Halloween

I haven't made donuts in about five years and decided that was way too long to wait.  I mixed up some potato dough . . .

. . . used my high-tech donut cutters (I used the scoop to press out the "hole") . . .

. . . and let them raise.

The last of the glazed donuts:

 

Dh ran into some of our friends while out Trick or Treating and look what the 2 1/2 dozen dounuts turned into:

[I ran into some technical difficulties while uploading pictures.  I'll try again tomorrow.]

Roasted pumpkin seeds

After the pumpkin carving last night, of course the next task was to roast the seeds.  I didn't used to do this, but now I really like the salty, crunchy seeds and never miss an opportunity to make them.

Here is the recipe I used:

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds Recipe

• Prep time: 10 minutes
• Cook time: 35 minutes

Ingredients

• One medium sized pumpkin
• Salt
• Olive oil

Method

1 Cut open the pumpkin by cutting a circle around the stem end, and pulling off the top. Use a strong metal spoon to scrape the insides of the pumpkin and scoop out the seeds and strings. Place the mass of pumpkin seeds in a colander and run under water to rinse and separate the seeds from the everything else.
2 Measure the pumpkin seeds in a cup measure. Place the seeds in a medium saucepan. Add 2 cups of water and 1 tablespoon of salt to the pan for every half cup of pumpkin seeds. Add more salt if you would like your seeds to be saltier. Bring the salted water and pumpkin seeds to a boil. Let simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and drain.
3 Preheat the oven to 400°F. Coat the bottom of a roasting pan with olive oil, about a tablespoon. Spread the seeds out over the roasting pan in a single layer. Bake on the top rack until the seeds begin to brown, 5-20 minutes, depending on the size of the seeds. Small pumpkin seeds may toast in around 5 minutes or so, large pumpkin seeds may take up to 20 minutes. Keep an eye on the pumpkin seeds so they don't get over toasted. When nicely browned, remove the pan from the oven and let cool on a rack. Let the pumpkin seeds cool all the way down before eating.
Either crack to remove the inner seed (a lot of work and in my opinion, unnecessary) or eat whole.

Halloween has started!

Last night was our ward Halloween party.  It's always held at the home of ward members who have a large acreage right in the middle of town.  It's a perfect location and the couple are wonderful and generous hosts.

Elizabeth went as Red Riding Hood . . . .

Oh, Red Riding Hood with a black eye and blood streaming down her face, naturally.

Caroline went as a cat . . . .

And Sophia . . . well, I forgot to get a picture before she took her costume off!

More pictures to come this week, I'm sure.

Getting ready for October

Every year I fill two large, decorative jars with candy corn and mallow pumpkins.  I tell the kids not to eat them but they always do.

Here's this year's start--six bags.  I.love.this.candy.  But I can't eat it anymore.  Much, anyway.

My little Halloween boy

Elizabeth put this cat hat on Zachariah and it was funny to see! I'm so accustomed to seeing it on my girls only and they are a lot bigger than he is. Isn't he cute?

Early Halloween Party

Today the girls created a Halloween party in their room. I love it when they do that kind of thing!

First came Mummy Jaguar. That's "mummy" as in ancient Egypt, not "mummy" as in Australia or England.

Next came "Gost Bear," as the sign clearly reads. That's S's extremely favorite bear Cubbie dressed in a white undershirt and two white socks.

Traveling clockwise around the room we come to the Fortune Teller. I think the "crystal ball" and snake add a nice touch, don't you? That's Mummy Dog there on the right. I did have my fortune told and riches are predicted for my future.

Last, we visited Spiderman Lifeguard. Two years ago the girls went to Build A Bear Workshop and while C and S chose fluffy little dresses for their bears, E snagged a Spiderman costume for hers and could not be dissuaded. So her pretty pink bear wears a Spiderman outfit when she get dressed up.

I'm sure the burning question here is: What precipitated all this interest in Halloween on September 16th? Here is a teaser:

Happy Halloween!

I have only a couple of pictures of our Halloween celebration due to camera battery problems. The whole celebration was really drawn out and started with a "Fall Fiesta" at the girls' school a week ago Friday. It was a PTO fundraiser carnival and was well done. I volunteered for a half-hour shift to man one of the booths and that was fun. I'll do it again next year. My favorite booth was the "fortune teller" with her little "plant" out talking to everyone in line to find out all about them. I wondered if the girls realized how the fortune teller knew everything and sure enough, after the party C said, "You know how that fortune teller knew everything about me? That girl asked me and she told the fortune teller!" The girl was actually very cute and self-assured and it was fun to hear her grill the people waiting in line.

Next was a Trunk or Treat put on by our ward. It was at a fabulous estate not too far from our house, but worlds away from us, if you know what I mean. It was put on by the ward Activity Committee and I think they did a bang up job.There was a pumpkin carving contest so I had C draw her design on our pumpkin and I cut it out. We roasted the seeds and I was surprised at how good they were.

Friday S was sick and stayed home from school so we made cookie dough. After school I rolled it out and the girls did the cutting out and we baked a bunch of cookies.

They were very tasty.

Saturday night was finally the big event. Our neighbor asked us to come over and go around the neighborhood with her and her 6 y/o son. She had really nice gift bags waiting for each girl when we got there. She likes to decorate and shop and has treated my girls to nice little gifts in the past.

An aside, and I should label this, "Oh, my virgin lips!" The neighbor asked me if I wanted some apple juice to carry around while the kids Trick or Treated. I said sure so she gave me a plastic Halloween goblet of juice and ice. It tasted good and she gave me a refill. I set it down on a side table and her son immediately knocked it over. I got it cleaned up and saw she had refilled my glass. I took a sip . . . and thought I was drinking cough syrup! Nasty, nasty tequila and Diet Coke and it was hers, not mine!! Blech. How could anyone WANT to drink alcohol? It really tasted awful! Honestly, that is the first time I've ever had a sip of an alcoholic drink and I hope I never do again.

So in my drunken state we set off (JK, it was probably no more than a teaspoon of drink). We walked around the neighborhood for about an hour and fifteen minutes, until the girls said they were tired. Hey--when your kids say they're tired of collecting CANDY, it's time to head home.

Halloween lasted a very long time for us this year and we enjoyed it all. Lookin' forward to next year.