It's Pumpkin Carving Time!

And we have found the best steps on the Instructables Website!

Here they are!

1. Gather your supplies.
          - one medium to large size pumpkin 
          - carving knife ( a kitchen knife) 
          - thumb tacs or nails 
          - baking powder (optional, but helpful)
          - pen/ sharpie 
          - spoon 
          - large bowl 
          - candle 
          - 9 1/2 x 11 white paper
2. Create your design on the paper
3. Create a Lid
4. Remove the Insides
5. Attach the drawing to the pumpkin using nails or tacs along the design
6. Remove the drawing and use baking powder to fill in the holes
7. Connect the dots with a sharpie
8. Begin Carving!!
9. Place a candle or light in the pumpkin and display!

The website goes into further details, so make sure to check it out!

Show us your pumpkin! Send us a picture on Facebook!

Candy Across the Country

How far would you travel to eat the best candy? 

I don’t know about you, but I’d go pretty far.  But where in the world would I start? 

Well Parade Magazine has made the journey a bit easier by mapping out the top ten candy factories and their delicious creations. Unfortunately, we don’t have a real Wonka factory, but no worries; these factories are sure to blow your mind. 

Real-Life Willy Wonkas: 10 Candy Meccas That Are Worth a Road Trip  

Let the sugar rush begin!

1. Jelly Belly Factory
Fairfield, Calif.
Lemon and mango and buttered popcorn? Oh my! Take a 40-minute guided tour to see the many molds and machines that make jelly beans, then test your bravery at the sample bar, with flavors like Pencil Shavings and Barf. In the gift shop, bags of irregular jelly beans (Belly Flops) go for half-price. (jellybelly.com)

2. Z. Cioccolato
San Francisco
You may not make it past the candy-filled rain barrels that fill this colorful shop. But if you find your way to the back counter, you’re in for a real treat: some of the tastiest fudge to be found, with flavors like peanut butter pie, cabernet, and raspberry cheesecake. (zcioccolato.com)

3. Sweet Candy Company
Salt Lake City
This factory produces nearly 25,000 pounds of saltwater taffy a day. Sample 40 flavors—from cherry cola to cookie dough to coconut key lime—while learning about the 121-year-old company, which also manufactures 200 types of chocolate and gummy treats. (sweetcandy.com)

4. Big Top Candy Shop

Austin
Owner Brandon Hodge’s biggest fascinations—sugar and sideshows—collide in this shop bedecked with vintage circus posters. Feast on childhood favorites or try the house-made Double Bacon Chocolate Bar. (facebook.com/bigtopcandyshop)

5. Rebecca Ruth
Frankfort, Ky.
Known as the originator of bourbon candy, Rebecca Ruth was established in 1919 by two plucky schoolteachers, Rebecca Gooch and Ruth Hanly Booe. Today, the company produces over 120 confections, many of them laced with Kentucky liquors. (rebeccaruth.com)

6. Hershey’s Great American Chocolate Tour
Hershey, Pa.
On an automated ride, chocoholics follow cacao beans from the rainforest to the factory floor where the creamy final product is poured. Or play candy maker at the Create Your Own Candy Bar. (hersheys.com)

7. Economy Candy
New York City
Rare European chocolates, jawbreakers, Pixy Stix—if the candy you’re craving isn’t among the 5,000 types sold at this filled-to-the-rafters shop, it may not exist. A Lower East Side landmark since 1937, the store also has a robust mail-order business. (economycandy.com)

8. Cero’s Candies
Wichita, Kan.
Pete Cero first arrived in Wichita in 1883 as a worker on the transcontinental railroad. But when an illness forced him to stay behind while his crew moved on, the Greek immigrant opened Cero’s. That was sweet news for local residents, who loved his cream-filled confections. Today, the mother-daughter owners lead a guided tour, which includes lessons on the history of chocolate and the making of truffles. (ceroscandy.com)

9. Taza Chocolate Factory
Somerville, Mass.
During a visit to Taza, one of the few bean-to-bar chocolate factories in the U.S., you can watch traditional stone-ground Mexican chocolate made from scratch, allwhile snacking on generous samples in flavors like salt-and-pepper, cinnamon, and Guajillo chili.  (tazochocolate.com)

10. Candyality 
Chicago
This Windy City store mixes modern décor with wall-to-wall retro sweets, like Bit O Honey, candy cigarettes, and ring pops. The owner, Terese “Candy Maniac” McDonald, offers hundreds of bulk candies, along with a sit-and-feast licorice bar featuring selections from around the world. (candyality.com)

History of Halloween

Let’s talk Halloween, since it is right around the corner!!!!

We celebrate it with such enthusiasm every year. Whether it is the thrill of being someone else for a few hours or the AMAZING candy, everyone has a reason why they love Halloween. But do you know how the holiday originated?

It turns out that Halloween’s origins dates back to the Celtic festival of Samhain. To the Celts, this was their celebration of the New Year. They believed that on the day before the New Year, the boundary between the living and the dead was blurred (spooky!). On October 31, the Celts celebrated Samhain for two main reasons; (1) to prevent the ‘ghosts of the dead’ from damaging their crops and (2) to make it easier for Druid, the Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. On Samhain, the Druids would build huge sacred bonfires where people would burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the deities. During their celebration, the Celts would wear costumes.

Around 43 A.D., the Roman Empire had conquered to majority of the Celtic territory. Of course, when the Roman Empire conquered an area, they took the best of the conquered culture and mixed it with their own. The Romans had a celebration in late October called Feralia to commemorate the passing of the dead. The Romans also dedicated a day in October to the Roman goddess of fruit and trees called Pomona. Pomona’s symbol is the apple. Can anyone guess how that is reflected in our Halloween celebration today? Think of a huge bucket, filled with water and topped off with a few apples.

Then, around 1000 A.D., the Catholic Church made November 2 All Souls’ Day. The Catholic Church wanted to get rid of Samhain by providing another holiday that would celebrate a similar cause and be sanctioned by the church. The All Souls’ Day soon became the All Saint’s Day which was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas. They got these names from the Middle English translation of All Saints’ Day, Alholowmesse. The night before the celebration eventually became all-hallows eve and then Halloween.

So there you have it! Halloween History in less than a page. If you would like to read more into the history of Halloween, checkout the History Channel's website.