On a sunny afternoon of October 29, kids wearing Halloween costumes and their parents were welcomed by the delicious smells of Treat House’s signature crispy treats, apple cider, and glasses of champagne (for mom and dad, of course), for their Trick or Treat House’s Halloween family event.
As parents parked the strollers, toddler guests dressed as mermaids, minions, and even princess Leia, were presented with a box of four pumpkin-colored orange treats and escorted to the bark lined room with a spectacular powder blue glass table filed with rice crispies, also known as their signature “crispy table.” There, under Treat House Executive Chef Wendy Israel’s expert guidance and help from “treat stylists”, children could design their own marshmallow crispy rice treats. On the table there were two choices of frosting (chocolate or vanilla) and large jars filled with sweet goodies in Halloween’s colors of all kinds to decorate the treats: granulated black and orange sugar, chocolate sprinkles, Reese’s pieces, candy corn, marshmallows, jelly beans, confectionery pumpkins, gummy bears, and even sugary eyeballs! While the dressed up toddlers customized their treats, younger kids took advantage of the chalkboard and drew some pumpkins. The smallest attendants enjoyed the swing at the back of the room, sharing it with a friendly ghost perched on top!
The concept for this magical store was inspired by the owners and married couples’ two young boys, Eli and Daniel Russell, who raised $300in a charity bake sale project, when they decided to experiment with rice crispy flavors and create gourmet options, like those usually found in cupcake shops! Today the married couple continues to support community and promote charity work. Treat House has partnered with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. For every $15 their customers donate, Treat House will send a 12 pack of treats directly to patients affected by blood cancer.
As the afternoon progressed, parents watched their children while sipping on champagne and trying out ice cream bars, crispy treats, and pops in seasonal flavors concocted by Wendy Israel, such as berry scary boysenberry, butterscotch candy corn, pumpkin pie spice, and coffee cinnamon doughnut. Treat House owners, Christopher and Jennifer Russel, mingled with the parents, exchanged stories about their own two young kids, and even served treats themselves as kids poured in after school for a fun DYI activity. “This free event was created for neighborhood kids and their families, perfect for an after school activity,” Christopher says. According to Russel, the UES location, with its cozy, elegantly designed event room, was created as a place “where families not just could, but would want to hang out at.”
The Halloween event ended with overjoyed and sugar crashing toddlers driven out of the bakery by their equally happy parents, but not before they got their little boxes of crispy rice treats they created, extra candies for the road, and some colorful free stickers.
Treat House’s event room also hosts DYI after school play dates, for large and small 2-3 kids groups, PA meetings, and birthday parties, where little ones can use rhinestones and colorful fabric markers to customize their own Treat House t-shirts, and watch magician Wendy the Pipe Cleaner Lady do her amazing crafts. The events are suitable for children 4-11 years old. All treats are kosher, gluten-free, nut-free, and dairy free, unless otherwise specified.
To learn more, visit treathouse.com.
