DECK THE HOLIDAY'S

    The  World Sauna Championships  were an annual endurance contest held in  Heinola ,  Finland , from 1999 to 2010. They originated from unofficial sauna-sitting competitions that resulted in a ban from a swimming hall in Heinola. The Championships were first held in 1999 and grew to feature contestants from over 20 countries.  Sauna  bathing at extreme conditions is a severe health risk: all competitors competed at their own risk, and had to sign a form agreeing not to take legal action against the organizers. Notably, the  Finnish Sauna Society  strongly opposed the event. After the death of one finalist and near-death of another during the 2010 championship, the organizers announced that they would not hold another.   This followed an announcement by prosecutors in March that the organizing committee would not be charged for negligence, as their investigation revealed that the contestant who died may have used painkillers and ointments that were forbidden by the organizers.

    Oktoberfest  is a 16–18 day festival held annually in  Munich ,  Bavaria ,  Germany , running from late September to the first weekend in October. It is one of the most famous events in Germany and is the world's largest fair, with more than 5 million people attending every year. The Oktoberfest is an important part of  Bavarian  culture, having been held since 1810. Other cities across the world also hold  Oktoberfest celebrations , modeled after the Munich event.     The Munich Oktoberfest originally took place during the sixteen days up to and including the first Sunday in October. In 1994, the schedule was modified in response to  German reunification  so that if the first Sunday in October falls on the 1st or 2nd, then the festival would go on until October 3 ( German Unity Day ). Thus, the festival is now 17 days when the first Sunday is October 2 and 18 days when it is October 1. In 2010, the festival lasted until the first Monday in October, to mark the 200-ye

   This recipe comes from  www.barbarabakes.com  .   I truely unique take on candy corn.  These days, macaroons are all the rage too, give them a try. I got a little carried away at the store today. I had this idea to make candy corn macarons for this month’s  MacTweets  and I went to the store to buy candy corn to dress up the pictures. When I got there, they had ordinary candy corn of course, but this year Bach’s also had Caramel Candy Corn, and Chocolate Caramel Candy Corn, and Caramel Apple Candy Corn. All of which I decided I should take home and try. But I didn’t stop there – no of course not. There were also candy cane flavored Dots and candy corn Kisses and I thought I should sampled those as well. (Let’s not talk about the two cute packages of Halloween Lindor Truffles that I bought and have hidden in my closet.) The reason for my apparent current obsession with candy corn is that I hate them. I think they have a horrible, waxy flavor. My husband and