Published: Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2009 / Updated: Friday, Nov. 13, 2009 03:08 PM
No trick to this treat
Nothing tricky about popcorn balls
Halloween was, without a doubt, the most exciting night of the year for me and my friends when I was a kid. What could be better than roaming through the neighborhood in disguise begging for candy? Three magic words, "Trick or Treat," opened the floodgates of all kinds of wonderful sweet surprises – and the occasional apple which we immediately threw away.
Halloween was the ultimate combination of mischief, greed and unbridled joy. At the end of the night, much like a pirate counting his gold, we appraised our loot at the kitchen table, sampling most of it. The resulting sugar rush was exhilarating.
My mother always made popcorn balls to give out on Halloween. It became her trademark. She loved to tell the story about the little boy who knocked on the front door several days before Halloween to ask if she was going to make her popcorn balls again. He wanted to get there early to get one. She said yes and never failed to keep her promise every year after that.
One of my favorite Halloween memories as a child is of our neighbor, Mildred Irvin. She was a good friend of our family and a member of our church where my father was the minister.
Mildred absolutely loved Halloween and was known to dress up and go "trick-or-treating" herself. Being a petite woman, she just bent down and blended in with a group of children without being detected. She had a great sense of humor and loved to play a good trick on someone. That someone was my father and Halloween was her golden opportunity.
Every year she managed to sneak into our house with a bunch of kids, yell "Surprise!" and give my father a big kiss on the cheek. It was a tradition we all laughed about, and she got to tell everybody at church about kissing the preacher.
I get very nostalgic about Halloween, remembering the thrill of the hunt on those chilly autumn nights as if it was yesterday. It's in that spirit that I've carried on mother's tradition of giving out popcorn balls.
I like to think that Mildred Irvin's spirit still lives on Halloween night playing tricks on people. I like to think of Daddy sitting in his living room chair waiting for his surprise Halloween kiss.
Years ago, a little boy in our neighborhood stopped by our house before Halloween to ask if I was going to make popcorn balls again. He said he and his friends wanted to know so they could get some. I think my mother sent him.
Joy Smith of Fort Mill, an English teacher until she became a mother, refined her culinary skills as a homemaker and now has a fully stuffed and still growing collection of recipes to share.
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