my halloween mistakes ... or not !

yeeesssss ... I went TRICK-OR-TREATING until the age of 15 … I know, I’m a big baby ! As an adult, many Halloween parties were organized in this apartment with all the post-party destruction that came along. But with my best childhood friend Pierre and the other kids around the neighborhood, his sister Sophie, the twins Martin & Marco, my sister Stella and whoever else wanted to tag along, Halloween was an event that required preparation. As kids, we would begin the costumes at least one or two month before … Pierre’s dad had built him a workshop in the garage so we spent time measuring, cutting, sawing, sanding, painting … sometimes for costumes but most of the times building crazy weapons for target-practice such as cross-bows, bows, arrows, swords, spears, shields, etc. but we also created more artistic stuff … we weren’t savages, we were kids, we were happy and we’re still alive !

You would think that with all the planning and preparation I was used to for the long awaited Halloween event when I was a kid, that I would at least have better planned my Halloween cooking session … Last week, I simply wanted to make pumpkin caramels, like the chewy square soft caramels we loved receiving every year. The ingredients were ready and measured, things started heating up and when I went looking for my candy thermometer, it was nowhere to be found … PANIC ! Trust me, do not even attempt making any solid or hard or medium-solid candy without a candy thermometer that can at least go up to 250°C … and no, a meat thermometer won’t do the job either (it can only measure up to 120°C). Okay, I got upset, I did my best, changed course and attempted making a pumpkin caramel that was thicker and more solid than a sauce and softer than a candy but still workable and malleable and moldable … Now from this error, new ideas sprung and one mistake or miscalculation actually turned into 3 different re-worked sweets & candy ideas that you see here (and which I will post very soon because they were quite good, some simpler to make and some less simple) …

There are 3 morals to this story, 1^st : it’s okay to enjoy life and act like a kid (in France Halloween isn’t such a big deal but some years it’s more popular than others), 2^nd : be sure you’ve checked you have all you need before you start doing anything complicated (by the way, I found the thermometer 2 days a go), 3^rd : even when you think you’ve totally screwed up, you can fix it and maybe end up with unexpectedly surprising and satisfying results ! Happy Halloween & Happy Everything guys & gals … :)