My bestest friend and maid of honor Sara texted me last week asking if I had any ideas for a Halloween popcorn concoction.  She’s devoured my cookies and cream and funfetti cake batter popcorns before, and knew how easy they were to make .  So the wheels started turning and this is what I came up with – popcorn mixed with white chocolate, crushed Halloween Oreos, candy corn, and plenty of festive sprinkles.  Halloween can be a busy time of year, especially when you’re a 4th year dental student, so in between scrambling to find an extremely last minute costume and writing an endodontics paper, I knew I would also need an easy-to-make treat for the holiday.  I love love making these popcorn medleys because they really are incredibly simple to put together, and this festive version is no exception!

Sara was born when I was 8 months old across the street from my family’s first house (her birthday is in just a few weeks, and we’ll have been friends for 25 years!).  We spent the first 5 years of our lives basically inseparable and many of my favorite memories together involve Halloween.  Our childhood neighborhood was ideal for trick-or-treating – it was made up of an intersection of 2 roads and 2 cul-de-sacs full of kids our age and plenty of street lights.  Even after I moved out of the neighborhood , I would still go back to good ol Highridge Rd. to join Sara in our candy quest (our new house only had 3 houses on the street, not ideal for a sweet tooth the size of mine).  Below is a sampling of some of our best costumes.  My Mom and I would get pretty serious each year making costumes – the mummy outfit was made by hot gluing ripped fabric scraps to a sweat suit and mask. And the spray painted PJ-onsie turned monkey costume?  Classic.  Sara traditionally stuck to more simple get-ups, and she actually rocked that devil costume 3 years in a row.  Gotta admire her dedication, but good thing that goth streak never really stuck.

Although we may not celebrate Halloween together every year as we used to (she’s currently living Boston and moving to San Fran in January, wahhhh), it’s great to know we still share aspects of the holiday together – this year in the form of delicious Halloween-themed popcorn.  She made it for a party this past weekend, and I plan on devouring it with Ryan as we huddle inside waiting for Sandy to hit.  I may not have filled up my gas tank or stocked up on batteries, but I do have delicious popcorn!  And because I was a little bored with my hurricane day off, I also made some last minute Oreo/chocolate covered strawberry witch hats.   If strawberries make great Santa hats, why not witches for Halloween too??  They don’t really require a recipe – just some small strawberries dipped completely in chocolate, set atop an open-faced Halloween Oreo, and garnished with a little bow I made out of softened Starbursts.  So if you just happen to have a box of Halloween Oreos in your pantry (or find one mysteriously make its way into your grocery cart), keep these treats in mind for a last minute Halloween treat!

 Have a Happy and Safe Halloween!

And best of luck to all of you (including myself) bracing themselves for Sandy!!