My daughter loves Halloween. She loves the costumes, the decorations – the entire pageantry of it.

She had her first-ever Halloween party this year. She started planning in September, making lists of people to invite, activities to try and food to make.

That’s why I’m writing about Halloween in January – the food.

We went a little overboard buying magazines dedicated to Halloween recipes. Each cover looked better than the last. We were drawn in by each proclamation of “Fun and festive treats!”

She had her party on a Saturday night and I spent most of that day in the kitchen. It was worth it, though, when the girls saw the table covered with mini ghost pizza, black cat cupcakes, the jack-o-lantern vegetable tray and breadstick bones.

I’ve been thinking about the breadstick bones as I start to use my right hand again. My cast was removed last week and I now sport a black brace to protect my hand as it continues to heal. I want to bring snacks to the ER staff and the orthopedic office for indulging my silly jokes and odd questions these past few weeks. A bone treat seems ideal, but breadsticks aren’t the best thank you gift. If I had any luck baking sugar cookies, I’d try that, but as I’ve mentioned before, sugar cookies are my baking Achilles’ heel.

I may need to break out the Halloween cooking magazines again to find a “bone-ified” sweet treat. Keep an eye on the Everybody Eats blog (http://thegazette.com/category/blogs/everybody-eats/) to see what I come up with. In the meantime, here’s the breadstick recipe that started it all.

Breadstick Bones

• 1 tube (11 ounces) refrigerated breadsticks
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt

Unroll and separate breadsticks. Carefully stretch dough and tie the ends of each breadstick into a knot. With a scissors, snip a small notch in the center. Place on an ungreased baking sheet; brush with butter.

Combine Parmesan cheese and garlic salt; sprinkle over dough. Bake at 375° for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.

Source: Taste of Home’s Ultimate Halloween: The 2012 Special Spooky Edition