A Tip For Purchasing Halloween Candy

I will freely admit it. I am a cheapskate when it comes to Halloween Candy. As much as I love all of those wonderful ooey, gooey, delicious chocolate bars, I don't buy them to give out as treats. Primarily because I will probably eat them all before I can give them away. If you were to come a-knocking at the Castle on Halloween, you would most likely receive something like this: Smarties, Tootsie Rolls, Dum Dums, Pixie Sticks, Bubble Gum or Taffy.

If you haven't noticed it yet, I am also a bargain shopper. So when all the Halloween stuff went on sale, I felt the urge to stock up on many items, including Halloween Candy. Yes folks, I sometimes buy Halloween Candy one year in advance. But there's a secret to it: DO NOT BUY CHOCOLATE. The Princess and The Dragon were the recipients of several pieces of chocolate that were obviously bought months ago (some, for example, were wrapped in Valentine paper), and they are some of the nastiest pieces of candy they or I have ever tasted. Just don't do it. Lolly Pops are usually fine. Anything that is basically sugar and ONLY sugar is usually fine. But NOT chocolate.

This year I purchased Pixie Sticks in bulk, and I even checked the expiration date. They'll be good through December of 2007. Trick or Treat, anyone?