TheSnackHound

Here’s wishing you and yours had the very merriest of National Cupcake Days. For those of you who did not partake in any way, I have saved you one of your very own, above. The featured cupcake comes to us from Maggie Moo’s, where they were giving away a free cupcake today between 4:00 and 7:00 PM. Just scrawl that with permanent marker for the next December 15th on your calendar.

The cake featured very little cake, topped with cake batter ice cream and green whipped cream frosting which left a healthy glow on the teeth and fingers. I am still scrubbing the tip of my finger to get it out. It was absolutely marvelous and it brought back all the feelings of an indulgent toddler with cherry, or in this case, Ecto-Cooler KoolAid all over their lips.

So..if you feel cheated that you didn’t hear about NCD, make yourself a batch of cupcakes and hide or eat an odd number of them. This way, people will think these are just leftovers from the actual day.

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Hiltons of Branson. All opinions are 100% mine.

(At left: We need a little Christmas, right this very minute. Um….a little more than that. Well…Steven Seagal volunteers for the police force in New Orleans. Maybe Santa moonlights, too.)

Are you generally sick of everything and everybody? Or, are you generally a happy person, but just overwhelmed by the choices and the baking of the season? If either of that its you, it may sound mighty attractive to load up the kids and the dog or cat and go somewhere else for Christmas, somewhere where nobody knows you. “But how will Santa find us?”

Well, Santa and the Mrs. are hanging out at the Hilton Branson Convention Center Hotel through December 23rd this year. They needed to refuel and recharge a little bit before the big day. Mrs. Claus will be reading stories for all of the kids, and of course, the big guy himself will stop in for a visit.   It goes without saying that you need to book right now.  Then hop in the car.  You don’t want to miss a guaranteed sighting of the man and woman in red to present all of the corroborating evidence that you have been very very good this year.  I haven’t figured out if the most effective way to handle it is to present a large volume of evidence, or is it sheerly based on content.  Someone could write one sentence of something really, really good that they did and clinch it right there.

Over at the Hilton Promenade at Branson Landing, you can experience the “It’s a Wonderful Life” package, where you may receive a spa treatment with your stay. It will surely melt your troubles away. However, I can’t guarantee it will melt the fat from all of the extra cookies away.

There is so much to do and see.  You can stay at the hotels the entire time, nice and cozy warm, or you can venture into the adorable downtown Branson area to peep at some Christmas lights and do a little shopping.  You can even “let yourself go” and not do your hair because everyone you know and anyone that would run into you and point a finger at you are miles away.  Why is this such an obsession?  I would want to end the year up “nice” instead of being tempted to get into an argument about my hair with someone who was just gunning for one.

So, hop in the car and go have a talk with the Big Guy before you run into your neighbor, Myrtle McBusypants.   Well, if you do, then just book the massage before you present your evidence.

For years, there were folks I knew around the Northeast that would take a day or a one night trip to New York City.  They would look at all of the fantastic Christmas window displays, buy some Christmas presents, and then maybe take in a Broadway show or see the Rockettes.   Of course, all sorts of culinary delights awaited you if you had the time.

The Hilton is promoting the Hilton Promenade at Branson Landing as the real ultimate place to go this holiday season.  Yes, Branson.   I always remember on The Simpsons that there was a brochure that said: “So You’ve Settled for Branson.”    Actually, in the past decade, it is being promoted as a “family friendly Vegas.”    There are a few different packages to choose from at both this property and the Hilton Branson Convention Center Hotel.  All of the packages are in tune with the season and have names like “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.”   Packages includes features such as visits with Santa, Spa Treatments and more. For example, at the Hilton Promenade, the Santa in Branson Packages includes breakfast for four, picture with Santa, cookies and milk, and gifts for registered children.

The package that I think would be the most memorable would be the Polar Express package.  For $289, a family of four receives deluxe accommodations, first class tickets on the Polar Express, hot chocolate, a souvenir ceramic mug and more.   If you have additional children, or have other folks who would like to ride with you, additional advance tickets are available at $49.00 per adult and $39.00 per child.  Children are considered between the ages of 2 and 12.  Of course there is a Christmas Song that is “to kids from 1 to 92,” but the idea of “kid” is a little less loose here.

So, if you need a little break this holiday season, either before the festivities begin, or want to celebrate by taking a break from the relatives, Branson, with the views of the Ozarks might be a new place for you to try.

Today is Thanksgiving all over Canada. Since Detroit is north of Windsor, Canada is technically south of me, so it is Thanksgiving in the South. Unlike the Independence days of Independence Day and Canada Day, respectively, that commemorate different events with the same theme, US and Canadian Thanksgiving Celebrations commemorate the same event. The traditions of American traveled North in this case, and Canada has been celebrating it since 1879, although the date was not fixed until 1931, when Thanksgiving and Armistice Day occurred on the same day. The holidays were split after that point. In Canada, it is now the second Monday in October, to commemorate the end of the Fall Harvest, while in the United States it is on a Thursday.

To celebrate, dear friends, here is a painstakingly accurate reenactment of the very First Thanksgiving on record.  Of course, it involved capturing it with technology that was way ahead of its time.

Happy Pumpkin was a pattern introduced on Fiesta Ware, and by most sources it was discontinued in 2002.  The pattern sometimes pops up at this time of year from the vaults, meaning that sometimes you can order a few from Homer Laughlin.  You can also find it on the secondary market from private parties.    The smiling Happy Pumpkin is on actual Fiesta, not another Homer Laughlin style of dish.  It is available directly from the maker at $14.99 for the luncheon plate.   They are currently in stock, but in limited quantities.  Replacements, Ltd., also carries them.

What you might want to also look for are other pieces.  The various serving bowls do not have a pumpkin face on them, but feature a Trick or Treat theme featuring Halloween cats.   The other pieces typically have the motif shown below.  The exceptions are the round place and the round candlestick holders which have jack-o-lantern faces on them.

These pieces tend to easily get overlooked at clearance and estate sales because if you were not close to them, you would not even imagine that they were Fiesta unless you remembered some of the Christmas plates and how they also had designs on them.  Happy Halloween hunting on this pattern.  If you find any other good sources as far as physical stores or websites for this one, let me know by comment or email.

At any other time of year, someone who was wearing a pumpkin for a head would be wrapped up in a nice white shirt, strapped in, and taken to the loony bin. However, since the festivity and the smell of hot spiced cider will soon be in the air, it is somehow allowed. I would go as far as to say that it is applauded. One such pumpkin head is Jack. He is on a quest to find the very best Halloween adventures.

I don’t know if this qualifies as an adventure, but for the majority of grade school, my family lived in Wisconsin. We were looking forward to Halloween because we lived in a sprawling subdivision, placed smack dab in the middle of some cow farms and a little town. There seemed to be an infinite number of houses to collect goodies at. I spent the years of birth through the end of first grade in a big city, so was picturing the moon being out and my sweatshirt or jacket under my costume. It was a huge culture shock to discover that Halloween was during the day! I am not talking about an after school 5:00 PM to 7:30 PM Trick Or Treat. Halloween was moved to a Sunday, and from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM in the afternoon, at that. How could they do that? Well, they did, and everyone seemed to participate.

Some people were not home and they left baskets on the front porch and asked us to be honest and only take two each. Then there were the dads who handed out candy to the kids, and “ice cold brewskis” to our parents who were wandering around after us. One set of parents even had the grill going and were dishing out brats. I try to explain to people that life in Wisconsin wasn’t all about cheese, brats, and beer, and the next thing I know, I have yet another story that is just about that.  I should get some sort of demerit for perpetuating the whole Wisconsinite stereotype.

This is my costume from way back when.  Of course, I found a picture of a pumpkin and put it over my head because myself at that age would have never consented to being featured on any website.  Yes, I still don’t know what shade of green that paint would have been considered.

I had trouble getting through some columns on porches.  My friends, other third and second graders who were dressed “as themselves,” or went as hookers or punk rockers had the right idea about porch navigation-friendly attire.

You can Buy Halloween Costumes Online or in a Halloween Store Near You to go on your own Halloween Adventure and/or you can vote for me in Jack’s Quest to let the old pumpkin head know you found my story ever so mildly entertaining. It is so mild that you’ll need lots of cayenne pepper and sea salt, of course.