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

Kristen from The Mom Trap was asking about good Halloween books for toddlers. Well, a great one is Usborne’s That’s Not My Monster – That’s not my monster…its eyebrows are too hairy, indeed!

Usborne’s Touchy Feely books are among their most popular titles with both parents and kids. For ages 9 months and up, even preschoolers love these books.

Make some monsters of your own with these seemingly easy to do how-to directions from Martha Stewart for Halloween Candy Creatures.

Monster Candy Creatures

You will need white and black gumdrops, a lollipop, 3 white spice drops, a green candy mint, black shoestring licorice, and a red sprinkle. Cut top and bottom off white gumdrop and press to top of lollipop. Cut top off black gumdrop and add for monster’s hair. Cut a white spice drop in half lengthwise for arms, and cut tops off two more to use for legs; press into place. Poke holes and add mint nose, snipped licorice eyes and neck bolts, and red sprinkle mouth.

I’m not sure where Martha’s staff got the lollipops. If you can’t find such large ones, maybe you can use a large marshmallow instead. Use marking pens (the kind with the edible ink – available at craft stores) or food coloring and a paint brush to decorate.

My friend Emily made these Egg Free Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies from Allrecipes.com for a playdate since she knows that Lucie is allergic to eggs. (Wasn’t that nice?!) They were delicious and moist – more like a muffin than a cookie. Also, chocolate chips go amazingly well with pumpkin.

Egg Free Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies
Yields: 48 servings

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups white sugar
2. 1 cup shortening
3. 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
4. 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
5. 4 cups all-purpose flour
6. 2 teaspoons baking soda
7. 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
8. 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Cream the sugar, shortening, pumpkin and vanilla together. Mix until light and well combined.
3. Mix the flour, baking soda and ground cinnamon. Stir the flour mixture into the creamed mixture. Mix until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
4. Drop by teaspoons onto an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 12 to 15 minutes or until set. Let cookies cool on a rack.

Nutrition facts (per serving):Calories (kcal) 146 Protein 1.5g Cals from Protein 3% Total Fat 6.5g Cals from Fat 38% Carbohydrates 21.6g Cals from Carbohydrates 56% Fiber 1g Cholesterol 0mg Sodium 75mg

Monster Mazes is an interactive type of Usborne book. For children ages five to seven, this book is full of intriguing mazes and maze-type puzzles, linked together by a story of Cat and Mouse’s daring exploits.

Another interactive book for Halloween is Spook’s Surprise for ages four to seven. Like all the books in Usborne’s Young Puzzle Adventure Series, this spooky story has picture puzzles threaded through it that involve readers in the action. Depending on your child’s reading level, this book can be shared or read alone.

Finally, Usborne has adapted two horror classics, Dracula and Frankenstein, for readers age nine and up.

I know you must be a little tired of all my Martha Stewart Halloween recipes, even if they have been pretty darn impressive. So after doing a little Google search, much to my surprise I found that Reader’s Digest RDLiving.com has some terrific Halloween recipes as well.

I like the recipe for Orange Witches’ Brew Punch because it uses lots of fruit juice along with the soda. You may want to omit the sugar altogether since it looks sweet enough without it.

Orange Witches’ Brew Punch
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Serves 32

Ingredients:

1. 1 package (6 ounces) orange gelatin
2. 1/2 to 1 cup sugar
3. 2 cups boiling water
4. 1 can (46 ounces) apricot nectar
5. 1 can (46 ounces) pineapple juice
6. 3/4 cup lemon juice
7. 4 liters ginger ale, chilled

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, dissolve gelatin and sugar in water. Stir in the apricot nectar, pineapple juice and lemon juice. Freeze in two 2-quart freezer containers. Remove from the freezer 2-3 hours before serving.
2. Place contents of one container in a punch bowl; mash with potato masher. Stir in ginger ale just before serving. Repeat.

Usborne’s Story of Witches is a great match for the punch. For ages 5-12, the book features three tales to bewitch: a witch who loses her broomstick, a witch who loses her temper, and a witch who loses out to a clever farmer. Story of Witches is also an Accelerated Reader title.