Back in 2009, I wrote about having a tea party with granddaughters.  I thought that would be a wonderful activity to do with them.  At the time, I didn’t have any.  Sigh.

My birthday was last week. And, to my delight, my son and daughter-in-law gave me a tea pot, tea cups, and matching saucers.  They searched in various thrift stores and found these delightful dishes. They also gave me the charming floral tablecloth.

Click on the pictures to get a good look at them. Please forgive the poor quality of the pictures.  The lighting in my kitchen at night isn’t very even — and I was too lazy to do much about it and too impatient to take pictures when I would be home during daylight hours.

The black tea cup and the blue tea cup are for my grandsons to use so they won’t have to use the sissy cups with flowers on them.  I do hope my grandsons will be willing to join my parties.  The parties will be great fun with tasty cookies, lady finger sandwiches, and fine refreshing drinks (a.k.a. Kool-Aid).  We’ll probably don some of the dress-up clothes that I have been collecting.

You know, there’s only 64 more days until Christmas.  If you don’t have a tea pot and cups, you could drop hints to family members that this would be a great gift to get for you.  They’ll be glad for the suggestion and everybody will get to enjoy your gift when you invite them to your tea parties.

My thinking has expanded to include grandsons at tea parties.  Now, all I have to do is wait for nursing babies, babies on sippy cups, and energetic toddlers who can’t sit very still while eating to grow up enough to be able to use my tea set.

I heart all things caramel.  You can have your chocolate as long as I get my caramels.

So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to you that I love caramel apples.  Especially if a Jonathon apple is used.  Mmmm-mmm good!

I made caramel apples.  Once.  Back in the Mesozoic Era in my younger days.  It was so time consuming.

I’ve gotten lazy in my old age.  As a grandma, I’m going to use a much simpler way of ‘making’ caramel apples with my grandchildren.  Here’s how.  I’m going to have a caramel apple bar (like a potato bar but much yummier!).

I’m going to slice apples and have the grandchildren dip the slices in caramel flavored ice cream topping.  I’m going to have bowls of various toppings for my grandchildren to dip their caramel covered apples in –  mini chocolate chips, chopped nuts, chopped M&Ms, coconut, crushed cookies or graham crackers, and maybe even some candy corn cut up into small chunks.

Another option would be to make a ‘caramel bowl.’  This is where you pour a little caramel sauce in a bowl, add apples cut into chunky pieces, and toss in a few candies or nuts (depending on the grandchild’s preference).  This can be eaten with a spoon.

If you’d rather do things the hard way, you can make your own caramel sauce.  Get a 14 ounce package of individually wrapped caramels.  Unwrap them and put them in a microwave safe bowl.  Add 2 tablespoons of milk. Microwave the caramels and milk for 2 minutes.  Stir and allow to cool briefly before dipping your apple slices in your sauce.

This is an easy to fix treat for a Halloween activity with your grandchildren.

We have a winner, folks!

Natalie Brown is the winner of the magazine give-away.  Huzzah!  I will be in contact with you to get the information necessary so that you can start receiving the subscription of the magazine of your choice.

And a big thank you to all of you who participated.

Now, here’s a quick idea of a fun Halloween party food that is easy to fix.  It will delight your grandchildren’s sense of humor AND their tummies.  Make Mummies for the Tummies!  (I just love it when I come up with such clever phrases . . .)

This is a variation of the pig-in-a-blanket that elementary school lunches love to serve. Get a can of refrigerator breadsticks and a package of hot dogs.  Separate the breadsticks and cut each of them in half lengthwise so that you have long, thin strips.

Starting from one end of the hot dog, wrap a dough strip around the hot dog in  mummy style leaving a space at the other end for the face.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden brown.  Add a dab of yellow mustard for the eyes just before serving.

What are some easy edible Halloween treats have you fixed for your grandchildren?

This week is a wild and crazy week.  I’ve got two big freelance writing assignments due by Thursday, plus a plethora of activities every single night.  Not much time to think and write something here about Halloween.

Are you whining? you ask me.

No! Not at all, I counter.  I’m just stating the facts.  Nothing but the facts.

So, I’m going to point you to two fun things that Grandma Lizzie has written about: a Halloween treat holder that you make by smashing a can with a hammer (that’s my kind of craft!) and a Halloween Acrostic Poem.  (You might want to check out her clever fall bird feeder, too!)  Grandma Lizzie is so creative!  Such a wonderful grandmother.

You might want to check out some of my previous posts:

• Making Jar-O-Lanterns with your grandchildren
• Making Creepy Cuisine with your grandchildren
• Halloween Activities to do with your little darlin’s
• Halloween ideas of things to do with your grandkiddos

This is the lazy way out, I know.  But, hey, it brings several ideas together all in one spot!  Saves you from searching and searching through back posts . . .

What are some of YOUR favorite Halloween activities that you do with your grandchildren?