This Best Bites (Washingtonian food blog) post makes a somewhat rhetorical aside regarding homemade Halloween candy. When I was of trick-or-treating age, my parents inspected my candy (no doubt taking a few pieces for themselves), and on a couple of occasions, discarded what they viewed as of questionable safety.
This made me wonder: what do DR.com parents think of allowing their children to eat homemade treats given out at neighborhood houses on Halloween? Were my parents paranoid or prudent?

If I know the person distributing home-made treats -- OK.
If I don't -- trash.

That's the way it worked when I was growing up, too. The only non-wrapped item we were ever allowed to keep was from a dentist who lived a block or so away. He gave out apples. Given his profession, we didn't hold it against him.

I'm with JPW. If I know the person distributing the treat, we keep. If not, I politely try to discourage them from even giving it. If they don't get the hint, the treat is discarded at home. Who the hell would even give something homemade to a child they didn't know?

I've never understood this- isn't it bad for business?

Then he must not have been that dreaded man who all children fear. You know, the one "who puts razor blades in his apples."

A reliable child told me that Don gave out edible razors one year (Fruit Leathers from Trader Joe's to be precise). The next year I consulted him and he upgraded to Fruit Gushers and mini Snickers, I think.

I don't think I would let my daughter eat anything that wasnt wrapped. That being said, I made about 150 chocolates to give out to the adults tonight. So if anyone is in my hood......

Where do you stand on loose cigarettes? I don't have the budget to give each of the little freaks a whole pack.

Remember candy and bubblegum cigarettes?

If you pair them with an airplane bottle of Jack, I say go for it.

I grew up in the Tylenol-tampering era, back when hospital emergency rooms offered the service of parents bringing in their kids' candy to be x-rayed. So, no, no homemade anything for me. And sad to say, if I were a parent I wouldn't let my children eat anything that even appeared homemade unless it were from someone I knew and trusted.

Sadly, I agree with Principia (always a good idea for a former scientist, no?). Although perhaps next year I'll go all British candy just to inject my exurban Pleasantville with an appropriate amount of East End Ennui.

Our rules are the same as JPW's. If we know the people then it's OK. If not, it goes in the trash.

ETA I am curous to see what the kids come home with now that we live in crunchy granola land.

Is this still the rule, now that the "razor in the apple" and "poisoned candy" has long been shown to be an Urban Myth? Still, I would put labels on everything with my name and address and a list of ingredients (for all those with allergies). I LOVED home-made popcorn balls (my trick-or-treating predated all the scares).

Good question. My kid are little enough that they only go to a few places, and actually the only homemade stuff they've been given in the past was from neighbors that we knew. I'm usually inclined to cut people slack so maybe we should be less suspicious.

(I spent a significant portion of elementary and Jr. high in CA during the Hillside strangler thing. That makes one's parents jumpy come trick or treating time. Far more jumpy than the possibilty of razors in the apples.)

I grew up in a surprisingly jumpy neighborhood as well (by that I mean I think they greatly overestimated the potential dangers whether from older kids playing pranks or problems with the snacks). We didn't have trick or treating. The elementary school had a big party each year. By the time you moved on to junior high, trick or treating just didn't seem like something to do. Something changed a few years ago and my parents were totally caught off guard when a few kids came to the door. Now they stock up like they might need to live off the extras for a month or so.

Barbara and I are of similar vintages. I only went visited houses where I knew the residents, but I knew everyone in our neighborhood, so that didn't limit my take. I loved home-made treats, and I remember my mother carefully filling treat bags with all kinds of unwrapped goodies.

No homemade candy for me, just prewrapped, commercial stuff-but this is the fastest I've ever been cleaned out (Actually, don't think I've ever run out before, just held some in reserve & turned off the lights at around 9). It started off slow (my own kids went off w/ friends at 6:15 & aren't back yet), then picked up-I had a lot of large (8-12) groups of teens/preteens.

I also made the mistake of having hardwood put in my entryhall right before Halloween, we made it through the first 3 days of not stepping on it, but tonight was too much for my dog-doggie footprints all through the polyurethane!

I was fresh out at 7:30 and I bought double from last year.

Pretend you didn't have any.

Our last lot came by about 20 minutes ago, and for once we bought the right amount of candy (right amount being enough for the rampaging hordes, plus a little left over for us).

ETA: Okay, that wasn't the last lot. But we still haven't had to dip into the emergency bag of Heath bars.

Thanks, ScotteeM. It's nice to have a soul mate on this blog.

Maybe it's because I moved around so much, and was the youngest of my siblings, but I remember going from going out and collecting candy to staying at home and handing out the goodies. I much more appreciated the latter. I got to see the creativity of the costumes. Plus, I was able to feel like a GROWN UP at the age of 15 or 16. And, because I timed my birth correctly, the issue of "older" kids didn't play any part of the evening's activities.

The problem is, for me, that because I don't participate in Halloween to any extent, I am fascinated by what goes on. For example, I walked up Columbia Road this morning and found a kid dressed up as "Chuckie." And, because the weather was so ridiculously warm, all the day-care people had the little kids in those multi-kid push carts. The kids being dressed up in various "Costumes," of course.

Ah, nostalgia.

I did. I blew out the candle in my three-faced jack-o-lantern and turned off the porch lights. That's all, folks!

Kind of light on trick-or-treaters this year. Too much candy left over.

Favorite costume this year -- seen at the neighborhood parade on Sunday -- 2 kids approx 12 y.o. -- one dressed as a bottle of Jif peanut butter, the other as a bottle of Smuckers grape jelly.

We got two knocks on the door last night. Anyone want 50 lbs. of miniature Almond Joys?

The kids didn't get anything homemade, but someone on our street gave out raisins. The hands-down favorite in their bags was the Chinese yo-yo.

We did the same at 8:15 when the flow of cute little kids turned into occasional roving bands of teenagers who greedily grabbed handfuls of candy. (Plus, the candy supply was running quite low and rwte needs a few little candy bars to take in his lunch.)

The best costume of the night: An ~8-year-old boy dressed in a business suit & tie, hair slicked back, wearing glasses and carrying one of those soft Land's End briefcases exactly like the one my husband takes to work. He came trudging up the walk, sighed "Trick or Treat" and held open the briefcase in the most resigned of manner. His resemblence to rwtye's nightly homecoming was uncanny.

Oddest costume: An ~10-year-old girl with her shirt stuffed so she looked like she was about 8-months pregnant and carrying a newborn baby doll.

rwtye likes to let the kids pick which pieces candy they want... it appears that most kids go for either the color red or the largest in size. Being small and blue, the Almond Joys were the loser of the evening at our house also.

Whoah; that's weird. Was there an adult with her?

Easy.. Britney Spears. Seriously.

I saw an apple in a couple bags last night so some one in my neighborhood was trying to undo some of the tooth rot I was doling out. We had suprisingly few trick or treaters so I'm pawning candy to people here at work.

Since the weather was so nice, I decided to pretend it was still summer and opened my last bottle of rose.

We had a boy in a grey sweatsuit with painted traffic lines, bits of trash attached and an Interstate 66 sign attached. His father said they were going for the scariest costume.

Check out Kermit!