Halloween

"Hallowe'en will come, will come. Witchcraft will be set agoing. Goblins will be at full speed, running in every pass. Avoid the road, children, children."

Old Scottish Proverb

Halloween is not just a day, it is a season to be savored and cherished. Our entire year revolves around the Eve of All Hallows. Football is in full swing,  sweaters are the rule of dress, the kids are back in school, and the crisp air reverberates with anticipation and the honks of geese. There is no way that the spirit of Halloween can be contained in a single day or all the fun packed into a single afternoon and evening.

Before the birth of Christ, the Celtic peoples of France and the British Isles celebrated the Festival of Samhain, the Lord of the Dead, on the last day of October. The Festival of Samhain also marked the Celtic New Year. The day of October 31st was spent honoring the Sun God, Baal, and rejoicing in the Harvest. 

The Celtic people ate nuts and apples to signify the bounty. But once evening closed in, the celebrating took a decidedly serious turn. Now the Celtic priests, the Druids, built great bonfires under the eaves of the oak trees that they worshiped. There, criminals and prisoners-of-war were used as human sacrifices and burned alive. The Druids believed that on this night the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead were most permeable. Thus the day was spent acknowledging the natural while the night was spent acknowledging the supernatural.

It was during the 7th Century that the Christian Church placed its mark on the pagan festival. Since the ancient beliefs could not be abolished, the Church overlaid a new set of beliefs by establishing November 1st as All Saints Day or All Hallows Day, and the night of October 31st became known as All Hallows Even' which was later shortened to Halloween.

Even with this new focus, the old traditions persevered, and many of the symbols we associate most closely with Halloween today have their roots in these customs. The colors of Halloween, orange and black, symbolize the Harvest festival and the Festival of the Dead respectively. In Scotland and Ireland the tradition survived of hollowing out beets and turnips and placing candles within for lanterns. This sprang from the ritual of ancient times when the Celtic people each took an ember from the sacrificial bonfire to light their way home. When the Scots and Irish came to America they brought this tradition with them but quickly seized upon the large, orange American pumpkin.

The Celts prepared lavish banquets to accompany the festivals of Baal and Samhain, but also set aside tables laden with food specifically for the Dead who might hunger in their journeys from one world to the next. The custom of setting aside food for wandering spirits persisted until it became the Trick or Treat of today. Lastly, the Celts believed that if a ghost recognized you, they could steal your soul. Therefore the Celts wore masks to disguise themselves and to blend in with the wandering spirits.

In this country, the Victorians seized upon Halloween as an excuse for decorating and entertaining as they did all else. Elaborate costume balls were given, parlor games were played and extravagant dinners served. Until the 1920's, Halloween was the province of adults, but about this time, younger people, not about to be left out of the fun, took to the playing of pranks and practical jokes. My father-in-law tells stories from his youth in the 1930's about outhouse tipping and reassembling one neighbor's car inside the house of another neighbor. The post-war years and the onset of the baby boom brought about the heyday of Halloween in America. American industry quickly got on the bandwagon and stores were filled with Halloween decorations and accessories.

However, by the late 70's, Halloween had fallen out of fashion, and in fact, was in jeopardy of disappearing completely. Unfortunately at this time, wackos and creeps crawled out of the woodwork and made the eating of trick or treat candy extremely dangerous. The religious right used this as an excuse to lobby for the political outlawing of the holiday. Despite these attacks, we continued the Halloween traditions that we enjoyed as children. Our house was always decorated, inside and out, and we hosted annual Halloween parties where costumes were mandatory and our friends outdid themselves in imagination and effort. We gave out full sized candy bars to encourage the trick or treaters who still braved the evening. I promoted the holiday wherever and whenever I could, and my family and friends credit me with single-handedly saving Halloween. 

By the time the 90's rolled around, Halloween was once again en vogue and today more money is spent on Halloween decorating and entertaining than any other holiday except Christmas. To coin a phrase, Halloween is to die for.

"There are fearful forces of Evil, forces of power which seem almost illimitable, which only too often seem to triumph, to exalt in victory. Some think, or affect to think, that evil is merely a blind, vagrant, undetermined force, not regulated, irresponsible, wandering and random energy. Surely it must be apparent to the shallowest mind that the evil of the world is too masterly marshaled, too subtlety planned, too skillfully directed, too logically remorseless for any such facile explanation. There is design; there is diplomacy; there is cunning; there are stratagems and campaign."

Rev. Montague Summers, Witch Hunter extraordinaire

For Halloween we pull out all the stops. The whole house gets a makeover. We change curtains, artwork, rearrange furniture, and clear every inch of shelf and display space to accommodate our fall and Halloween collection. Our folk-art collection is second to none and is comprised of ceramics, wood, pottery, and other materials bought directly from American artisans and crafters. Our collection also includes a variety of hand made fabric projects such as napkins, placemats, tablecloths, pot holders, quilts, an afghan collection, throw pillow covers, stuffed jack-o-lanterns, and trick-or-treat bags.

Obviously a transformation of this magnitude takes a great amount of time and effort. Bins must be retrieved from storage and unpacked, furniture must be polished, floors must be mopped and vacuumed. Our preparations begin in mid September, and by October 1st, our home is in full regalia, resplendent with shining ceramic pumpkin themed bowls, soup tureens, plates, napkin rings, cookie jars, ceramic leaves, corn pitchers, lighted skeletons, owls, haunted houses, grim reapers, scarecrows, and on and on. In addition to all these one of a kind ceramic pieces, we have a hand-carved wooden bread bowl filled with autumnal silk leaves and flowers, a vase with 13 black silk roses, orange beeswax candles, and decorative touches throughout the house. Try filling a jar with candy corn, and put out a cut-glass dish of those peanut butter candies wrapped in orange and black wax paper. Mary Janes also make an attractive display. You can use the autumn wrapped Hershey's Kisses or Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, but they disappear and you have to keep replenishing the bowls.

For those of you who do not have a Halloween collection, but wish to decorate for the holiday, my approach is, prioritize. I suggest that you buy one or two pieces from a local crafters mall each year, and slowly build a permanent collection. Likewise, you can buy holiday fabric on sale and with a minimum of sewing skill, make napkins and a tablecloth. You'd be amazed how far a few items can go to creating a theme. For a mid 60's retro touch, Amazon sells reproductions of vintage Halloween cardboard cutouts. Very charming.

Not only do we decorate inside, but outside as well. Buy a couple of hay bales and place on your front porch. Put a variety of pumpkins, gourds and squashes on and around the bales. Hang a lantern above the display. Always, always, always use extreme care with any type of fire. Top off the display with a lifesize "Porchman" (see Projects, below).

On Halloween itself, my wife and I always take a vacation day to prepare for the afternoon and evening's festivities. We like to be home to greet the trick or treaters. We dress in costume and arrange the stereo speakers so that they can be heard outside. I play my own Halloween party mix, or put on one of the Universal monster movies and pipe it through the speakers. We've taken to giving out cans of flavored pop (and juice boxes for the very little ones) and more often than not, wind up inviting the children with their parents in to look at the decorations which they glimpse wide-eyed through the open doorway. I keep a pot of coffee brewing and bake a tray of pumpkin spice cookies, so that the aroma of fresh baked pumpkin permeates the air. With all these sights, sounds and smells of Halloween, our home is a popular stop on the neighborhood route.

"By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes. Open, locks, whoever knocks."

Macbeth, Act IV, Scene I, Second Witch

We have a life-size Halloween figure that we place out on our porch every year, and that the neighborhood kids refer to as "Porchman." Here's how to make your own "Porchman." 

Get out your Christmas tree stand. Buy a 4 x 4 wood post and have the hardware store cut it to a length of 6 feet. Secure the post into the stand. Buy a plastic pumpkin whose opening fits snugly over the top of the post (the plastic pumpkin will be upside down). Place an eye-hook just below the plastic pumpkin in the front and back of the post. Put a wire coat hanger through each eye-hook and crimp closed with a pliers. Secure a 3 foot length of dowel rod to the bottom wire of the coat hanger, which will be the front of your Porchman, with twist ties. Drape the robe from an adult size witch's costume over the coat hangers and tie robe strings in back. Use thumb tacks to secure the top tip of the sleeves to the ends of the dowel rod. Tie a short length of fabric cord around figure's "waist" and affix with a safety pin in back to keep from sliding down. Put a full-head skeleton mask over plastic pumpkin. Voilà, "Porchman!" Position a spot light off to one side to accent figure.

Once school lets out, the trick or treaters start to appear in a continuous stream (we get between 225 - 250 visitors). Background music or sound effects add immensely to your enjoyment and theirs. Make your own party mix. I created my first Halloween party mix back in the early 80's and it has withstood the test of time. Not only do we play it on Halloween, we listen to it on many of our autumn country drives. You, obviously, will want to create a party mix of your own based on your own interpretation of appropriate Halloween selections. Here, submitted for your approval, are the titles of my Halloween party mix:

Opening Sequence taken from Walt Disney's The Haunted Mansion album

RCA Promotion taken from Son of Schmillson by Harry Nilsson

Opening Themes taken from Dark Shadows by Robert Cobert

Josette's Theme taken from Dark Shadows by Robert Cobert

Theme from Experiment in Terror by Henry Mancini

The Whale Chase taken from Walt Disney's Pinocchio

Excerpt taken from Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean album

Tarpaulin' Jacket sung by Thurl Ravenscroft

The Ride of the Valkyries taken from The Ring of the Nibelungs by Richard Wagner, (played at 45 RPM from the 33 1/3 RPM album)

Theme from Alfred Hitchcock Presents

Monster Mash by Bobby "Boris" Pickett

Theme from The Munsters

Theme from The Addams Family

Casper the Friendly Ghost Theme Song

Bad Moon Rising by Credence Clearwater Revival, written by J. Fogerty

I Put a Spell on You by Credence Clearwater Revival, written by J. Fogerty

Flight to the Ford taken from The Lord of the Rings by Bo Hansson

The Wizard taken from Demons and Wizards by Uriah Heep

Lady in Black taken from Salisbury by Uriah Heep

Midnight Jamboree taken from Walt Disney's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, sung by Bing Crosby

Grim Grinning Ghosts taken from Walt Disney's The Haunted Mansion

Stormy Night by The Mystic Moods Orchestra

Epilogue and Closing Theme from Dark Shadows by Robert Cobert

Total Running Time: 60 minutes

"Hail, old October, bright and chill,

First freed man from the summer sun.

Spice high the bowl, and drink your fill,

Thank Heaven at last, the summer's done."

Thomas Constable

There are more things to do in October than you can shake a broomstick at. There is no way to do it all, but plan on doing as much as you can. We love watching football on Sundays, but Saturdays will invariably find us out of doors.  Here briefly are some of the things we look forward to all season long.

Shop at farmers' markets for fresh, locally grown produce, beeswax candles, honey, preserves, flower arrangements and baked goods. In conjunction with farmers' markets, we have the luxury of being within an afternoon's driving distance of a working apple orchard. In addition to a variety of organically grown apples, the orchard store features melt-in-your-mouth cider doughnuts, gallon jugs of apple cider (you can watch the apple press in action, powered by an antique tractor), apple blossom honey from their own apiaries, and jars of apple pie filling ready to bake.

We also prefer selecting and purchasing our pumpkins, gourds, squash and Indian corn from actual farms rather than the supermarket. Again, we are blessed with an abundance of family farms that supplement their income by offering these seasonal products.

We have been attending Fall Festivals for over 30 years. Virtually all of our fall and Halloween collection has come from these local festivals. These events have afforded us the opportunity to explore our area's back roads and rural communities. They often include craft shows, antique and classic car shows and farmers' markets. They also feature carnival attractions, parades, sports, contests and a variety of other activities for adults and children. You are likely to find chili cook-offs, corn boils, pie eating contests, petting zoos,  antique tractor and farm equipment shows and demonstrations of traditional crafts. Further, most of these festivals are themed and you will find the downtown businesses decorated with scarecrows, corn stalks, pumpkins and other fall icons.

Although these organized events are great fun, to truly appreciate the changing season be sure to get out to some of the State Parks, Forest Preserves and nature areas. A hike through the forest costs nothing. Most feature easy to moderate hiking trails and offer wonderful opportunities for family outings. 

While many of the picnic shelters are reserved during the summer season, fall often finds these facilities unencumbered. We take advantage of these quiet times by enjoying an afternoon fire in the stone fireplaces, spreading out a picnic lunch and exploring the surrounding woods or lakes.

Many years ago, we actually did reserve the shelter at our local forest preserve for a Halloween party for our boys and their friends. We decorated the mantle pieces of the massive stone fireplace with pumpkins and gourds and a Blair Witch symbol made out of sticks. We bought orange and black plastic tablecloths, plates, cups and utensils, set out candelabras with orange and black tapers and arranged with our favorite pizza place to deliver pizzas directly out to the forest preserve at a specific time. We paid for the pizzas ahead of time and they arrived piping hot and delicious. The day before, the boys and I went out to the forest preserve and gathered and cut a huge stack of firewood.  The boys hiked in the woods, played football, enjoyed pizza and spent a thoroughly delightful autumn day out of doors.

Either as part of these activities, or on its own, there is no better way to enjoy the fall colors than by an autumn drive in the country. The DeLorme Company offers travel atlases and gazetteers for all 50 states. These grid maps allow easy access to our nation's back roads and let you get up close and personal with the ways less traveled. You may find yourself on a gravel lane coming unexpectedly upon a farmhouse decorated with home grown pumpkins and hand-made decorations, a covered bridge, a field of wild flowers, a rural cemetery, a pasture of cows, horses, pigs, sheep, llamas or even emus, and the greatest thrill of all, the occasional wildlife sighting. And lest we forget our feathered friends, we always look forward to spotting geese, ducks, red wing blackbirds, crows, hawks, and rarely, pheasants in flight or the glimpse of a wild turkey.

One of the ways we add to the festive Halloween spirit is our use of "Mr. Foot." Sold as a novelty back in the 1980's and still available if you look hard enough today, "Mr. Hand" and "Mr. Foot" are life-like human limbs made out of molded rubber with stuffed sleeves and pant legs. We, of course, hang "Mr. Foot" out of the trunk of our car, much to the delight of all those who see us driving down the highway. We sometimes forget that "Mr. Foot" is there until we see other motorists honking, laughing and pointing. And no, as of yet, we have never been stopped by the Police.

We also make a point of setting aside at least one night close to Halloween to visit a Haunted House. Sponsored by local organizations, such as schools, community groups and even churches, these haunted houses and forest walks offer different levels of frights. Select accordingly to the ages of your children. 

A few years ago, we found a particularly effective forest walk and haunted house set up in a forest preserve. The haunted house ended in a maze that, for the life of us, we could not get out of. A costumed actor replete with chainsaw, chased patrons throughout the maze. We kept taking wrong turns and going around in circles so many times that I was literally doubled over in laughter. Finally we approached the chainsaw wielding actor, who was obviously a high school student, and told him that if he didn't show us the way out we'd keep following him around. He didn't know how to respond and began to run away from us. We again took a wrong turn and lost him and eventually had to follow a parent with a crying young daughter out of the maze. We were thoroughly embarrassed and sore from laughing so hard, but a good time was had by all - except the young daughter.

"Gruesome ghouls and grisly ghosts, wretched souls and cursed hosts, vampires bite and villains creep, demons scream and shadows sleep. Blood runs cold in every man, fog rolls in and coffins slam, mortals quake and full moon rise, creatures haunt and terrorize."

Creature Features, WGN-TV Chicago

Those of us in the Chicago area, old enough to remember these chilling words, spoken over Henry Mancini's theme from Experiment in Terror, can still relish the anticipation they caused. Sitting in a darkened room, we knew we were about to be treated to one of the great Universal monster classics. For those of different ages and different locales, you have your own memories of local TV Friday and Saturday night horror fests. 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=AN3PL0_ZJa0

For us, those classic Frankenstein, Dracula and Wolfman movies still entertain, if not scare as they once did. The style and atmosphere hold up, and we eagerly look forward to seeing them again every Halloween. 

The choices for Halloween viewing pleasure are limitless. It would take several lifetimes (which can be arranged) to enjoy even a small portion of the available horror and sci-fi features. Everyone has their favorites, and we offer here, our picks for not-to-be-missed treasures. You may disagree with some, and feel that we have left out essential others, but we present these, nonetheless.

One of my personal favorites is the original Night of the Living Dead, directed by George Romero. On a shoestring budget, with no-name actors, Romero fashioned one of the great zombie flicks of all time. The bizarre humor and underlying social themes make this a true 60's classic. This movie also contains, to my mind, the best line from any horror movie. The local sheriff and his men are rounding up the re-animated corpses, and a television reporter is interviewing the rustic constable. The reporter asks, "Chief, if I were surrounded by six or eight of these things would I stand a chance with them?" The Chief says, "Well, there's no problem, if you had a gun shoot 'em in the head, that's a sure way to kill 'em. If you don't, get yourself a club or a torch, beat 'em or burn 'em, they go up pretty easy." "Are they slow moving, Chief?" "Yeah, they're dead, they're all messed up."

We also like National Lampoon's An American Werewolf in London. Not only does it capture the irreverent spirit of the 1980's, this movie boasts the best werewolf soundtrack ever compiled. Highlighting the full moon as an integral character, in and of itself, of lycanthropic transformations, the soundtrack includes such classics as Van Morrison's Moondance, Credence Clearwater Revival's Bad Moon Rising, and not one, but three, covers of the 50's classic Blue Moon performed by Bobby Vinton, Sam Cooke, and The Marcels. Unfortunately, this soundtrack was never released, but a few years ago we made our own "Unofficial Soundtrack." As an added bonus, the movie stars the very attractive Jenny Agutter looking her British best.

Our most controversial suggestion may be The Blair Witch Project. I have to admit, we were completely taken in by the 'documentary' and we saw the theatrical release just before it became generally known that both the movie and documentary were made up. So we thoroughly enjoyed the full effect of this creepy production, a true representation of the 'reality TV' 1990's.  We make an evening of it by first watching the "documentary"The Curse of the Blair Witch, then the theatrical version of The Blair Witch Project.

Roman Polanski's Rosemary's Baby gave friendly neighbors a bad name and health shakes a whole new meaning. Likewise, The Exorcist gave the devil his own theme song and made Tubular Bells a household name: www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1PH_Y8Xn4g

I do not consider myself to be a superstitious person. I once had a black cat as a pet, who continuously crossed my path. When I knock over the salt shaker, I do not throw any over my shoulder. And if I feel there is a valid reason for opening an umbrella indoors, I do so. I am not triskadeckaphobic, that is, I am not afraid of the number 13, in fact my youngest son was born on a Friday the 13th. But ever since first seeing The Omen, starring Gregory Peck, I cannot abide three 6's in a row. If they are part of an address I will not enter, if they are part of a phone number I will not call and if they are part of a license plate, I change lanes.

No Halloween would be complete without It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. This cartoon was Halloween in my childhood. In those days it was shown once a year and if you missed it, you and Linus had to wait until next year for the coming of the Great Pumpkin. It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown also gave rise to one of the great mysteries of our time. Exactly how many times does Charlie Brown get a rock tossed into his trick or treat bag? My recollections were that this certainly occurred more than once. When I questioned family and friends about their recalling of the cartoon I received answers ranging from once or twice up to seven times. In truth, the correct answer is three times. 

Another underrated and often missed Halloween treat is Disney's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. This short cartoon feature narrated by Bing Crosby includes classic Disney animation, some absolutely riotous action sequences and humor aplenty.

Not to be neglected is Hollywood's comedic take on horror movies. Young Frankenstein is Mel Brooks' loving tribute to the Universal classics. Starring Gene Wilder, an irrepressible Marty Feldman in the role of a lifetime, Teri Garr, Madeline Kahn, Peter Boyle as the creature and Cloris Leachman as Frau Blucher (neighhhhhhh). While not, strictly speaking, a Halloween movie, High Anxiety  is Mel Brooks' ode to Alfred Hitchcock, whose psychological thrillers are certainly part of our horror lexicon.

For pure slapstick comedy be sure to watch at least one of the 'Abbot and Costello Meet' the monsters movies. And for jump out of your seat thrills and surreal humor check out Sam Raimi's Evil Dead II starring Bruce Campbell.

Two movies that are all but forgotten for Halloween, but that should be first on any true connoisseur's list are Walt Disney's masterpiece Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and 1939's The Wizard of Oz, perhaps the two quintessential wicked witch tales.

Black cats and goblins and broomsticks and ghosts,
Covens of witches with all of their hosts,
You may think they scare me, you're probably right,
Black cats and goblins on Halloween night.

Trick or Treat!

Saving what we consider to be the best for last, we name John Carpenter's 1978 release, Halloween as the quintessential movie of the season. This granddaddy of slasher flicks gave rise to all the Freddies, Jasons and Michaels to come. We reserve our annual viewing of this Halloween treat for the evening of Halloween itself. After the trick or treaters have all gone home, the Halloween candles have burned low and the kids sit on the living room floor dividing their booty into piles of chocolate (for immediate consumption) and non-chocolate (to last through Christmas), this movie serves as our denouement to a season and an evening of magic and whimsy.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbO_SVFfuLI

"It's Halloween, everyone's entitled to one good scare"

This recipe has been handed down in my family for hundreds of years. Some of the ingredients are difficult to find now. If you can't get fresh, frozen may be substituted.

Fillet of a fenny snake, in the cauldron boil and bake;

Eye of newt, and toe of frog, wool of bat, and tongue of dog,

Adders fork, and blind-worm's sting, lizard's leg and howlet's wing,

For a charm of powerful trouble, like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

Double, double toil and trouble; fire burn and cauldron bubble.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Pumpkins are Halloween's most recognizable symbol. They are a truly American food product given us by the native inhabitants who welcomed us on these shores. The North American Indians sliced pumpkins into long pieces and roasted them over an open fire. Pumpkin, a member of the squash family, was a staple of the Colonists. New Englanders boiled or roasted pumpkins, cut them in chunks and ate them salted and buttered. Pumpkin was mashed and made into soup. The first pumpkin pie was, in fact, a custard baked in a pumpkin shell in hot ashes. Pumpkin was kneaded into bread dough, puddings and cakes, and finally the pumpkin pie we know today was created. The Colonists also brewed a pumpkin beer and today nouveau cuisine includes pumpkin filled ravioli, pumpkin-blackbean soup, pumpkin ice cream and pumpkin bisque. Our offerings are more down-to-earth and all the recipes we present here are not to be missed this season and should be enjoyed every Autumn season in years to come.

Here's a helpful hint for cleaning pumpkins. Take an old teaspoon and tablespoon and with a pliers bend the handles back and forth just above the spoons until they break off. Use caution during this process. With pliers, bend the handle stubs flush underneath the spoons. File rough edges. These are my favorite pumpkin-cleaning tools. They really enable you to clean smaller pumpkins and get underneath the rims.

Over the years, we have found that the best pumpkin recipes come from a can.

Pumpkin Soup

2 Tablespoons butter

1 cup chopped green onions

1 cup grated carrots
1/2 teaspoon ginger

1 15 ounce can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)

2 Tablespoons chopped chives

4 cups vegetable stock

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup half and half

fresh parsley

Sauté onions in butter. Add remaining ingredients, except half and half and parsley. Simmer covered, for 20 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in half and half and serve. Garnish each bowl with chopped fresh parsley.  Use a large, clean pumpkin as a soup tureen, and cleaned pumpkin gourds as soup bowls. Serve with crusty loaf and butter.

Serves 4 as a soup course.

Pumpkin Seeds

Pumpkin seeds make a wonderful garnish for salads, soups or main dishes, as well as the quintessential Halloween snack. Immediately after carving pumpkin for Jack-O-Lantern or recipe, wash the seeds thoroughly and blot dry with paper towel. Coat bottom of large, heated frying pan with peanut oil. Toast seeds in pan until golden brown. Remove to paper towel lined platter and sprinkle with salt. Modern variations include coating the toasted seeds with ground ginger, cayenne pepper and sugar.

Pumpkin Pancakes

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 Tablespoon double-acting baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

4 Tablespoons sugar

1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts (optional)

5 Tablespoons peanut oil

2 eggs, slightly beaten

2 2/3 cups milk

1/2 cup packed canned pumpkin

butter

maple syrup

In large bowl with fork, mix first 6 ingredients. In small bowl, combine oil, eggs and milk, then add to dry ingredients with a whisk. Add pumpkin and whisk until thoroughly blended. Heat griddle over medium high heat and coat lightly with peanut oil. Pour batter by 1/4 cupfuls on to hot griddle. Flip pancakes when bubbles appear and sides are slightly dry. Serve with butter and maple syrup. Sure to be a family favorite!

Pumpkin Milk Shakes

Try this concoction in early or mid-October, while the last vestiges of summer linger. For each milkshake mixture, combine 1 cup of vanilla ice cream, ¼ cup milk, ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract, 4 Tablespoons canned pumpkin, 1 shot of dark rum and a dash of cinnamon. Blend until smooth, serve with vanilla wafers. 

A party pleaser!

Colonial Pumpkin Custard

1 (5 - 7 lb) cooking pumpkin
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup whipping cream
5 whole eggs
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 Tablespoons maple syrup
2 Tablespoon butter

Cut the lid off of pumpkin and clean as you would for a Jack-O-Lantern, set aside. With handheld electric beaters, blend all ingredients, except butter, in bowl. Pour mixture into pumpkin. Dot with butter. Cover pumpkin with lid and place in a baking pan. Bake at 350°F for 2 hours, or until mixture has set like a custard. Be sure to carefully scrape some of the meat from the whole pumpkin into each serving. Serve with a dollop of fresh whipped cream. Note that pumpkin will be very dark brown and on the verge of collapse when removing from oven.

Steve's Easy Pumpkin Cheesecake

If you like pumpkin pie and if you like cheesecake, this is the one! I've tried many pumpkin cheesecake recipes over the years and have never been completely satisfied, but this is an "Oh Wow!" after every bite recipe. Plus it couldn't be easier, no water baths, no springform pans, just one bowl, beat and bake.

Note: This recipe makes two 9" pies.

3 packages 8 ounce cream cheese - softened to room temperature

1 15 ounce can pumpkin puree

3 eggs + 1 yolk (slightly beaten)

1/2 cup sour cream

1 cup sugar

2 Tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

2 Keebler extra-serving graham cracker crusts

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar and blend well, then add eggs and beat until smooth. Add remaining ingredients and blend until well combined. Pour evenly into graham cracker crusts. Bake for 65 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on wire racks. Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours, or even better, overnight.

RP's Pumpkin Pie

Every home cook has their own recipe for pumpkin pie. The classic recipe on cans of Libby's pumpkin puree is quite good. But I'm always in favor of making things easier. This recipe uses a graham cracker crust instead of the usual pastry dough. I also serve the pie with canned whipped cream.

For a little lighter pie, you can use all light brown sugar, and for a little darker pie, you can use all dark brown sugar, but I like the combination of the two. I also learned the trick of adding a small amount of pepper. You cannot taste it, but just like the salt, it intensifies the flavor of the pumpkin when baked.

Ingredients

Keebler extra-serving graham cracker crust
15 ounce can pumpkin puree
2 large eggs
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup heavy cream

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In medium mixing bowl, whisk together pumpkin puree and lightly beaten eggs. Add sugars and mix well. Use a rubber spatula to scrape down sides and botton of the bowl. Add cornstarch, salt, pepper, and spices, and incorporate evenly. Finally, add the cream, and make sure filling is smooth and completely blended, scraping sides and bottom one last time.

Pour filling into crust, using spatula to scrape mixing bowl. Place pie in center of the oven and bake for 1 hour. Let pie cool on wire rack to room temperature. Cover with lid from pie crust and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

Serve with whipped cream. Serves 6-8.

Caramel Apples

6 large Granny Smith apples

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup light brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup light corn syrup

1 Tablespoon butter
crushed peanuts (optional)

Wash apples, remove stem and insert a Popsicle stick down into core through stem end. Place on wax paper. In a saucepan, combine sugar, corn syrup, cream and salt. Bring to a boil and cook until mixture reaches the soft-ball stage (a drop of the liquid forms a soft ball when dropped into cold water - 235° with a candy thermometer). Remove from heat, then add butter. Return pan to very low heat to keep mixture soft and of fudge consistency. Dip apples into mixture and twirl around to coat completely. If desired, roll in shallow dish of chopped peanuts, walnuts, or macadamias. Cool on wax paper.

We entreat you to share these recipes during this fleeting season of haunts and harvests with family and friends.

Leaf quilt titled "Our Time of Year"

Design by Stephen Dunn

Machine pieced and quilted by Celeste Dunn

"Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!" I shrieked, upstarting--

"Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore!

Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul has spoken!

Leave my loneliness unbroken!--quit the bust above my door!

Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!" 

Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

Edgar Allan Poe

The onslaught of trick or treaters and other Halloween evening activities precludes the cooking of full course meals. We suggest a craft beer and cheese party. Ye Olde Beverage Shoppe (aka your local liquor store) will offer at this time of year a wide variety of craft beers. Bock beers, wheat beers, honey beers, red beers, hop beers, and pumpkin beers fill the shelves. Accompany these with a selection of robust cheeses, summer sausages and salamis, and crackers. Snack throughout the evening.

It has been my pleasure to act as your guide through this heartfelt tour of Halloween at my home, and I leave you with this invocation of an old Cornish litany:

"From Ghoulies and Ghosties, And long-leggity Beasties,

And all things that go bump in the night,

Good Lord deliver us."