happy gluten-free halloween!

I had Hollie Hobby fever in the 70's. This shot was taken on Halloween, but that "costume" got sported pretty much anywhere I could pull it off for the rest of the year. When I outgrew it, I asked my mum to sew me a new one. There are family pictures of me at Christmas wearing that bonnet. Super geek!!

Little House on the Prairie fantasies aside, I was crazy for Halloween (what kid isn't?). Dressing up, clearly being a year round activity for me... October 31 was all about the candy stash. 

I grew up in a home that saw little junk food on the shelves. There was no pop in the fridge. You know, the type of home where the popsicles were homemade (with juice). Today - I am grateful to my mother for her good care. As a 9 year-old I just wanted to eat as much crap as I could get my hands on. Halloween was license to fill. 

It was also a time of extreme gluten alert. My brother Paul learned early that in our house you didn't eat anything until you got home. Upon return the treats got dumped together in a pile, mixed up and sorted by the parents. As most items didn't have info on the individual portions mum had to "know" what was safe (often by reading the bags in the stores well in advance). The split was always even, but he got all of the chocolate bars with gluten, me without. There would be "negotiations".  When we got bigger - we would dump our piles and make parental moderated "trades". I always remember my brother as the candy hoarder. He could keep his box of goodies going for weeks. Me? Gone within a couple of days. Nothing much has changed.

Today when I buy Halloween treats to shell out I try to buy at least some that I can't eat. This is the only way to ensure that there will be something to dole out on the big night.