Katherine Reynolds Lewis, 2018, PublicAffairs

Review by A Child Grows___________________

In The Good News About Bad Behavior the Lewis argues that defiance and simple refusal to follow instructions is a broad trend of the times and is getting worse. She speculates as to why–screen time, consumerism–but presents only the start of a case with no follow-through on the causes. She does however present some strongly argued solutions. Her main argument: punishment doesn’t work.

Lewis first presented her case in a Mother Jone’s article in 2015 that was very popular. She spends a good amount of time in the book describing how criticism causes distress and is bad for the brain. She believes any kind of punishment has a negative effect and that we should stop trying to control kids and instead give them more independence. She believes it’s best to talk to children and address the source of their issues rather than the behavior. Kids can often come up with their own solutions. Also, she agrees with all the experts that sleep is super important.

She says the book is not a parenting manual, but a piece of narrative journalism. I would have to disagree there. If you go by space used in the book, it would say that it’s mostly a breakdown of the Parent Encouragement Program (A non-profit that has four books by adherents and absolutely offers parenting instruction). That is not bad though. It’s always helpful to read about new techniques or methods and there is no need to join any group to get the benefit of some of Lewis’s great tips. She also reassures us that things get better and we shouldn’t worry so much

This is one of those things I shouldn’t have to explain but halloween and trick or treating should not be about the most efficient way to distribute candy to children. I don’t even want my child to have this candy (we do the switch witch). The point of trick or treating is to have fun with your neighbors, and I’m not opposed to a little bit of the unexpected. Maybe even a grumpy neighbor who has no candy just for character-building experience.

Photo by Jason Jarrach

There are more than 7,500 different kinds of apples and, strangely, the Red Delicious is the most popular (why?).  I like Fuji. They are always making new ones and they just made a new one called Cosmic Crisp. It’s a hybrid of a Honeycrisp and an Enterprise apple. I haven’t tried it yet.

Did you know that you should keep them in the fridge? I just learned this. Lemon juice can keep slices fresh (I did know this one).

Seriously, here are some great apple themed links:
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Recipe of the Day: Apple Bread ? Get the recipe: https://t.co/xFe8Enja2d pic.twitter.com/Pqj9UZ0NUn— Food Network (@FoodNetwork) October 7, 2020

Being the frugal New Englander that I am, when I learned how to make a useful vinegar from all those apple scraps, my little self did a happy dance ? #apples #Fall2020 #recipe https://t.co/Ll5Uc4OxD9 pic.twitter.com/IyM9aziC4m— It’s My Sustainable Life (@ItSustainable) October 7, 2020

Photo thanks to Priscilla Du Preez

This option is sometimes the only way people who are retired and receiving Medicare while also raising a kid can get insurance for the child. It also works for freelancers but because of the mandate, it isn’t advertised. But the mandate is not the law–it’s a tax (per the Supreme Court). So you can choose, get insurance or pay the tax penalty. Either option is legal.

Child Health Plus falls under the federal/state Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) that Hillary was famously proud of. They provide subsidized coverage based on income, but there is no income cap if you pay the full premium price. This is similar to Medicaid, in that lot of doctors will not accept it, but that is a problem with almost all health insurance now. https://www.health.ny.gov/health_care/child_health_plus/how_do_i_apply.htm

To apply you need to call one of the insurance companies directly or go through a community based organization that helps people enroll. There are people called navigators who can help. Those organizations are really intended to help those who would qualify for financial help, so consider that if/when you call them.

You may want to say upfront that you will be paying full price for Child Health Plus as there is no cap on income. There is no need to provide financial info if you are paying full price, but they are so used to asking they will probably ask you anyway.

Caveats:

1. You will not have insurance for yourself.
2. You might want to check with your current  pediatrician to see if they take any of the plans.

Oh, here’s another thing everyone should know if you decide to apply for this or for your whole family. If you know for sure you are over income for subsidies on the Exchange (you can use the calculator to test this, but you should apply if you are anywhere near the line), you don’t need to provide all your financial information to apply. Just skip that part and enroll in 5 minutes by choosing not to apply for subsidies.

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Please note that I don’t represent any insurance company, government entity, or any type of authorized party.  Think of this only as a jumping off point for your own research–like you spoke to a neighbor or someone at the coffee shop.  I can’t provide any specific advice or answer any questions, so good luck

Hot and Bothered: What No One Tells You About Menopause and How to Feel Like Yourself Again

by Jancee Dunn

Reviewed by ACG Staff

Everyone else has reviewed this book so perhaps no one needs my review, but, then again, I almost missed it so let’s get this out there. This book is really helpful. Despite having “Menopause” on the cover, I would say it is more about “Perimenopause.” The part of this book that really hit me the hardest was stories of women searching for answers. Women everywhere are going from doctor to doctor afraid they have cancer or some rare disease and not getting any answers. Spoiler, they have perimenopause.

Why Doesn’t Anyone Tell Us This? (Outside of the half a dozen new books out about it right now–it’s a hot topic)

I always thought menopause was something that started in your 50’s. You have a lot of hot flashes, your hormones go bananas, and then your stop having your period, right? Well, despite what my unreliable mother told me, this isn’t quite the case for most people. Apparently it starts with perimenopause in your 40’s and all sorts of things can go bananas, for YEARS.

Jancee Dunn breaks it all down for us but also goes one better. She gives us some really useful advice. I had to bookmark numerous pages to come back to later. She tells us about the different drug options, how to find a specialist, and how to evaluate the multiple options for just getting through the day with these symptoms.

She even makes it readable by adding lots of humor and some over-the-top quote from a lot of famous ladies who have been there.

While my mother may have failed to notice any changes in her 40’s, or maybe she has just forgotten, women in their 40’s now are much more aware of how they should feel and empowered to try to feel that way. We are starting to demand help and some of us are getting it. I hope that applies to women everywhere in the US, but I’m afraid it may not. In places where embryos have more rights than women, we can only hope that some women find doctors that will help them.

Speaking of Backwards Ideas…

Hot and Bothered has some horrifying stories about menopause being used as a defense against women suing for injuries due to company negligence. Apparently if you were anywhere around menopause age nothing could happen to you that wasn’t somehow going to happen to you anyway because your body was such a hot mess. We can hope that all that is behind us and not coming back as they take away our rights to our bodies across the country now.

This is one of those books that we all need to read as demonstrated by my large number of bookmarks!

• Links are Amazon affiliate links, which means we may get a small commission, but this is just for convince. Please buy from your local bookstore!

My Interview with Someone Who Does NOT Hate Her Husband – Jancee Dunn

When you’re expecting a little bundle, carrying a big bundle of stuff onto an airplane is never a good idea. Neither is drinking too much water when you’re about to board the plane because no matter how fast that line moves, you’re going to need to pee. AGAIN. But don’t despair. There are things you can do to lessen the load, pardon the pun, of traveling while pregnant.

1. Book an aisle seat

Once on the plane, you’re likely going to have to run to the lavatory several times, even on a short flight. Make it easier on yourself by booking the aisle. You’ll be glad you did when you get up for the 10^th time in 2 hours, and so will those in your row.

2. Reduce bulk in your baggage

With checked items, you’ll likely find some assistance. But when you’re bringing carry-on items, there might be no one to help you carry it on the plane. Make sure what you bring as carry-on luggage is easy to carry both in weight and size so that it’s not cumbersome. That means you might have to leave your giant body pillow at home. Airplanes all have pillows on board though so when you arrive at the gate, let them know you’d like one.

3. Board early

Airlines are always happy to accommodate passengers with special needs including the elderly, families with small children, those with injuries or disabilities, and pregnant women. When you arrive at the gate, make sure you board with those passengers.

4. Pack compression socks

It’s hard to feel sexy in these, but hey, you need to be more focused on your comfort right now. There will be plenty of time for fabulousness after you have the baby. Circulation is very important, particularly during pregnancy. Compression socks or even support hose will help your blood flow and relieve the many discomforts of pregnancy, which can be exacerbated with air travel.

5. Stay hydrated and well-fueled

Look, getting up to pee this often is definitely annoying, but you need to stay hydrated. Air travel is particularly dehydrating so sip on water and endure those frequent trips to the bathroom because it’s better than the alternative. Additionally, bring snacks to help keep you from tail-spinning into dizziness. Even if your flight provides food, you should always have something munchable. You never know when there will be a delay so it will come in handy!

6. Be prepared

Before traveling, make sure you check in with your doctor. In most cases, air travel for pregnant women is fine before 36 weeks. No matter how healthy your pregnancy is though, pack all your documents just in case. And if you’re traveling abroad, make sure you look into what your options are so if you need medical attention, you can get the help you need. While being pregnant is a challenge on any day, when traveling it can be more of one. The key is to be ready for anything, flexible, and have a plan which will make it less stressful and ultimately more enjoyable.

When you get there: Make sure to relax in your hotel room. Try not to work or stay up too late watching bad TV. It is so tempting when away from home, but you will regret it the next day!

Related Posts:

The Zika Virus and Pregnancy: The Basics

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When my 5-year-old daughter, Adrienne, walked into her first class at Jennifer Kliegel’s Dance Studio of Park Slope, she became a member of the best girls’ club in the city.  Adrienne said yes to any class we could give her.  From that very first tumbling class, to the jazz/tap/ballet combo class, to the diversified classes for the older students, my daughter was in a kind of bliss for over ten years.  It was funny, sweaty, silly, and the costumes were exotic and shiny.  But the work became disciplined, and for all practical purposes, the environment was professional.  Each teacher was a choreographer.  The dancers took the routines very seriously.  And they got good! The shows out at Brooklyn College began with adorable little kid tappers – both female and male – but eventually the 11 -16 year olds would take the stage, and they were darn good.  Disciplined, expressive, strong, and working as a team.

What made this dance studio so extraordinary?  The hard-working teacher/dancers?  The studio two stories above 7th Avenue, with bright sunny windows?  Great exercise for the kids?  Jennifer herself?  All of the above, of course.  We, as parents, wrestle with the same ongoing questions about our kids’ after school activities.  Is this just for fun?  How far do we go with this?  Is this time best spent?  It’s hard to argue with the pure merits of dance class for a growing child.  But most of us do come to understand that the club environment of a place like the dance studio, with its routines and rituals, its comradery and teamwork, and the striving over many weeks towards a goal, is worth its weight in gold.

At about the same time Adrienne began dance class, she joined her first AYSO soccer team.  Within two years she had also joined Carmelo the Science Fellow’s afterschool science club at her public school. The AYSO team morphed into a competitive travel team, trained by Harry Triana and his brother John Triana.  There were some seasons where I was picking Adrienne up 20 minutes early from soccer practice in Red Hook, to get her to Jazz class at the Dance Studio back on 7th Ave.

To all of these hard-working professionals who have dedicated their time to working with youth, I send this love letter.

Out on that soccer field, my 6-year-old ran in circles and got a trophy.  But a few years in, her coach, who would be involved in her soccer world until she graduated from high school, said “you know, at some point, it kind of should matter whether they play well, and whether they win.”  To me, this qualified, parsed comment was absolutely ideal.  So yes, it kind of did matter, because children should learn to work hard and take pride in that process of improvement.  But it takes smart and gifted professionals working with youth to balance the challenge to grow with the challenge to succeed or, perhaps, win.  These soccer coaches wanted their teams to win, no doubt.  But more importantly they wanted their teams to improve, and to work as a team.  When my daughter considered leaving her team that she had played with for so many years, two of her teammates arranged a 3-way call, asking her to stay.  My daughter was a good player, but she was not indispensable. What she was, was a beloved teammate. Adrienne stayed on the team.

Carmelo the Science Fellow, aka Carmelo Piazza, well known to many brownstone Brooklyn families, has had a winning way with students for a long time. This young teacher excited my daughter about science, so much so that she is now a science teacher herself, part of the movement to find new and better ways to teach the science in our schools.  But at the time, what I witnessed above all was Carmelo’s ability to get the youngest, and sometimes the most troubled kids to focus.  Focus on that bug he was holding.  Focus on that slippery slimy lizard.  Laugh about that owl pod that encased mouse bones.  (“Ewe!! The kids shrieked.)  The 2nd grade science class at PS 261 was about discovery, laugher, and focus. There was always some small wonderful task to perform, and these little ones learned how to perform them.

In addition to my life as a performing musician, I am also an arts educator, and I have been profoundly impacted in my own teaching, observing these professionals work with my daughter and her friends, classmates and teammates through the years.  Our children witness so much messaging that suggests they must attach a significant goal to each activity in which they engage.  A goal is by no means a nasty thing, it’s a good thing.  But what a talented professional working with youth understands, is that there are many kinds of goals, short term and long term, and long term goals that masquerade as short terms goals.   We as parents receive our own messaging.  Get your kid involved in something early that they can get good at.  Maybe there’s a prodigy in there!! The years go by, and before you know it you and your child are feeling the pressure to build a resume for college, get an athletic scholarship, show off a “talent” in a portfolio.  And we all have a secret wish that our children find something early that suggests a brilliant career.  Sometimes we get carried away.

I have reminded myself many times through my daughter’s upbringing that these wonderful activities are there for her to enjoy, first and foremost, but also to learn what it feels like to grow, to rely on and give support to fellow teammates, to look up to a coach or leader, to develop a passion for something that you can love for a lifetime.  These are true measures of meaningful experience for our children.

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Janie Barnett is a Brooklyn mom and Americana singer-songwriter. She rose in the NYC music freelance world, singing backup for iconic stars like Linda Ronstadt, Celine Dion, and Rickie Lee Jones and appearing on SNL and The Today Show, all while continuing her search for her own essential expression. Her latest album “You See This River” is the culmination of Barnett’s years of searching and exploring. The album made the first round Grammy ballot in the following categories: Best Folk Album, Best American Roots Song and Best American Roots Vocal. Janie currently splits her time between Brooklyn and Boston, where she has been an associate professor at Berklee College of Music for close to 15 years. Connect with her on FB or Twitter.

Featured Photo by Krista McPhee

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One World Project: GLOBAL ARTIST WORKSHOP

Feb 19-23; 9:30 to 12:30/ (or) 3:00/ (or) 5:00

Please join OWP’s Global Artist Workshop, a week-long camp over February break (February 19 to February 23). Throughout the week, we will be learning about an incredible line up of visual artists from near and far.

Each day, campers will be introduced to an artist, learning about their life, medium and artistic techniques. They will be creating with clay, making collages, painting, experimenting with photography, working with textiles, building upcycle sculptures, and practicing Spanish.

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SKATEYOGI

SKATEYOGI Day Camp is designed for students ages 7-13 of all levels. We group students based on their levels, so absolute beginners can learn the basics while experienced skaters can learn more advanced techniques and tricks. Skatepark etiquette and skateboarding topics are introduced throughout the camp. Using SKATEYOGI‘s two indoor skate spaces as our home base, we travel to skateparks and skate spots via public transportation (weather permitting) while skating and learning together! Lots of skateboarding inside our indoor spaces and outdoors! Limited enrollment.

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The Craft Studio

Often called a mini party…these camps are full of multimedia trendy art projects, fun and interactive games, and of course the best music and dance parties in NYC! They offer 2-hour and 4-hour drop off options during the major school breaks.

Brooklyn Location: 295 Atlantic Avenue Brooklyn NY, 11201

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Brooklyn Game Lab

• Tue, Dec 26, 2023  Fri, Dec 29, 2023 PM: 9:00 AM  3:00 PM (Center Slope Location)
• Monday, January 15, 2024: 9:00 AM  3:00 PM

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Textile Arts Center

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Joy Gymnastics

Joy Gym mini camps provide structure while being entertaining and educational during time off from school. Throughout the day campers will participate in gymnastics classes, art time, cooperative movement and non-movement group games. Campers will have time for snacks and lunch which we ask guardians to provide. If weather and air quality permits a portion of the camp will be held outside in the courtyard. Ages: 4.5-12yrs (all campers must be fully potty trained)

• December 26th-29th
• January 15th
• February 19th-23rd

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Child’s Play NY

Both Pre-K and K-5 Camps on January 15th and February 19th-23rd! Themes including Frozen, Wizarding Worlds, and Mythology, Hogwarts. This camp is great because you can pick any day or number of days for $125 per day.

Need-based scholarship spaces are available to BIPOC students and those from historically underrepresented backgrounds in the community.

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Geek Forest has a really cool Mars engineering camp on January 15th for kids 6+. Check it out.

DanceWave mid-winter recess camps is February 20th-23rd, 2024 Ages 3-6! Enrolling soon.M

Brooklyn Explorers offers school break camps that take kids on exciting excursions throughout all five boroughs. Tuition includes child-care coverage from 8:00-4:00, as well as breakfast, lunch, snack and excursion fees. After Camp care is available from 4-6pm for additional price. They are offering camp for the December and February week-long holidays.

Treasure Trunk Theatre  always has lots of fun options for little ones during school breaks — the best part is they have several locations in Brooklyn so there will probably be one near you.

Creatively Wild Art Studio in Dumbo offers art camp on DEC 18-22 School Break, DEC 26-29 School Break, and JAN 2-5 Winter School Break.

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THESE CAMPS WERE CHOSEN BY OUR EDITORS AND INCLUDED AT NO COST, BUT SOME CAMPS HAVE CHOSEN TO SPONSOR THEIR LISTINGS AFTER SELECTION.

Please note that A Child Grows does not certify or inspect these camps (we don’t have the ability or resources to do that) so parents must use their own best judgement. NYC licenses some camps but it doesn’t apply to all camps and we can’t check that or know all the details.

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When I was a full-time employee at Barnes and Noble (for far too long at the age of 21 and 22 years), I invested my paycheck in books. I didn’t just buy art books or fiction books, but children’s’ books. I have a grand collection of children’s books from that time. After all, I did work in the children’s department when I got kicked out of the adult section for reorganizing the tattoo books into the art section and out of sociology. Sigh to the uncreative manager I had at Barnes and Noble. Because of my love for books, each year I invest in new holiday books for our bookshelves. Here are some newly published ones that I recommend.

Books  About Winter

Red Sled
Lita Judge
Ages 2-5 years
$16.99
This book has gotten starred reviews from virtually all the heavy book reviewers out there: Publishers Weekly, Kirkus and the School Library Journal. This special book deserves it. The simple plot allows for some flat-out gleeful fun. A bear finds a red sled propped up on the side of a cabin and, intrigued, takes it for a spin- along with all his woodland pals. Each page shows a new creature holding on for the sled ride of its life. The text consists entirely of the animals sounds as they react to the wild and meandering sled ride. When my 5 year old saw the book he told me it was a “baby book.” After 2 pages of hearing it read aloud,  he clambered up on the bed and giggled at the sounds and illustrations. This book is one of my 3  year old new favorites. Delightful book.

Stars
Mary Lyn Ray
Illustrated by: Marla Frazee
Ages 2-6
$16.99
This book has garnered accolades from Book List, Publishers Weekly and others for not only the two-time Caldecott Honor winner Marla Frazee’s illustrations, but the breezy language of this new book.  We love this book in our family and it has become a frequently requested read at night. This book has in it the spirit of “Owl Moon”- that if we look, hear and feel- there is wonder in the world everywhere. There are stars in the moss that climbs the tree, stars in snowflakes and stars in the dried up leaves of dandelions. Stars can also transform: a star sticker can make a child a sheriff, a star wand can bestow wishes and you can even wish on a star. This lovely book creates wonderful opportunities for you to discuss abstract thoughts through visual symbols. I feel sure that this will become a classic book over time.

Books  About Christmas

The Twelve Days of Christmas
Laurel Long
Dial $16.99
All Ages
This new book has gorgeous and intricate drawings that illustrate the famous song with shades of symbolism. But, what’s truly unique about it is that each day’s new gift is repeated in each sequential drawing- and they are hidden throughout each page. Kids ages 5 years and up will love searching for the hidden doves or rings until the book culminates in one fantastical spread, incorporating each days’ gift.  The younger set might struggle with finding the items in the busy illustrations, but can enjoy the book nonetheless.

The Magical Christmas Horse
Mary Higgins Clark
Illustrated by: Wendell Minor
Ages 4-8 years
$17.99
This adult fiction author is a master of suspense and she uses it to captivate younger readers with her new Christmas book. Young Johnny goes to visit his grandparents for Christmas on their tree farm. He remembers a special rocking horse in his grandparents’ attic which he wants to give to his little brother for a Christmas present. When it’s nowhere to be found, he goes searching.  This nostalgic book is a sweet reminder of how wonderful and magical it can feel to be at a grandparents’ home for the holiday. The traditional drawings illustrate the sweeping rural farm and cozy interiors of the farmhouse.

Books  About Hanukkah

The Hanukkah Hop
Erica Silverman
Illustrated by: Steven D’Amico
Ages 3-6
$12.99
This feels like the perfect Brooklyn Hanukkah story. Rachel and her parents prepare their apartment for a party- including a rocking klezmer band.  They sing, light candles and dance the Hanukkah Hop. The rythmic rhyming lyrics are fun to read aloud and have a distinctive beebop beat to them. The 1960’s style mod illustrations are in perfect timing with the beat of the words. It all makes for a lively, youthful take on celebrating Hanukkah.

Eight Winter Nights
Laura Krass Melmed
Illustrated by: Elisabeth Schlossberg
All ages
$11.55
I got this book not because I love the story- in fact, there is none- but because it explains the traditions of Hanukkah so clearly with carefully constructed (but not overly wordy) rhymes. There are a lot of Hanukkah books out there that set out to explain the traditions of the Festival of Lights with either language that is too didactic or twisted around to make a rhyme that doesn’t really work. Laura Krass Melmed does an excellent job of finding just the right rhymes to make the lyrics easily understandable to even 3 year olds.  It’s a perfect primer for a child that wants to understand the holiday. The illustrations are done in pastel and have a warm, fuzzy feel that contribute to the feeling of a cozy family gathering.

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Note that these are Amazon affiliate links because that is easy, but we would always rather you go to your local bookstore or library.

Candy Corn on Halloween

Halloween became popular holiday in America around the turn of the 20th century. It was celebrated at home with a festive theme party, with spooky decorations and refreshments. The occasion could be for kids–but not necessarily. The Book of Hallowe’en, published in 1919, gives us a sense of what these parties were like:

For the centerpiece of the table there may be a hollowed pumpkin, filled with apples and nuts and other fruits of harvest, or a pumpkin-chariot drawn by field-mice… Jack-o’-lanterns, with which the room is lighted, are hollowed pumpkins with candles inside… Corn-stalks from the garden stand in clumps about the room. A frieze of witches on broomsticks, with cats, bats, and owls surmounts the fireplace, perhaps…The prevailing colors are yellow and black: a deep yellow is the color of most ripe grain and fruit; black stands for black magic and demoniac influence.

Having marched to the dining-room to the time of a dirge, the guests find before them plain, hearty fare; doughnuts, gingerbread, cider, popcorn, apples, and nuts honored by time. The Hallowe’en cake has held the place of honor since the beginning here in America. A ring, key, thimble, penny, and button baked in it foretell respectively speedy marriage, a journey, spinsterhood, wealth, and bachelorhood.

Notice that although there are sweets like doughnuts and a Halloween cake mentioned among the food, there is no candy, let alone candy corn. At the turn of the century, despite the fact there was themed candy for every other holiday (including marzipan cherries for Washington’s birthday), candy companies didn’t see Halloween as a candy-oriented holiday.  Desperate for a way to boost fall candy sales, “Candy Day” was invented, a day where you…buy candy. Later to be known as “Sweetest Day,” it’s the second Saturday of October and still celebrated in some areas, like my hometown of Cleveland.

Created around 1880, candy corn was not originally considered a Halloween sweet.  Better known at the time as “chicken feed,” which I think is a very cute name, it was manufactured year-round and was especially popular for the Fourth of July and in Easter baskets. But with its harvest-festival colors of yellow, orange and red it also seemed a natural fit for fall celebrations, and was slowly integrated into Halloween parties. From The Atlantic:

Candy-making oral tradition credits the invention of candy corn to George Renninger, a candy maker at the Wunderle Candy Company of Philadelphia…At that time, many candy makers were producing “butter cream” candies molded into all kinds of natural or plant-inspired shapes, including chestnuts, turnips, and clover leaves. The real innovation in candy corn was the layering of three colors. This made it taxing to produce (all those colors had to be layered by hand in those days). But the bright, layered colors also made the candy novel and visually exciting.

Although candy corn was the first candy to be integrated into Halloween, it wasn’t until after WWII that candy companies started manufacturing Halloween themed candy in appropriate Jack-o-Lantern shapes and fall colors. Conversely, Brach’s, established in 1904, is now doing its best to detach candy corn from its Halloween-only image, by producing new flavors like “Milk Maid Caramel Candy Corn” and manufacturing different seasonal colors like red and green.

Making Candy Corn on Halloween

Slicing up the candy corns with my Velveeta Cheese Slicer. Handy!

Making Candy Corn

I’ve never liked candy corn, but I decided to give them a second chance after I stumbled across Alton Brown’s recipe for “chicken feed” from scratch. It blends butter and powdered milk (I used Bob’s Red Mill Non Fat Dry Milk Powder, 22-ounce) with boiled sugar. There is a bit of a learning curve with this recipe: the first time I made it, the dough turned out unusable, flaky, and weird. The second time, I was more precise: I measure my ingredients by weight instead of volume and boiled the sugar at a lower temperature.

Photo (c) Sarah Lohman

Although the sugar boiling should be done by an adult, once the candy cools enough to work with, layering the colors and cutting the shapes is a great activity for kids.

Although my candy corns (pictured above) turned out looking very handmade, I find them endearing. And they taste waaay better than store-bought: they creamy and tart, as well as sweet and salty–a complexity of flavor that can only come from handmade.

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Sarah Lohman