Cherry Mice — The Halloween Week Ava Stirred Scallions for Forty-Five Minutes

Halloween week. Ava came over in costume Friday — a tiny chef, with a real apron Mai had embroidered with her name in Vietnamese characters and a chef's hat that kept slipping over her eyes. Emma had made the costume. Ava insisted on holding a wooden spoon and demanding to "cook" everything. I let her. I gave her a mixing bowl with chopped scallions in it. She stirred them with focused intensity for forty-five minutes. She did not understand that this was not actually cooking. The result was finely-stirred scallions and a delighted toddler and that was the whole point.

Lily and James handed out candy at the restaurant for the first time — they had a small bowl by the host stand for trick-or-treaters who stopped in with their parents. The Montrose neighborhood has a strong Halloween presence. Lily said sixty kids came through. The bowl emptied at 8 PM. They were already in the middle of dinner service. James said, "We're a real neighborhood place now." Six months in and the restaurant is part of the geography. That's what you want.

Made pho bò (beef pho) Saturday because Mai requested it. Simmered the bones twelve hours instead of my usual ten because Mai said the bones needed more time and Mai is right about bones. The broth was darker, deeper, slightly sweeter from the longer caramelization. Mai tasted it and didn't say anything for a long moment. Then she said, "Bao. This is your best one." I almost cried. Mai has not given me a "best" before. Five decades of pho, and the best one came from a Saturday in late October when I added two extra hours to the simmer because she told me to.

Lily called Sunday afternoon. The restaurant had a slow Sunday — the first slow day in months. They closed two hours early. James went home to sleep. Lily came over to my house with a six-pack of La Croix and we sat on the back porch and didn't talk for an hour. Just sat. The smoker was cold. The air was cool. Lily said eventually, "Dad, I'm tired." I said, "I know." She said, "Is it always going to be this tired?" I said, "It's going to be different tired. But yes." She said, "Okay." She drank her La Croix. She went home. The sitting was the medicine.

The pho was for Mai, and that Saturday belonged entirely to the broth. But Halloween week also gave us Ava in her embroidered apron, sixty kids coming through the restaurant, and Lily saying “I’m tired” on the back porch — and all of that deserved something small and sweet and a little bit ridiculous. Cherry Mice are exactly that: a no-bake confection that a determined toddler with a wooden spoon could plausibly help assemble, built for the season we were already deep inside. Ava stirred scallions for forty-five minutes with complete conviction. She would have loved these.

Cherry Mice

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 0 min | Total Time: 20 min | Servings: 24 mice

Ingredients

• 24 maraschino cherries with stems, drained and patted dry
• 24 milk chocolate or dark chocolate Hershey’s Kisses, unwrapped
• 48 sliced almonds (for ears)
• 24 small round chocolate chips or mini M&Ms (for noses)
• 48 mini chocolate chips (for eyes)
• 24 pieces thin red or black string licorice, cut to 2–3 inches (for tails)
• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips or melting wafers, melted (for adhering features)

Instructions

1. Prepare cherries. Drain maraschino cherries thoroughly and pat dry with paper towels. Lay them out on a parchment-lined baking sheet, stem-side down.
2. Attach the chocolate Kiss head. Dip the flat base of each chocolate Kiss lightly into the melted white chocolate, then press it firmly against the rounded side of a cherry so the pointed tip faces forward as the mouse’s nose. Hold for a few seconds until set. The cherry stem becomes the tail; orient it toward the back.
3. Add the ears. While the white chocolate is still tacky, press two sliced almonds into either side of the Kiss near its base, curved side out, to form ears. Hold briefly to set.
4. Add eyes and nose. Using a toothpick dipped in melted white chocolate as adhesive, place two mini chocolate chips on the Kiss for eyes and one small round chocolate chip or mini M&M at the pointed tip for a nose.
5. Attach the tail. If the cherry stem has been removed or you prefer a licorice tail, use a toothpick to make a small hole at the back base of the cherry and insert a piece of string licorice. Secure with a small dot of melted white chocolate if needed.
6. Set and chill. Transfer the finished mice to the refrigerator for at least 10 minutes to allow the white chocolate to fully set before serving or plating.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 65 | Protein: 1g | Fat: 3g | Carbs: 9g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 10mg