Halloween, or All Hallows Eve to give it its proper name, is the evening before All Saints Day – a religious feast to celebrate the saints of old.
Custom has it that ghouls and ghosties come into their own at Halloween and the sombre tones are made light of in current times by youngsters dressing up as fearsomely as possible to scare the adults and other children by their awful appearance. The practice of ‘trick or treat’ has been introduced from the US to Britain, but please be aware that some people’s idea of a trick or indeed a treat may not be safe or sensible – some examples in the recent past have even been downright dangerous so beware.
Wisely, most parents take the precaution of supervising youngsters who might otherwise be vulnerable. Visiting family and friends is great fun at anytime but especially when the kids want to scare Grandma and Grandpa with their faces painted, mock cob webs hanging from them and outfits purchased or made for the occasion. We recommend that people throw Halloween parties to contain the situation and allow the children to have fun in safety.
Halloween is also a good time to wrap up warm and have a BBQ, spiced pumpkin soup and a burger or hot dog or two, parking and home-made toffee and a glass of something warming. In the US pumpkins are made into soup, pies or mash, served hot it is wholesome food and will drive out the cold. There is no reason why adults can’t have fun too at Halloween, themed parties are great, dressing up as grown up ghouls and demons to join with friends can be a lot of fun.
So, buy your pumpkin from your local shop and hollow it out, be careful using sharp knives to carve the inside as pumpkins can be hard to hollow out – maybe using a metal mixing spoon to scoop out the middle would be safer. The pumpkin curd is nutritious and can be mixed with other vegetables, potatoes, swede etc to make the best of it and save waste.
Making a spooky faced pumpkin with added candle is cool, don’t forget to compost the pumpkin skin afterwards.
Enjoy Halloween, make it fun and stay safe.
