) has a “secret weapon” that will chase us out of the neighborhood.   Well if that’s it it’s not much.  Crazy Joe just doesn’t understand us but then his brain doesn’t go to the penthouse anyway.

I  knew it was not going to the penthouse this morning, Joe was on his cell phone talking real loud to “someone” claiming we were doing Social Security fraud and a lot of other BS and that Doyle does child pornography etc.  So I said to Doyle “I hope it’s that cute young police officer that will visit us”.

And an hour later it was, Joe was sitting on his parents front porch steps with a stupid idiotic grin on his face watching everything, Off. "Cutie"  was apologetic his commanding officer said to make an appearance to keep Joe from constantly tying up the phone lines, seems he’s done it before on more than one occasion, so if an officer shows up it stops for a while.

Anyway Off. "cutie" told us the complaint and I said that Doyle is a retired  police officer and now is in private investigations, it would be no problem to check his record and if Doyle was a pedophile or into child Porn I’d of kicked his butt out and called the police. I did offer our computers to be searched and even Doyle said they were welcome to search his computer at work as well.

Off. "cuties"  Sargent was with him and agreed that Joe is harassing us and told us why they have to come out, and apologized for disturbing us and we said that it was fine, and again they suggested that we do a restraining order but we said since Joe is a 51/50 such a piece of paper would not matter to him if he’s on pot or has been drinking and not taking his meds.  It would be a useless exercise, and he’s not trespassing on our property, just then Crazy Joe's parents and Uncle and Aunt drove up from a day of Shopping and saw us with the police and Joe grinning stupidly and when his parents got out of the car Joe pointed towards us saying something like "see, see they're goona go to Jail!"  the Sargent and Off. "cutie" said they would talk to Joe’s parents, now that they've arrived. 

Off. "cutie"  noticed the Grim Reaper Joe put up and we said it was Joe’s scare tactics to scare us out of the neighborhood.  I told him if we manage to put up our Graveyard to come on by Halloween, we’re out between 5:30 and 9 to 9:30 at the latest to check it out.   He said he would as since Halloween is on a Friday night it will be all hands on deck pulling double shifts.  But his wife and two kids would come by for sure and I told him about the party and he and his Sargent were more than welcome.  As well as their families, the more the merrier. 

Well they went over and talked to Joe’s parents and Joe was yelling at them that he had a complaint about us, but then the cops said something to him and his Dad yelled at Joe and Joe got real quiet. 
After a bit the officers left, Joe’s Dad said a few choice things to Joe that I couldn’t catch and Joe went back into his cave, while his parents and relatives went into their house, later on before we left to buy the candy two of the daughters showed up and went into the parents’ house, I guess they’re going to talk about Joe, but since that everything has been quiet.

Earlier this afternoon one of the daughters came over and apologized about Joe and I said not to worry, we all know he's not well in the head, and that she and her children were welcome to come over to trick or treat on Halloween and she said they love coming to my house and wouldn't miss it for the world. 

Ahhhh our neighborhood is never boring.  But now I must call in that order or we won't be eating dinner until late I don't want to miss "The Good Wife".

One last thing Darklings,  I just received my J. Peterman catalogue and in it are some wonderful dresses and such that I would call very Retro, 1930's Goth.  I'm not happy with their shoes but I am going to order several of their dresses which would be perfect for work, day and a couple of them for fancy evening wear. 

Later Darklings

Lilly Collins in a perfect Ethereal Goth evening dress. So other worldly.

Something all Elder Goths should live up to.