A New October Tradition

Today was fun. fun. fun!!!

For starters the painters finished our house!!!!

FINISHED!!!

Here is a sneak peak.  The fence still needs to be painted. 

I promise a better post is coming soon.

I'M. IN. LOVE.

It's the perfect warm brownish gray with off white trim. PERFECT!

So much for modesty, right? :)

Anyway, on to new traditions....

Andrew and I got to spend the morning together 

while Charlie was in school, thanks to an in-service day.

And we had big plans.

TO MAKE OUR OWN CANDY CORN

You see, last winter we discovered Andrew was sensitive to artificial ingredients.

Both colors and flavors.

This is our first Halloween since we changed the way we eat.

I told him he'd get $1/ pound of candy so Trick-or-Treating will still be fun.

The only problem is his favorite October sweet is candy corn.

I searched Whole Foods and online looking for a natural version of the candy.

No luck. But I found recipes to make your own.

They sounded a little intimidating, especially because I don't make candy.

But I had to give it a shot.

We made it together and turned it into a sort of science experiment.

And guess what? So, so fun!!!  So much so, it will become an annual October tradition.

And guess what else?  Sooooo delish.  Like a buttery caramel/candy corn concoction.

BETTER than the store bought kind.  I know, couldn't believe it myself.

Totally worth it, even if you don't have food allergies.

Here is a link to the recipe we used.

And a few pics of the candy making in action...

PS. Thanks for all the sweet comments on Charlie's party.

They made my day! I will do a follow up post with the sources soon.