cooking
Halloween High Jinks TEXT JANE GAITHER
The trickster gene must be dominant. Around our house at Halloween, I need to check the sprayer by the sink to make sure there’s no rubber band around the handle, examine the inside of my shoes for goo and check the sugar bowl to make sure it contains sugar–not salt–before I sweeten my cereal. I come from a family of tricksters. As a child I remember my family’s playfulness. My father especially delighted in Halloween pranks that kept my mother, brother, sister and me accustomed to finding plastic spiders at the bottom of our milk. Each year we made our own costumes from an ancient trunk of clothes, worn-out hats and a few wigs my mother bought in the 1960’s. Rarely did we want masks from the drug store as they were all uncomfortably hot and itchy. We were remarkably satisfied with examining the selection, scaring each other by trying masks on in the store and then leaving empty handed. When my brother was five though, he became both fascinated and repulsed by an E.T. mask and he insisted on having it although he was too terrified to wear it. He proudly showed the mask to the neighborhood kids and then made my mother hide it at the top of the hall closet before bedtime. During the day he kept it close staring at it, poking his fingers through the eye holes and snapping the elastic strap. My father tried to get him to wear it for Halloween but he refused. He was happier to go as a robot wearing a box spray-painted silver. We traipsed from one neighbor’s house to the next until our pillowcases were heavy and then returned home to negotiate trades and eat our best pieces before being shooed off to bed. By this late hour both the sidewalk and the candy bowl by the door were empty. My father settled in his chair with a few pilfered
96 | At Home Tennessee • October 2011
chocolate bars and watched the end of the football game while my mother disappeared downstairs to run a final load of laundry. In the quiet, the doorbell rang. My sister and I sat up in bed wondering who was still allowed to be out trick or treating. We heard my father walk to the door, open it and then seconds later shout, “Marti! Marti! Come quick!!” My mother ran up the stairs. “What is it?” she asked. “You’ll never believe it,” he said with agitated astonishment. “A fullgrown, naked woman wearing an E.T. mask rang the doorbell, said ‘BOO,’ FLASHED me and ran away!” He was completely flabbergasted. “I’ve never seen such a thing!” My mother solemnly nodded at him, reached into the laundry basket, pulled out the E.T. mask and placed it over her face. “Trick or treat,” she said. When it dawned on him that in his bewilderment he hadn’t recognized his own wife, he hooted with laughter. Even now he can’t see a picture of E.T. without chuckling. I make this “tricky” popcorn snack at Halloween for my favorite pranksters. It is
similar to Cracker Jack but with a surprise in your mouth and not in a box. The result is a sweet and crunchy treat with a bit of heat on the back of your palate. It’s my trick for Halloween. Tricks and treats to all of you!
Tricky Treat Popcorn Ingredients: 3 quarts fresh popped corn (not microwave), lightly salted (Use a little oil when popping–it will taste better.) 1 can mixed nuts (I like to have a variety but you can use just peanuts if you prefer.) 1 cup dark brown sugar ½ cup Alaga syrup (or ¼ cup molasses and ¼ cup dark corn syrup) ½ cup butter ½ tsp. salt ½ tsp. baking soda ½ tsp. vanilla 1 tsp. cayenne pepper Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 250˚. 2. Place popcorn and nuts in a large roasting pan. 3. Combine sugar, syrup, butter and salt in saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil for 4 minutes and remove from heat. 4. Add vanilla, baking soda and cayenne. Pour over popcorn and nut mixture and mix well to coat. 5. Bake for 1 hour, stirring often. Note: When you add the baking soda the volume will increase for a few moments so make sure you use a 2-quart saucepan so you won’t make a sticky mess.