I really dropped the ball on Halloween this year. At the 11th hour I realized we had no candy, not even a lone piece of chocolate or Hershey kiss. So I ran out to have something ready for any kids that braved our dark street. I jumped in my car and sped off to the closest store only to find the candy aisle completely picked over except one shelf of jumbo sized bags of peppermint candies. You know, the ones you get at a restaurant and turn down, the ones trick-or-treaters almost always pick around in the candy bowl. I was left with no choice. I sulked home to my husband who immediately confirmed my fail. “Peppermint? Oh no we’re going to get a bad rap.” We only had about 12 trick-or-treaters this year and by the looks on their faces (what the… no chocolate?) I’m pretty sure half won’t be returning next year to the “peppermint house”. After staring at our left over bowl of candies for a month, I decided to turn my fail into some holiday fun. I threw them into a zip locked bag and hammered away with a mallet to get smaller peppermint candy crumbles. It turns out that they’re pretty handy to have laying around. Here are three ways I’ve been adding an extra touch to our holiday sweet treats. Candy Coated Pretzel Sticks: Melt semi-sweet chocolate chips on low in a saucepan, stirring consistently. Dip half of the pretzel stick in the chocolate coating completely. Sprinkle peppermint candy crumbles on wax paper and roll the pretzel stick on top. Place on a cookie sheet with wax paper and stick in the freezer for 10 minutes. Peppermint ice cream is one of my favorite flavors, and my 7-year-old niece’s as well. So this little combination is a slam dunk. Whipped cream and some crumbled peppermint add an extra touch to a classic cup of hot cocoa.

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