Treats to sink your teeth into

The hunt is on for this year's quick and creative Halloween treats -- or not-so-quick and creative treats, as many parents know.

October issues of all the women's magazines are filled with fun ideas for fright-night food.

"Scare up the giggles with these spook-tacular Halloween snacks" shout headlines. "Slithering snakes, sprawling spiders and jolly jack- o-lanterns with sprinkled sugar will put a twinkle in any child's eye."

Ah, but here's the rub. Recipes for cute critters like these usually call for messy ingredients.

Your sink will be overflowing with sticky little bowls (it took three tries to get the right shade of orange icing seen here), burnt cupcakes and any plastic spiders that went astray long before that eye twinkle appears.

(Probably even after the dog throws up from stealing candy corn from the bag you carelessly left open.)

Below are two basic rules and directions for a few easy -- well, pretty easy -- Halloween goodies. Details are fresh because they were written shortly after the above-mentioned creative-cooking session while traces of black gel and red food coloring still dotted the white tile backsplash.

Rule No. 1: Don't fall in love with that captivating hooty-owl cake illustration before reading the directions. The recipe we saw in Parents magazine ran almost 10 inches long. Surely you can make the little darlings smile without spending the week before Oct. 31 cooking black and orange food.

Rule No. 2: If you're planning a children's party, cheat. They won't care if you buy most of the treats, and your wallet will benefit. Your pantry probably isn't stacked with all the oddities needed to make things like "Trick-Or-Sweet Rolls" and "Boo-Ville Dirt Cookies."

Example: You can't buy the three or four black gum drops to make Mr. Spooky Spider's face, so you buy a whole bag. It all adds up.

Now, no tricks, easy easy treats.

Haunted Popcorn Hand

Place two or three pieces of candy corn -- look for the larger size corns -- pointy side first into the fingers of clear plastic gloves, the kind that come in home hair coloring kids, also available in bulk at the supermarket. These are the fingernails. Then fill the glove with popped popcorn. Tie at the wrist with ribbon, yarn or twine.

Bug Brew

You'll need clean, empty, wide-mouth jars. Think Ball canning jars or jars that spaghetti sauce comes in. Fill with chilled green Gatorade and a handful of plastic bugs and worms. In spidery handwriting, print "Bug Brew" on a label and stick on each jar. (Double-face tape works better than glue on glass.)

Spooky Spider

Purchase cinnamon rolls or bake a batch of the packaged variety. Store-bought will already be frosted; the packaged kind comes with icing. Sprinkle with black sugar sprinkles (or dark brown chocolate jimmies). Secure a black gum drop with a toothpick for the head. Use candy to make eyes; white-yogurt-covered Raisinettes work well. Cut eight licorice legs 3-4 inches long. Poke holes in both sides of the roll and press licorice legs in them.

RIP Cake or Cookies

Pick up a store-bought cake or cookies and a can of vanilla or lemon frosting. Tint orange with food coloring, and ice cake or cookies. Decorate with plastic spiders and cobweb design drawn with a tube of black gel icing.

Contact Linda Gordon of the Naples Daily News in Florida at www.naplesnews.com.

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