Spiders on the Menu

Once upon a time, on a busy Halloween afternoon, a harried mama (me) pulled some hotdogs out of the refrigerator to boil up for a quick Halloween supper before the kids headed out on their candy hunt.

On a moment's inspiration, I remembered hearing somewhere that if you cut a hotdog like this

and this...on both ends...

(just be sure to leave the middle uncut)

and then boil them up, the little "legs" curl up like an octopus...or a SPIDER!

I grabbed a marking pen and a piece of paper, and made a quick menu, which I taped to the lamp above the dining table:

Spiders with Blood
Ghost Soup
Transylvanian Trees
Tombstones
Invisible Juice

Just that quickly, a tradition was born, and we've been eating hotdogs with ketchup, clam chowder, broccoli, crackers, and water on Halloween ever since.

This year, I've decorated the front door with a cute little Halloween banner that I got for free here.

This was really easy. I made it in 20 minutes this morning. I printed mine on card stock.

We'll go over to the church tonight for the "Trunk or Treat" in the church parking lot. Everyone parks their cars--trunks in--in a big circle. We decorate our trunks and hand out candy to the little ones who make the rounds.

Tomorrow night we'll give candy to any ghosts and ghouls who come our way, along with "pass-along "cards to their parents, with a toll-free number to call and get a free DVD on how to have more fun with the family. If you'd like the DVD but you can't come to my house for candy, you can click here or call 1-888-537-3377.

Happy Halloween!