Happy Halloween everyone! Here are some old Halloween pictures of the kids. The Minnie Mouse and Cowboy picture is from 2004. The Chinese outfits from 2005. And Iron Chef Nathan is from 2002.

So what are your plans for the big day?

Lucie will be having a Halloween party at preschool. However, Nathan won’t. Costumes and parties are too distracting at school. In fact, the negative impact is so great on learning that they might as well stay home for all the work that would get done. So no Halloween activities at school for the big kids. I don’t have a problem with that since there are so many things to do in the community for Halloween.

Still as a family, we tend to keep it low key. Usually all we do is take the kids out trick or treating (Paul’s job) while I’ll be at home passing out candy. Nathan’s going to be Spider Man and Lucie’s going to be a kitty.

So the big question is, what to do with all that candy? CDKitchen has some great recipes for leftover Halloween candy, like this one for Candy Bar Smoothies:

Candy Bar Smoothies
Makes: 2

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup chocolate milk
2. 1 cup chocolate ice cream
3. 2 Kit Kat candy bars, chopped (this would probably be good with Snickers, Butterfingers, or any other type of chocolate candy bar)

Directions:

1. Combine the milk and ice cream in a blender; process just until smooth.
2. Pour into a bowl; cover and freeze 3 hours or until frozen.
3. Stir with a fork until slushy, and stir in wafer bars. Serve immediately.

I also like this one for Candy Bar Stuffed Baked Apples:

Candy Bar Stuffed Baked Apples
Makes: 4

Ingredients:

1. 4 medium apples (7 to 8 ounces each)
2. 1/4 cup coarsely chopped chocolate covered toffee candy bar
3. 1/4 cup coarsely chopped chocolate covered nougat candy bar
4. 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
5. 1/4 cup finely chopped chocolate covered toffee candy bar
6. 1/4 cup finely chopped chocolate covered nougat candy bar
7. 3/4 cup apple cider
8. 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

Directions:
Note: the double listings of candy bars is intentional. You need both coarsely chopped AND finely chopped.

1. Position rack in center of oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Place the apples on a cutting board. With a sharp knife, carefully cut the top 1/2-inch from each apple. Using an apple corer or a small melon baller, scoop out the stem, core, and seeds from each apple, leaving the bottom intact. Stand the apples in a 9-inch square baking dish, cut side up.
3. Divide the coarsely chopped candy bars among the apples, about 2 tablespoons of candy per apple. Place 1 1/2 teaspoons of the butter inside each apple, on top of the candy bar pieces.
4. Again, divide the finely chopped candy bars among the apples, about 2 tablespoons of candy per apple, placing candy on top of the butter inside each apple.
5. In a small bowl, whisk together the cider and sugar and pour the cider mixture over and around the apples.
6. Using oven mitts or pot holders, place the baking dish in the oven and bake the apples uncovered until tender, about 1 hour and 20 minutes.
7. Using oven mitts or pot holders, carefully remove the apples from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes. Serve hot or warm, spooning the pan juices over the apples, and add vanilla ice cream if desired.

Warning: These apples are very hot when coming out of the oven, and there is a lot of hot juice. Be careful not to spill any on you!

With one day to the Big Event, here are some last minute suggestions for Halloween reads and snacks:

Books:

• Halloween Howls: Holiday Poetry (I Can Read Book 2) – I saw this wonderful book at our school’s Scholastic Book Fair. Lee Bennett Hopkins captures the spirit of everyone’s favorite holiday in this sweet and spooky collection of poems for beginning readers, ages kindergarten through grade 3.
• The Littlest Pumpkin – For ages 4 to 8, Halloween is the most important holiday for any pumpkin, and the Littlest Pumpkin dreams of being the center of attention. Throughout the day, children come and go, picking their pumpkins. But when Bartlett¹s Farm Stand closes, only the Littlest Pumpkin remains. But just then, a group of mice scurrying around the stand make the Littlest Pumpkin¹s dream come true in a most surprising way.
• Pumpkin Pumpkin – By Jeanne Titherington, this book explains how pumpkins are grown. Jamie plants a pumpkin seed in the spring and, after watching it grow all summer, carves a face in it for Halloween! But best of all, he saves some seeds that he will plant again next spring. For ages 4 to 8.
• A Very Brave Witch – A friendly young witch describes what she likes most about Halloween. She explains that although most of her kind are afraid of humans, she has done research and concluded that people are not that bad. She plans to visit them this Halloween night. A cute, not-scary book for preschoolers through second graders.

Halloween Snack Help:

• Food Network’s Halloween Guide
• Halloween and Fall Recipes and Snacks
• Family Fun’s Halloween Snacks
• CDKitchen’s Halloween Recipes

Here’s a great one from Family Fun’s website that’s almost healthyL

Mini Witches’ Brooms
These sweet and salty snacks are sure to be swept away in no time, so you’ll want to make lots.

Ingredients:

1. Roll of Fruit by the Foot
2. Thin pretzels

Directions:

1. For each one, cut a 2-inch length from a roll of Fruit by the Foot.
2. With the shorter ends on the side, fringe the bottom of the strip (leaving a 1/4-inch border uncut along the top) to create thin broom bristles.
3. Then moisten the upper edge of the fruit with a drop of water and tightly wrap it around one end of a thin pretzel-stick broom handle.

In case you think making sugar skulls is beyond your ability, here are some pictures my friend Michelle sent me of the sugar skulls she made this year.

As she wrote, “We always celebrate El Día de los Muertos. Celebrating for us begins on (her husband) Sean’s birthday on October 31. We continue on November 1, All Saints Day. This is the day the spirits of children are remembered. Then we wrap it with a big dinner on November 2, All Souls Day. The day the adult spirits are remembered.

“This year I am making Mole (a Mexican sauce). It’s going to take three days of cooking to get it done. But oh boy is it going to be good!! I can’t wait until 2008 when we get to go to Oaxaca. I’ve been wanting to go there since I was in high school!”

More books for El Día de los Muertos/Day of the Dead:

• Pablo Remembers – for ages 9-12, this photo documentary follows Pablo and his family as they prepare to honor the memory of Pablo’s grandmother.
• Day of the Dead – for preschoolers through third graders, this book shows a Mexican family preparing for and celebrating the Day of the Dead.

Technorati tags: Halloween, Day of the Dead, Mexican Holidays

Some El Día de los Muertos or the Day of the Dead book recommendations:

• Felipa and the Day of the Dead – For ages 4 to 8, Felipa’s beloved grandmother, Abuelita, has died. Felipa miser her terribly and is very sad. Her parents try to comfort Felipa. They tell her that the souls of the dead live on forever. So Felipa decides to find Abuelita’s soul. But where is it? She asks her grandmother’s donkey, her pig, and her llamas for help. She treks many miles to the highest mountain, but grandmother’s soul is nowhere to be found. Then, months later, the entire village is bustling with preparations for the Day of the Dead. Felipa joins in the celebrations honoring loved ones who have died, and in the process finally finds Abuelita’s soul.
• Calavera Abecedario: A Day of the Dead Alphabet Book – For ages 4 to 8, this book features illustrations inspired by Mexican folk art and a short story about preparations for the Day of the Dead that includes within it an alphabet book based on the Spanish alphabet. This book emphasizes the closeness of Mexican families and the non-demonic nature of the celebrations.
• Festival of the Bones / El Festival de las Calaveras: The Book for the Day of the Dead – This bilingual book explains the Day of the Dead celebration to Americans. For ages 4 to 8.
• The Spirit of Tio Fernando: A Day of the Dead Story/El Espiritu De Tio Fernando : Una Historia Del Dia De Los Muertos – For ages 4 to 8, a young boy and his mother make preparations to remember his beloved Uncle.
• Day of the Dead: A Mexican-American Celebration – For children 9 to 12, this book follows 10-year-old twins from Sacramento, California as they tell the story of their family’s Day of the Dead celebrations.

Technorati tags: Halloween, Day of the Dead, Mexican Holidays

A favorite activity during El Día de los Muertos or the Day of the Dead celebrations is the making of sugar skulls.

According to MexicanSugarSkull.com:

Sugar Skulls are a traditional folk art from Southern Mexico used to celebrate Day of the Dead. Mounds of colorful sugar skulls are sold by Indian vendors in open air village markets during the week preceding the holiday. Spirits of the dead are welcomed back to their homes with beautifully decorated altars made by their loved ones.

Sugar skulls, marigolds, candles, incense and special foods adorn home altars. Families take the flowers and sugar skulls to the cemetery to decorate the tombs on November 2. Sugar skulls are colorfully decorated with icing, pieces of bright foil, colored sugars and usually bear the name of the deceased loved one being honored. They are easy to make by children and adults, and if kept dry, they can last a year.

Go to their website for a a sugar skull recipe and how-to-make instructions. They also sell sugar skull molds and Day of the Dead t-shirts and fabrics.

Mexico observes a different sort of Halloween. From pre-Columbian times, El Día de los Muertos or the Day of the Dead, has been celebrated in Mexico and other Latin countries. It is not scary or sad, instead the Day of the Dead is a beautiful ritual in which Mexicans happily and lovingly remember their deceased relatives. The holiday is celebrated on November 1-2.

Two traditional recipes for El Día de los Muertos are Pan de Muerto and Calabaza en Tacha.

Calabaza en Tacha

Ingredients:

1. One 4-5 lbs pumpkin
2. Approximately 8 cinnamon sticks
3. Juice of 1 orange
4. 4 cups water
5. 2 lbs Piloncillo (Available in Hispanic markets or the Hispanic section of your supermarket. Otherwise you can use brown or raw sugar)

Directions:

1. Cut the pumpkin into medium (2½” to 3″ squares or triangles). Remove seeds and strings. With a sharp knife make diamond designs over the pulp.
2. Put the sugar in a pan with the cinnamon, orange juice, and water. Bring to a boil and stir until the piloncillo has dissolved.
3. Place the first layer of pieces of pumpkin upside down so they absorb as much juice as possible. The second layer should be with the pulp upwards. Cover and simmer. When ready the top of the pumpkin pieces should look somewhat glazed, and the pulp soft and golden brown.
4. Let cool and serve with the syrup. You can also add cold evaporated milk. You may want to eat after after the pumpkin has been in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.

Thanks to Inside-Mexico.com for the information and recipes.

If your children are fans of the There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly, check out There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Bat! this Halloween season. This time around, a bat, an owl, a cat, a ghost, a goblin, some bones, and a wizard are all on the menu! For ages 4 through 8.

The old lady would have been smarter to try some of this Bat Wing Soup from Razzle Dazzle Recipes. Razzle Dazzle has some terrific food ideas for Halloween as well as recipes for other holidays including Chinese New Year, Canada Day, and Mardi Gras.

Bat Wing Soup
Yield: 6 servings.

Ingredients:

1. 4 garlic cloves, peeled
2. 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3. 4 cans (14-1/2 ounces each) stewed tomatoes
4. 1/2 cup whipping cream
5. 6 slices bread, crusts removed
6. 2 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
7. 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning

Directions for bat wings:

1. Remove crusts from bread and flatten with a rolling pin.
2. Using a kitchen shears, cut each slice in half diagonally, cutting wavy lines to resemble bat wings. Or use a bat shaped cookie cutter.
3. Place on an ungreased baking sheet. Spread with butter; sprinkle with Italian seasoning.
4. Bake at 400° for 5-8 minutes or until golden brown, turning once.

Directions for soup:

1. In a saucepan, saute garlic in oil until tender.
2. In a blender or food processor, process garlic and tomatoes in batches until smooth.
3. Return all to the pan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Add cream and heat through.
4. Add two wings to each bowl of soup. Serve immediately.

Some other bat themed recipes:

• Spiced Bat Wings
• Bat Wings Recipe with Swamp Dip
• Bat Chips
• Bat and Spook Pizza
• Barbequed Bat Wings
• Bat Fingers
• Bat Sandwiches