Fall Fun: Halloween Begins

Tomorrow is the first of a few of our Halloween celebrations.

In a way, we started this evening by "BOOing" some friends.  The kids were BOO'd on Tuesday night--in fact, it scared a few of us.  Mama and I were downstairs, with the kids upstairs, when we heard a distant knock.  The cats all jumped and Albus even growled.  But when I went to check the porch, which door was locked, there was no one.  And Bud said he had been banging around.  But a  bit later, a friend beeped me on FB, hoping it hadn't been too late to leave something on the step.  And there it was--our BOO bag, with candy and such.  So, tonight, we returned the favor, packing bags of toys and candy for a few friends.  We delivered them to a few people this evening (we have a few left.)

Tomorrow is our school party, with lots of kids, costumes, and candy.  We donated about 10 lbs of candy (meant to give just 7 but accidentally sent our bag of candy into school, too.  C'est la vie.)

We still have a few preparations to make--need to get out our favorite Ghostie to hang in the tree and our big orange metal candy bucket, get pumpkins and mums, buy more candy, and catch up on the decorations on the kids' trick-or-treat bags.  See, each bag has little doodles representing their costumes each year, but I don't think we're all caught up.  Here's a list, as I recall it:

Sis (in order):

1. a black cat (2005)
2. a gnome (2006)
3. Baby Jaguar, from "Diego" (2007)
4. vet (2008)
5. Kenai, from Brother Bear (2009)
6. firefighter (2010)
7. Harry Potter (2011)
8. Pikachu, from Pokemon (2012)
9. Quidditch Harry Potter (2013)
10. Legolas (2014)
11. Black Widow (2015)

Bud (in order):

1. pumpkin (2005)
2. a gnome (2006)
3. Mama Jaguar, from "Diego" (2007)
4. Yankee baseball player (2008)
5. Denahi, from Brother Bear (2009)
6. knight/Jedi (2010)
7. Harry Potter/Hermione (2011)
8. Ash, from Pokemon (2012)
9. Percy Jackson (2013)
10. Frodo (2014)
11. Link (2015)

And as I was thinking of what they were for Halloween, I started recalling a lot of my costumes.  I'm missing some, but here are mine, in no particular order, except generally:

• Tinkerbell, with actual jingling bells 
• a pink princess, with bric-a-bac on my diaphanous gown
• Princess Leia, with a tinfoil necklace Gommie made, just like the one in the ceremony scene
• Col. Wilma Deering, of "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century," all in white
• Scarlet O'Hara, in one of Gommie's old prom dresses and Bammie's black fur stole
• Diana, Goddess of the Hunt, with a Moon headdress and a bow and arrow (5th grade?)
• Black cat
• medieval lady--I have vague memories of going in my Ren Faire outfit, with a flower garland
• Sherlock Holmes, with cape, Deerstalker, and pipe (high school)
• Belle, of Beauty and the Beast (freshman year of college)
• Clown in Black and White outfit
• Witch/Hogwarts professor, complete with scarf (church)
• Goody Bassett/colonial woman (church)

The Blaze

Today wrapped up our various celebrations of Halloween as we went to the Blaze, in Croton-on-Hudson in New York.   On the grounds of the 18th-century Van Cortlandt manor, thousands of pumpkins are arrayed in various thematic groupings.  We hadn't been before and were glad to get tickets this year.  

Before our ticket time, we grabbed (a very mediocre) dinner at a Greek restaurant nearby.  The kids liked it, but I thought it was dry and under-flavored.  But we LOVED the French bakery La Tulipe.  But got a raspberry-lychee pastry; Sis, a caramelized croissant.  I loved my rose-raspberry pastry.  And we have some macaroons we can't wait to eat.

Then off to the Blaze.  We saw a carver right up front who had one big, important tip:  cut off the bottom of the pumpkin and place the candle on the ground--this allows the pumpkin to dry out without staying damp and causing rot.  

And right away we began to see some of their pumpkins--along walls and even lit in an arch.  Then we followed the lit path to see the different displays.  In front of the manor, there was a circus with animals, and even a clown doing flips!  They also had a giant cake to celebrate their 10th anniversary.  There were also spiders with a giant spider web, Macbeth's witches with a cauldron, a whole graveyard with tombstones and hands coming out of the earth, skeletons, a yard full of cats, a tree full of eyes, even a headless horseman throwing his pumpkin head!  There was also a pumpkin tunnel of love, with many of the designs using hearts, a whole yard of dinosaurs (complete with hatching dinosaur eggs!), a Chinese dragon or Loch Ness Monster-y thing, a yard full of sunflowers, Celtic knots in honor of the origin of Jack O'Lanterns, and hutches full of creamware-inspired pumpkins.  All really quite amazing (and apparently, they end up carving most of them twice more because of decay over the month; some thousand a week!  Though, one volunteer admitted that a few of the big base pumpkins were "funkins.")

It was lovely and not too terribly spooky, even with the skeletons and rats.  And even though it was sold out, it didn't feel too packed.  Worth going again, maybe every other year.  We'll see if we're inspired to do any carvings ourselves next year!

Saturday Photos

Saturday was a beautiful New England autumn day.  We started it off with our usual kung fu/ice skating.  Then we went to Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.  It was . . . as corny as it's supposed to be, but with two leads who aren't really Broadway singers.  But we had fun.  

Then we headed to the orchards, once the rain stopped.  But the clouds and light made for great ambiance.  

And then we went for Tibetan, one of our favorite restaurants.  

 

Apples, Pumpkins, and Ice Cream--Oh, My!

What a weekend!  And I couldn't talk at all.  My laryngitis is just now easing up, after lots of tea and chicken soup.  So, it gave me the chance to teach the kids some of the sign language they've forgotten since they were toddlers.

And we even had company.  One of Mama's friends, who had been her mentor way back at AT&T Bell Labs, was in town with her own wife, who had a music conference to go to.  And so, while the one played her dulcimer all day, we hung out with the other, introducing her to some typical local fall activities.  Even though the weather was very warm for the season.

Sis picking her pumpkin

First, we went pumpkin picking, getting some large ones for decorations and some small squash--delicata and buttercup--for eating.  Sis and Bud also chose some gourds for decorations.  And we all tried some pumpkin cranberry cookies and apple cider.  It was fun to see the kids walk among the pumpkins; the first time we went to this farm, they were about the same height as the biggest pumpkin.  Still, they can't quite carry the big ones.

Next was the apple place, with lots of Mutsu to pick, and apple cider to drink.  We didn't pick apples last year, so it was fun to go this year.  Makes me want to host our old annual Applepalooza, which we haven't done in years (last in 2010, see also 2009, and a recipe but not party in 2011); the kids agreed. We'll see.

Finally, we went for ice cream, also on a farm (our third that day.)  Yum, pumpkin and caramel apple and strawberry.  All homemade right there.  A great way to end our fall-in-New-England day.

Thanksgiving Live: Cooking Up a Storm

With aprons donned, Sis and I have started the holiday cooking with Butternut Squash Indian Pudding Recipe, except we used a cup of canned pumpkin.  Next, the pumpkin and pecans pies it the cranberry sauces.

-=-=-=-=-

Pumpkin "Indian" Pudding

• 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 2 cups 1% milk
• ⅓ cup yellow cornmeal
• ½ tsp. ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp. ground ginger
• ⅛ tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1 large pinch salt
• 1 Tbs. butter
• ¼ cup packed dark brown sugar
• 2 Tbs. blackstrap molasses

1. Preheat oven heat to 275ºF. Coat 1-qt. baking dish with cooking spray.

3. Whisk together milk, cornmeal, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt in saucepan. Cook over medium heat 10 minutes, or until thickened. Remove from heat, and blend in butter. Stir in pumpkin purée, brown sugar, and molasses. Pour into prepared baking dish, and bake, uncovered, 1½ hours, or until knife tip inserted in center comes out clean.

adapted from Vegetarian Times

Jack's Back

We carved our pumpkins today. Mama was in charge, taking design ideas from both kids as to how they would like theirs carved. I was in charge of getting the seeds out, which Sis was very intent on roasting and eating. Halfway through the process, the kids wandered off to rake leaves and jump in their piles, which was cute (good thing the leaves had dried some after all of yesterday's rain!). Then they proudly posed and paraded with their pumpkins to the front steps. We have one more big pumpkin to carve but are saving in for later in the week, fully expecting squirrels and raccoons to eat the faces off the ones from today as soon as possible--and we want a jack o'lantern with a face for Saturday night! And by then, we'll need more pepitas because Sis liked the ones we made today.

-=-=-=-=-

Oven-Roasted Pepitas

This is an oven method, which I like better than the skillet method we used last year, below (those were too oily).

1. Rinse pumpkin seeds under cold water and pick out the pulp and strings. (This is easiest just after you've removed the seeds from the pumpkin, before the pulp has dried.)
2. Place the pumpkin seeds in a single layer on an oiled baking sheet, stirring to coat. If you prefer, omit the oil and coat with non-stick cooking spray.
3. Sprinkle with salt (we used Penzey's seasoned salt) and bake at 325 degrees F until toasted, about 25 minutes, checking and stirring after 10 minutes. (We roasted a lot longer than this because they just weren't getting crunchy).
   
4. Let cool and store in an air-tight container.

-=-=-=-=-=-
Skillet-Roasted Pepitas

1 pumpkin
oil or butter
salt
pepper

Gut one pumpkin, saving the seeds. Save the pumpkin for jack o'lantern carving. Wash and dry the seeds.

Heat oil or butter in skillet. Pan roast the seeds until brown. Spread on paper towel. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

A Family Day

Mama took a half-day off yesterday, both because everyone is experiencing a bit of family-time withdrawl after our long vacation and because she is working all day this Saturday and wanted to break up the week. Also, we realized we hadn't been apple or pumpkin picking yet and have few weekends left to go.

Apple picking is something we like to do every year, enjoying munching different apple varieties as we wander the orchards, with surrounding views of beautiful fall colors. Yesterday, we discovered several new types we like: Sis preferred crunchy and sweet Macouns (which made her giggle when Mama called them "raccoons" to help her remember the name); Bud liked the huge Jonagolds, finishing an entire juicy apple that had to be bigger than my two fists together. We also really liked the Crispin-Mutsus. But we really didn't like the Ida Reds or Red Delicious. We didn't see the Fuji rows until we were leaving, but we can get those, and our old Gala staples, at the grocery store.

The first time I saw an apple tree I was almost 23 years old. And truly, I had trouble believing that apples grew on trees, having rarely seen fruit trees. I took it on faith, just like snow (which, until I was well into high school, I believed fell automatically as soon as it was freezing out, not understanding that snow comes in storms like rain). But, Gommie and I were leaf-peeping in the Hudson River Valley during my first year of grad school and decided to pick our own. And there they were--apple trees. I had never been much of an apple eater, having only know those nasty, mealy grocery store Red Delicious, but found fresh apples right off the tree to be one of my favorite foods ever.

And I think the kids are finding the same. They probably each downed 2 apples yesterday, in the orchards alone, and then another at home last night. And they've already had two today. Later, when the apples aren't at their peak (even though we're keeping them in the fridge where they'll last almost 10x longer), we'll make apple sauce and apple pie and other apple treats. But for now, they're best just cold and crunchy.

After apple picking (and visiting the market, where we also fed the ducks), we headed to the pumpkin farm. Sis wanted sugar pumpkins to bake in pies and cookies--pumpkin is her favorite flavor after chocolate. Bud just enjoyed playing and pushing the cart. I chose some spaghetti squash, butternut squash, and buttercup squash (pumpkin?) to roast and make in soups. Plus, the kids chose gourds and a big pumpkin to decorate for Halloween. We went on a nice long hayride and then headed home. But we'll be able to enjoy the bounty of our family day for days and weeks to come.