October 31

Pumpkin Fun

Did you know that Irish immigrants brought their tradition of Halloween and the jack o’ lantern (that o’ should have clued me in that it was an Irish custom) to America almost two hundred years ago?

According to legend, the jack o’ lantern began with a man named Jack.  Jack died and was rejected from both heaven and hell.  He then asked the devil to at least help light his path as he was forced to wander the earth.  The devil threw him a live coal from hell and in order to keep it from blowing out in the wind, Jack put the coal inside a turnip (a root vegetable) he was eating.

Consequently, "Jack of the lantern", shortened to jack o'lantern, has become a symbol of a doomed soul and is said to frighten away evil spirits.  

Despite this cheering and inspirational story (I kid), 

I am a bit partial to the fun and whimsical side of pumpkin carving/decorating.

Here are a few fun pumpkin ideas, including ours from this year:

A stencil and a black paint pen (+ my unsteady hand) made this happen.
I love the white pumpkins, but  I'm still contemplating a face for my jack-o-lantern.

Which was inspired by my neighbor's

A little wonky, I know.  But super cute.  

I love this UGA (University of Georgia bulldog) pumpkin.
I made a Georgia "G" pumpkin one year (but didn't photograph it, boo hoo).

One time I used crescent and star shaped cookie cutters to decorate my pumpkin. That was fun. 

Mine wasn't as cute or elaborate as this, but you  get the idea.  

Another year, I painted pumpkins and used them for a ring toss game at my son's preschool Halloween party.  They're still among my favorites.    

A little pink pig, a princely frog (with limes for eyes) and a smiley faced fun guy.  

Happy carving!

Halloween Couture

Sadly, our Halloween costume days (Trick or Treating) are coming to end.  But, I couldn't resist this walk down memory lane.

No costume this year, just a pumpkin all her own.

Nothing says Halloween, like a bunny!

One year even the grown ups got in on the act.
I made these costumes using contact paper and
black sweats I purchased at Walmart 

Meg from Disney's Hercules

With her brother in the background in his clown (pajamas)
costume and pacifier.  

Dorothy and the clown costume gets recycled.
Believe it not, this was our Christmas Card photo that year.  

A Hippie and a (cookie eating) Fireman

A Transformer with Barbara Eden (I loved I Dream of Jeannie).
You can't see it, but in her arms was a genie bottle that we
made using a Mary Kate and Ashley craft book.

Superman and a Snow Princess

Felicity with Spiderman

A girl pirate

 A soldier

A "friendly" witch with an unhappy knight

Indiana Jones (adorable)

Felicity (again)  

A Flapper and Darth Vader

Fall Pumpkin Bread

I've been making this pumpkin bread recipe since I was just out of college (i.e., a long time), so it's a tried and true favorite.  Don't be skeptical about the chocolate chips, they make the pumpkin bread (which is slightly savory  - despite it's cup of sugar), just the right amount of sweet.  The only negative of this recipe is that it only makes 1 loaf (doubling the recipe, unfortunately, won't yield the same results, so you have to make one loaf at a time).  Which is probably just as well because, this bread is delicious.  

Pumpkin Bread*

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees                  Makes 1 Loaf

1.5 c. (210 g) flour                               2 eggs, beaten

1/2 tsp. salt                                       ¼ tsp. nutmeg    

1 c, (200 g) sugar                                ¼ tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. baking soda                              ¼ tsp. allspice

1 c. pumpkin puree (canned)              4 oz. mini choc.chips

1/2 c. vegetable oil

¼ c. water

Sift together flour, salt, sugar and baking soda in large bowl

Mix the pumpkin, eggs, oil, water and spices together in separate bowl, then combine with dry ingredients, but do not mix too thoroughly.  Stir in the chocolate chips.  Pour into well-buttered 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan.  Bake 50 – 60 minutes until a straw come out clean. Turn out of the pan and cool on a rack.  Enjoy. 

* Adapted from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook

A lovely way to gift pumpkin bread to your friends & neighbors.

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Holiday Decorating, Day 3 - More Scary Stuff

For more than 10 years, we had this view from the front of our house.  Our across the street neighbors were incredibly creative types who each year, for years, added to their Halloween decor - even their interior was decorated! 

At night, it was really scary.

I haven't quite found anything this elaborate in Texas, but 
one house did have this great idea:

Yep, there are crazy blinking eyes in all the shrubbery in front of their house.  Which, you can almost certainly count on me replicating next year.  

Holiday Decorating, Fall Edition - Day 2

While I'm partial to harvest/autumn/fall type decorations, rather than the scary Halloween variety (much to my children's dismay), I can totally appreciate a spooky display.   I saw this one today, again not far from my house.

This scary guy guards his homeowner's door.
The photo is deceiving - he's about 8 feet tall.  Oh, and the eyes move and
the mouth opens.  Totally scary.

A closeup of the sign at the base of the scary skull.  I love that is  a bit whimsical.  

Spider Tree?  They're everywhere in Dallas.

Holiday Decorating, Fall Edition

As much as I love holidays, I don't guess anyone would be surprised to know that I can't get enough of holiday decorations,  particularly those of the exterior variety.  


Admittedly, I've never felt skilled or artistic enough to tackle much in the way of outside decorating and, currently I don't have much space to store all the items that could make for a commendable spectacle but, I sure am a fan.  


So I thought I might take a few days and show some of the fun and festive ways that Texans decorate, including some adorable and/or scary Halloween displays.


This "pumpkin patch", at a house on a prominent corner not far from our house, is one of my favorites (the photos from my iPhone barely do it justice).  

These 3 dimensional pumpkins in all shapes and sizes are too cute.

This adorable polka dot pumpkin is my favorite.

This photo is from another angle, and gives a better sense of  just how many pumpkins
make up the display.

I don't know about you, but this display brings to mind something else (and another great thing about this time of year)--