A Haunting We Will Go: Apple Cider Sangria

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, so I'm coming right in the nick of time with this Halloween post!  Next week I'll regale you with stories of turkeys, but today, let's take a hop back to the last day of October.


Thatbaby's preschool doesn't do much for Halloween - historically kids have come in costume and ruined them before the actual Trick or Treating event, so as long as my boys have been there, there's no costumes allowed.  Just a special lunch and a bag of candy to go home.

So I started the day off with my own festive touch - vampire muffins.  Good thing my kids have a ridiculous vampire teeth collection.

I also whipped together a little something for Thatkid to bring to lunch.

Thatkid does get to celebrate Halloween at school.  So he came in costume and pretty quickly found one of his friends.  Despite me not having a clue who kids were in their masks, Thatkid knew exactly who was hiding under those false faces.

The school had their Halloween parade, and then all the kids were gathered for their annual Halloween dance.  Each class practices the choreography in gym class in the weeks leading up to Halloween.

After school I picked the kids up and changed Thatbaby into his costume and put on his makeup.  Then we headed over to Stiller's house for dinner and pre-trick or treat festivities.

After dinner we rounded the boys up  and headed out into the night.

Trick or Treat!

Thatbaby is the littlest in the group and kept running after the big boys, falling and/or spilling his candy bucket.  By the end of the night, this was how he looked.

And those falls?  They found us in urgent care a couple days later.  Poor Thatbaby gave himself bursitis in his knee!

Thatkid had a more peaceful evening.  Just lots and lots of candy.

Whenever we go to someone's house for dinner, I feel bad arriving empty handed.  So despite the fact that Mrs. Stiller told me just to show up, I whipped up a batch of sangria to bring with us.  Because it's STILL fall, despite people playing Christmas music and having lights up, I went with the quintessential fall drink - apple cider.

Throw in the best fall fruits - apples, pears, and grapes, and it's the perfect accompaniment to your Thanksgiving dinner, or regular fall evening.

Apple Cider Sangria

2 1/2 cups apple cider

1 bottle of white or rose wine

1/2 cup ginger wine

3 apples, chopped

3 pears, chopped

1 cup grapes, cut in half

club soda

1.  Combine the apple cider and wines in a large pitcher.
2. Add the chopped fruit and refrigerate for at least 2 hours - the longer the better!
3.  Before serving add club soda to taste to the pitcher, or individual glasses.