Happy Halloween! What kind of candy did you/do you buy?

[iL Divo]

Just leaving the market with 6 large bags of trick or treat candy in tow.
Was talking to the kid and we discussed how much and what kind to buy this year.
My criteria: the trick or treaters will like it, it won't get tossed, I'll have enough, we'll eat it if there's any left, I cover all age groups & if there's any chocolate products left I can use it to make cookies for tomorrow for the staff @ work and hubby's too.

50 pieces Swedish Fish&Sour Patch Kids
80 pieces Milk Duds-Whoppers-Twizzlers-Hershey's Mobster Mix
80 pieces multi little kid mix with suckers, Pick-see sticks, Blow Pops
123 pieces Dots-Smarties-Mike&Ikes-Sugar Daddy's-Jolly Ranchers
2lb bag of Mars assorted chocolate snack size bars
(no # listed) of assorted Twix-Kit Kat

We should be set. How bout you? What'd you buy for the ghouls that will grace your front yard tonight?

[jujuthomas]

we don't play any more, but when we did I bought things that I DON'T like, so I wouldn't eat the candy. Things like dumdum, jolly ranchers, things that are primarily NOT chocolate. :)
I always sent leftovers to DH's office.

this year I got 2 bags of tiny packs of skittles for the office candy jar because our admin loves 'em and people usually buy chocolate for the candy jar.

[fldhkybnva]

It's the complete opposite in my house. We buy chocolate because most of us aren't big fans, but can't resist the tangy fruity candy.

[sandylc]

Even as a small child, I would dump out my Halloween candy and sort out the chocolate to eat - the darker, the better. I didn't much care for the sugary colored things. A little snob even then - ha.

[FrankJBN]

Liking one food and disliking another does not make one a snob. Unless of course you think are are better than others because of your likes /dislikes.

[sandylc]

Ha - thanks.

[iL Divo]

agree fldh, must admit to opening and eating a sourpatch package of worms myself today.
soooooooooo good

[FrankJBN]

I offer a choice of Little Debbies snack cakes or choclate bars. I am surprised by the number of kids who choose the cakes over the candies.

The cakes are up to 17.9 cents a piece, when I started a few years ago most were under 10 cents each.

[iL Divo]

love little debbies snacks.
have had several favorites over the last several years.

[sandylc]

82 - grand total of goblins. We should have given larger handsful of candy - it's always hard to judge how much to give to get rid of it all. We aren't big candy eaters and have problems getting rid of the leftovers.

[iL Divo]

we say that every year, hard to know how much to hand out from the get go due to the running out factor.
suggestion, call a church and ask them if they'd like your leftovers, bet they said yes please :)

[rabaja]

We had a ton of assorted Lindt balls leftover from our wedding reception back east earlier this month. I'm a new convert to Lindt and love all of the flavors you find at the outlets that I never knew existed before!
Anyway, in an effort to use them up and not eat them ourselves, we decided to give them out for Halloween along with some milky ways and twizzlers (don't ask) to supplement.
I was sure we'd blow through all the candy and even worried we'd run out. We got three knocks at the door all night.
Don't know if it was the persistent rain, or us being relatively new to our neighborhood, but what a disappointment!
Good news for our "offices" today though :)

[RUK]

Due to Sandy, we will have Trick or Treaters coming by on Monday! Hopefully my street will then be free of downed power poles/lines and trees....
I bought lots of Pepper Mint patties, in case we have left overs. Actually that never happens.

[iL Divo]

PP make great inclusions to a typical chocolate chip cookie, just an FYI

[Bacardi1]

Well, just as expected, ZERO visitors yesterday. So guess - big sigh - we'll just have to polish off those Almond Joys, 3 Musketeers, & Hershey's Special Dark with Almonds bars all by ourselves. What a shame. ;)

And I even carved a fairly nice "Graveyard Raven" pumpkin which I put out on the deck lit with an "Autumn Leaves" scented Yankee glass votive candle.

[kubasd]

I'm very impressed!! With your pumpkin, that is. Well, and your candy choices too ;)

[iL Divo]

gorgeous carving................. well shoot, where do you live bacardi {San Juan Puerto Rico?} hahahah, I'm comin next year to your house............)))

our DD is a master carver like you, she is AMAZEBALLS!

[Bacardi1]

Thanks so much!! I love doing it just for the sake of the two of us enjoying it, although it is a shame that we're so very very far off the beaten track that no one else sees it except for the occasional UPS/FedEx guy.

Here's another one from a couple of years ago. This one is the one I consider my very best. Three wolves baying at the moon.

[gaffk]

Wow those carvings are outstanding. Can you come to Philly next year and carve a few for my front porch? (I promise, more than two people will see and enjoy them.)

Or head to the Hudson Valley next year and offer your services to the Blaze festival.

[Florida Hound]

If you are from Philly, you may enjoy knowing one of our staple Halloween seasonal treats (for our household, not for Trick or Treat visitors) is Ivins Ginger Wafers. We discovered this Phila. regional and seasonal cookie while on vacation around Philadelphia and Valley Forge maybe 15 years ago. Every year I post a plea on Chowhound asking if anyone knows where I can get Sweezels Ginger Wafers or Ivins in an actual store in Florida, but we have resigned ourselves to order them via the web. I brought a box of Ivins in to a staff meeting today (11/02) and my colleagues gobbled them up with great enthusiasm.
Your comment about the Hudson Valley made me homesick, but I had never gone to the Blaze festival growing up. And I can't sign off without adding my kudos to Bacardi1- wonderful artwork!

[gaffk]

I'm a Sweetzels gal myself . . . Fall arrives officially when ginger snaps appear in the stores.

I first saw Blaze at 40+ a few years ago. It is worth a trip.

[iL Divo]

gorgeous, what talent you have Bacardi.
but you didn't invite me for next year yet............ :)
you should put your works up for show somewhere like at a dentist office or real estate office, somewhere you frequent that would thoroughly enjoy having your gorgeous work on display and celebrate the season as well.
how about adorning some hotels around town. I know a hotel in Boston that highly decorates for the Halloween Autumn Harvest Thanksgiving time of year. They go all out with the amount of pumpkins and gourds and lit candles and their fireplace is always on day or night. it's magical.
they may even offer compensation if you'd do a few carvings for them, who knows.

[Bacardi1]

Again - many thanks!! But I can't take any credit for creativity, since except for pumpkins that I just carve with regular Halloween faces (like the attached), I use the pumpkin-carving patterns found for sale everywhere this time of year.

And one new thing I discovered this time around was that I definitely ain't no Spring Chicken anymore. Woke up yesterday morning with claw-like hands & extreme wrist pain. Took me more than a few minutes of pondering how I might have injured myself the day before, before I realized it was simply carving that pumpkin (tightly clutching those tiny little cutting tools over a long period of time) that had obviously awoken some arthritis issues I have. So for next year, I'll definitely be prefacing any carving I do with a healthy dose of Advil - lol!

[RUK]

Beautiful carvings! Nice job!

[greedygirl]

I am not a huge fan of trick or treating, but it's becoming popular in the UK so I got chocolate eyeballs, skulls and some mini packets of Haribo. All gone by about 8.30.

[1MunchieMonster]

We're in a weird zone between the "noone comes" and "hundreds of kids". I only bought one batch of Sun Chips (20 full sized packets) this year since the numbers of kids in the past has been dwindling, knowing full well we had a couple bags of asian candies (guava and tamarind) as backup. In the past it's been goldfish crackers and full-sized Reese's PB cups, but I didn't see the snack pack sizes of the goldfish crackers when I was shopping.

Well, I'm happy to report we had to go to the backup candies! Yay! One of the kids even noticed that they were non-standard asian candies said how she liked trying new kinds. Expanding tastebuds makes me happy.

[vttp926]

Didn't really buy any candy for the house since last year was our first year in the house and we got 3 trick or a treaters total and I was going to be at church for their fall festival. But for work I went through 2 bags of Kit Kats and 1/2 a bag of Reese Cups. Finished the other 1/2 of a bag and additional bag of Reese Cups at church. But my private stash as Snickers Almonds, Take 5 and Hershey cookies and cream.

[olyolyy]

Payday
Almond Snickers
Peanut Butter Snickers (squared)
Snickers

I tasted all of them for quality assurance purposes.

[DuchessNukem]

Pretty sure the FDA mandates sampling, olyolyy. Thanks for doing your bit for food safety.

[jmcarthur8]

We gave out Twizzlers and Nerds tonight. We had a steady stream of kids for a few hours.
When my boys were young, we'd save all the happy meal toys, used and unused, that they'd accumulated through the year. For the little kids, we'd give candy, then one of my sons would hold out a big basket of the toys for the little ones. It was such a hit, the children would come every year for the toys. Even the teenagers would want them - and they pleaded so nicely, we'd give in and let them choose one, too. We had a lot of fun with that, and cleared out the toybox to boot!

[iL Divo]

you know what jm, those toys can be treasure chests or highly treasured.
they don't make a lot of them anymore and have seen tv shows where they are high in demand, smart of you.

[DuchessNukem]

OMG. I finally found a 30-pack of full-size assorted bars (Go Costco! Yeah!) that I had stashed. Little buggers went through it like locusts. MY DOVE BARS!!!!! Finally had to shut down at 8:45 rather than handing out sheets of seaweed, boxes of Sure-Jell, and cornhusks.

Final count: 86 kiddos. And after 20+ years in TX (orig from NY), I am still always surprised and impressed by how polite + sweet they are. :)

[iL Divo]

love those kind of kiddlebugs Duchess.
last year it was my turn to go man our DS#1's house when everyone else was out with the little ones. I'd already been out with them so someone had to go home and continue passing out candy. these huge teenagers at one point came to the door and we all know teenagers love candy too which is fine with me. a 14ish year old girl walked up and pushed little kids away so she could get to the door ahead of them, I saw it and fumed. I went to give her my handful of 3 different treats and she looked inside the caldron full of candy and saw what I'd pulled out for her. she then says, "no not that, I want those in there" pointing to the heath bars-milk duds- snickers. I frosted over and said, "you know what? you just pushed a little child out of the way so you could get in front and take candy first and then you tell me what you want? this isn't a fast food joint where you order, how ungrateful, you can leave and leave now." at that moment our son came home with his littlest who'd had it for the night and saw what'd just transpired. he asked what happened and when I told him, he rolled his eyes, like 'really mom' you sent a teenager away for being rude?" I'm still not over that ingrate......aaargh

mostly though, you're right, the kids are so sweet and adorable.

[sandylc]

We had one rude kid who told my husband to stop talking and hand out the candy (wish I'd thought to say that - ha). Anyway, the kid's buddies told him he was rude and corrected him! I went over to the door then and said, "Who said that?" And the kids chimed in with his name. I then said, "so-and-so, that was actually very funny, but it was also very rude...." And the kids agreed loudly. Only incident other than that was an 8-year-old kid who was convinced that something evil was hiding in the neighbors' bush - hubby played hero and checked it out. Cute.

[maxie]

The little kids are sweet and adorable (especially the lion who crawled up the steps roaring), but I learned my lesson with teenagers after scraping pumpkin roll up (formerly intricately carved mini masterpieces) off the street and sidewalk in the morning. Now I'm all "how brilliantly clever to dress in jeans and a tee shirt -- have some more candy!" Thankfully the prime trick-or-treating real estate for teens is across town.

[sandylc]

Oh, my, your lion sounds precious. And great blackmail material for his parents later on!

[gaffk]

I'm also in Sandy country, but live in a magical pocket that saw only a few trees down and kept its power. (Thank God after Irene just about every homeowner in the area had a tree service out this summer to remove and/or trim the trees.) And the township has been through clearing the streets of debris. So our township decided to have Halloween on Oct 31.

This is my third H'ween in the area, so I purchased based on past years: 8 bags of various fun-size chocolates (Hershey bars, Reese's pumpkins, Almond Joys, Kit Kats, etc.) 1 100-piece assorted bag (whoppers, Heath bars, etc), 2 bags of Skittles and gummy LifeSavers for the non-chocolate lovers and Tootsie Pops for the little ones. The neighborhood is not crawling with kids, but I like to give 2 or 3 pieces each.

Well, apparently the Sandy effects kept the crowds down--most of the kids were 8 or 9+ and there were no little ones. So I'm stuck with the 100 piece bag, the pops and the gummi lifesavers. I am hoping the younger crowd makes the rounds Saturday or Sunday.

[sandylc]

I've wondered if it can be composted....ha.

[gaffk]

Nah. Hold onto it through the weekend in case the tots come out when the weather's better. Otherwise, dump it at work--they eat anything.

[iL Divo]

I just remembered something because of you gaffk.
thanks for writing this.
our DS#1 always combines birthday parties for his 2 little ones.
they always get a pinata and last year our DD and her brother combined Halloween candy that they'd put away and filled the pinata with that and that only, it way made up for the price of candy he'd have had to buy and used up all that sugar laden stuff that they'd put up in their closets for that party, very smart.

[chefathome]

No candy at our house this year. It's bags of Doritos instead. No temptation for me and only a mild one for my husband. There is a lot of snow on the ground and it is quite cold so there are fewer kids out this year.

[iL Divo]

what state are you in Chef?

[sandylc]

We got about 300 pieces of "fun-sized" hersheys, reeses, snickers, etc. 2-3 per kid. Great weather. Great kids. About 78 so far. I wish we could spend the money for better quality rather than these artificial, waxy things. But the kids like this stuff, I guess.

[iL Divo]

sandy, I think you're duh bom :)))

[Florida Hound]

I am also among those who can report something like, "In the 20 years we've lived on this street, we've only had a total of 3 Trick or Treaters..." And here at 9:15 pm on October 31, I thinks its another year for "zero." I only saw about 4 kids (and their parents) out on my way home from work tonight, a 5 mile drive. I go down several "residential neighborhood" roads.

To the point- I wanted to put in a plug for Brach's Candy Corn. Just have it on hand during the season, not for the doorbell ringers. I got so tired of cloyingly sweet off-brand Candy Corn, even while I thought Candy Corn was about my favorite candy. My wife filled a bowl with Candy Corn and I was surprised it was mild and didn't taste like my teeth were going to fall out from the sweetness. I asked what brand she got, etc., etc., and found out it was Brach's. I've been eating them by the handful all night, without that negative sweetness attack. Since this candy is "loose," we were not planning to share them with T or T'ers. We were prepared with several varieties of "fun size" chocolate bars/ Butter Fingers and the like for them.

[iL Divo]

I'll be looking for the Brach's, thanks for suggesting it.
who knew?

[fldhkybnva]

Does anyone else feel that the price of Halloween candy is has skyrocketed in recent years. at I know that the season allows them to charge a higher premium, but $12 for 50 pieces of candy makes me cringe every time. I like to get a variety of candy, but with these prices I always put a few bags back since we always have leftovers. Or perhaps, it's that now as a late 20 year old I realized the price because I have to pay for it vs it coming out of my parents' wallet as a kid.

[iL Divo]

fldh, I'd been on the lookout for the coming holiday and scoped out where to buy when the time came. for me, it wasn't our local Von's or Albertson's either or even WalMarchay or WalGreens.
I was shocked to see it was actually Rite Aide which I never go into but did due to it being next door to my Von's supermarket.

by the way, VERY slow night, didn't need what I bought but the freezer is gonna get stuffed via meatn's suggestion. otherwise it's in the dumpster or hum, maybe I can repack it and take it to a church where they could use it for parties for the little ones or whatever. hum...

[DuchessNukem]

Ah geez. We're in a new neighborhood this year and the kids are TURNING OUT! Yay! But the prob 8# of chocolates (mini Snickers, Reese's varied, Krackel, Butterfinger, 100Grand, etc.) is dwindling and it's just 8p.

Have roamed the kitchen and am now assembling the backup treats bowl: ramen packets, mini-creamers, dried chickpeas (great protein and fiber source!), canned tuna followed by canned catfood, bag croutons, canned tomatoes (not the San Marzanos!), udon noodles. ;)

[fldhkybnva]

Wow, I would love to see the kids faces when they get those "backup" treats :)

[buzzardbreath]

(Ding dong) Trick or treat! ;-) I would gladly take any of those candies, and probably any of the backup treats. LOL ;-) I love your outlook on this, Duchess!

[iL Divo]

+1 buzz, Duchess is brill!

[maxie]

Ha! This happened to me moving into a new home. I gave out rolls of breath mints and packs of tic tacs while DH ran out for more candy. I was ready to start handing out hotel mini shampoos, lotions and sewing kits. Now I stock up and hand it out by the bucket full at the end of the night

[iL Divo]

maxie, you're a smarty pants, very clever :)

[meatn3]

Hit the sales after Halloween and pick up the marked down party favors. I seldom have trick or treaters and keep these just in case. They fill a bowl festively and will be fine packed away for next year if not used. I was really surprised how excited the kids have been with fancy pencils, blinking tops, glow sticks, etc. One boy asked if he could have an extra pencil!

I don't want to be "that" house that gives lousy treats but I also don't want the temptation of the the candy since most years there are no knocks on the door. My area seems to have moved to the kids going to malls, churches or parking lot "trunk" trick or treating.

[iL Divo]

i love that meatn

[escondido123]

Snickers. We freeze what we don't pass out and enjoy them throughout the winter.

[Deborah]

We live in the country in a neighbourhood of about 25 homes. We get a call each year to ask if we are home to hand out goodies. The kids are pulled by a tractor in a large wagon. We get 40 to 50 young children at one stop. We hand out bags of the miniature chocolate bars.

[iL Divo]

love that story Deborah

[Astur]

That is truly one of the neatest Halloween stories I have heard. Really think that is awesome!

[Bacardi1]

That sounds wonderful & so much fun/safe for the kids. I'd definitely welcome something like that (especially since I do so much decorating for Halloween that ends up just being enjoyed by the two of us); unfortunately, I think there're only two families in our neighborhood that are of trick-or-treat age.

[iL Divo]

hubby and I spent a week twice in the Nashville area.
we were in awe of how many decorate for Halloween or is it the Autumn harvest they're celebrating, either way so totally cool to see.

[gator28]

This year, we bought a bag of Twix, a bag of Butterfingers, and Reese's PB cups. The only one that is dangerous for us are the Reese's!

[thistle5]

I was hoping the storm would close it out, but since it cleared up, I ran out today & got 20 bags- I have a full bowl, & 1 bag in reserve, we live in a heavily populated neighborhood....

[iL Divo]

like you I reserved 2 of the ultra bags for just in case it's a light year around here as well.

[lamb_da_calculus]

I'd bet real money that there's someone around here handing out squares of 86% dark chocolate.

[PotatoHouse]

Yes I am, along with a handwritten copy of my Ganache recipe. How did you know. LOL

[iL Divo]

hahahh...........

so what 'is' you ganache recipe hint hint hint :)

[pinehurst]

In our neck of the woods, Halloween was postponed to Saturday by Hurricane Sandy.

We do Reeses Peanut Butter cups (the single, full-size ones, not the mini ones, which don't have the necessary chocolate-PB ratio), but buy them literally 20 minutes before Halloween and don't open until the doorbell rings.

Too dangerous. ;-)

[iL Divo]

pine, yes no kidding huh?
have you ever made Reeses peanut butter cup peanut butter cookies?
if not, you've not lived a full life.........totally 'redunculous'

[kubasd]

I cannot make those cookies because I will eat the entire double batch myself. In one night, most likely. This, coming from someone who is not the biggest sweets fan. Of course the peanut butter cookies are my grandma's recipe :)

[iL Divo]

oh oh kub, care to share grandma's recipe?

I know those cookies are crazy stupid good

[kubasd]

Of course! I just need to rustle through my collection :)

[iL Divo]

I'm patient :)

[kubasd]

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Cream first 6 ingredients together.
2. Stir in remaining ingredients.
3. Cover and chill for 2 hours (or until firm)
4. Roll dough into approx. 1" balls
5. Place 3" apart on an un-greased baking sheet.
6. Bake 9-10 minutes in a 375 degree oven until light golden brown.
7. Push in a reese's cup right when they come out of the oven.
8. After 5 min. remove to wire rack and allow to cool.

I'm awaiting an email from my grandmother, because I can't remember if the cup goes in before or after baking, but the rest of it is right.

[iL Divo]

that is wonderful. thanks for posting.
different from the one I used.
it's dough on the bottom reeses in the center dough on top of reeses seal, bake.
so the cookie bakes up over the reeses and you don't know it's in there until you bite into it.

[sandylc]

I ate a sample at Trader Joe's today - their pumpkin bread mix baked with mini PB cups in it. It was tasty, but hideously sweet.

[kubasd]

Oh, and I checked, the reese's go on as soon as they get out of the oven. i.e., have them unwrapped and waiting, because you want it going into the molten cookies :) Your way sounds very interesting.... I might have to try! I imagine it to be extra oozy-gooey!

p.s. my mom prefers it with margarine as opposed to butter, those spread a bit more, so you can choose :)

[lcool]

There is also a pie for the cups and another for the pieces.
My SIL makes both for my brother and husband's birthday.
I do not have the recipe.I DO NOT WANT IT !!! These pies are way past indulgent,closer to lethal.

[iL Divo]

lcool, yeh, why don't we just get glue and start to spackle our hiney's?

[lcool]

I am really tempted to type P's telephone number,I know she got the recipe off the bag or a Jr League cook book.
Spackle and trowel to the tush........more like the bucket on a BobCat applied to the tush.The calories here are pure evil,even for me,not a sweet or peanut lover.

[kubasd]

Where I live now, regardless of the fact that I live next door to a middle school, I get no trick-or-treaters. I still hold out hope, though, and I bought a mixed bag of Snickers and Peanut M&Ms (36 oz.) and one of mixed Reese's (2 lb.). It makes me sad to not have any, since I grew up in a neighborhood with TONS of kids and we had a constant rush of trick-or-treaters from 5:30 until 8:30. Sigh....

ETA: I just realized that Halloween is technically postponed 'til Sunday here, too. Hmmm.... so I guess I have to wait to dig into the candy, huh?

[maxie]

288 miniature bags of Haribo gummy bears. Yum!

[iL Divo]

LOVE Haribo anything!!!
yuuuuummm

[fldhkybnva]

Awesome, unique choice! Haribo gummy bears are one of the few candies that I actually enjoy. Not a big fan of sweets in general.

[iL Divo]

they are wonderful and all the flavors and textures and shapes, wow.

[2m8ohed]

I got Haribo Roulettes in the 10-pc rolls. And Dubble Bubble to give out by the handful, if anyone shows up. We don't get many trick or treaters because there are a couple neighborhoods nearby that have houses closer together and a much more festive scene.

[bagelman01]

None. Stores are closed, Halloween delayed until Sunday due to Hurricane Sandy

[iL Divo]

sorry to hear that Bagel, hope things get better real soon for you and yours.

[bagelman01]

I went shopping yesterday about 30 miles away (drove to check on my mother). That town had not delayed Hallowwen celebrations and the candy was all 75% off at Walgreens and CVS. I stocked up on Kit Kat and Resses Peanut butter Cups at $1.25 per bag. If we get trick or treaters Sunday, we're set, If not it goes into the freezer and my youngest will use them for baking over the next 6 months.

[JenJeninCT]

Bumped until Wednesday in Milford, and it looks to get bumped again with the N'oreaster that's coming... poor kids, 2 Halloweens in a row!

That said, although it's a rare year that we get any trick or treaters (and if we get any, it's only a few) I always buy 2 bags of candy- fun size Snickers, because they are DH's favorite, and some other "good" candy that strikes my fancy at the moment- Reese's, Kit Kats, Hershey's, etc. Anybody that does stop gets a couple of handsful. We have not been home several years and left the contents of the 2 bags in a bowl with a "help yourself" note and came home to find it untouched.

[iL Divo]

"We have not been home several years and left the contents of the 2 bags in a bowl with a "help yourself" note and came home to find it untouched."

that's very unusual. I'd have thought it would be typical if even one set of kids came by they'd have emptied it. very nice of you to put it out thinking you may have a select few kids.

[JenJeninCT]

A few houses always did that along my childhood trick or treat routes, and I was always appreciative- and never emptied the bowl ;-)

[PotatoHouse]

We live out in the country (our "closest" neighbor is a quarter mile down the road) so kids don't trick or treat in our neighborhood. When I lived in town though, I gave out full size candy bars (Hershey's, Milky Way, Mars, Reese's, Snickers, etc).

[Bacardi1]

In the 15 years we've lived here, we've only had ONE Halloween visitor. I mean, walking down an approx. 1/4 mile of dark gloomy dirt/gravel road, up a dark dirt pine-lined driveway, to a house with a bunch of "hounds from hell" barking their brains out apparently doesn't appeal to most people.

That said - I believe in Murphy's Law, so know that the year I don't buy candy is the year someone will show up. So every year I buy a couple of bags of candy - just making sure to buy stuff that hubby & I will enjoy eating. This year it's Almond Joy, 3 Musketeers, & Hersheyj's Special Dark with Almond bars.

Oh, & no visitors notwithstanding, Halloween is STILL my most favorite holiday, & I collect decorations & memorabilia for it throughout the year for our own enjoyment. At the moment I'm removing the innards from a pumpkin that I will then carve & put outside, & I have Turner Classic Movies' all day & all night classic horror movie marathon on tv. :)

[lcool]

In the past,4 years ago it was always mars,snickers etc fun size bars.In Chevy Chase we had a good,new crop of squirts in the neighborhood.So I always got what we liked or could send out with our crews.Now on a small farm,two nearest neighbors 300yds away,the rest are more than 1/4 mile so we don't play anymore.

[Motosport]

We only have a handful of trick or treaters so I buy a couple of regular sized 6 packs of Reeses peanut butter cups and Hersheys almond because that's what we like and we'll get to eat the leftovers.
Selfish? You bet!

[iL Divo]

not at all I have same criteria :)