I Hope You’re Not Still In that Halloween Hangover State of Mind

…because I’m giving you a holiday recipe. (And yes those are pumpkins and bats you see next to my gingersnap shortbread man. Maybe I’m the one who’s still in a Halloween trance.)

And even though I’m feeding you this recipe, I really don’t want to think about Thanksgiving right now because I have a serious belly fat hangover (literally) issue going on here. It’s not pleasant.

This is why you should not buy trick-or-treating candy any sooner than an hour before the trick-or-treaters come. You know what’s going to happen when you buy it advance? The notion of little, tempting boxes of crunchy, tangy Nerds sitting in your pantry by your healthy stack of almonds will infiltrate your mind Inception style and you will not be able to concentrate on biology and will have to run upstairs to get a box of Nerds.

And repeat.

 

"Hi! My name's Gingerbread Shortbread Man. But you can call me Mr. Yumtastic."

Gingersnap Shortbread (Adapted From Better Homes and Gardens)

Ingredients

2 cups  all-purpose flour

1/2 cup  powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon  ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon  ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon  ground cloves

1 cup  butter

2 tablespoons  molasses

Granulated sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine flour, powdered sugar, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter along with the molasses until it resembles fine crumbs. Knead until mixture forms a ball.

2. Pat the dough into a circle on a hard surface. Use your cookie cutter or a round glass to cut out desired shapes. Places the cookies 1 inch apart on two ungreased cookie sheets.

3. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes until bottom just starts to turn golden brown and center is set. Recut circle into wedges while warm. Transfer wedges to a wire rack; cool. Makes around two dozen cookies.

But Halloween has come and gone, and it’s November. So I baked gingersnap shortbread, lit an aroma-therapeutic candle, and played some…spooky music. Okay, fine, I admit it. I’m not over Halloween. I spent last night listening to John Carpenter’s Halloween theme song on repeat with Michael Jackson’s Thriller and the Beetlejuice theme.

Man the Halloween theme song can give you the spooks, especially when you’re at home alone, eating curry, and doing homework.

I should have played some holiday music instead. My favorites have got to be “Step into Christmas” by Elton John, “Last Christmas” sung by Wham!, and the all-time classic “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” sung by anybody who won’t have me wincing when I hear his/her voice.

And then bite into crisp gingersnap shortbread still warm from the oven and, for a split second, you will imagine yourself rockin’ around a Christmas Tree.

 

Whoosh! "AHH! A bat!"