Pumpkin/Apple Friday Five

Singing Owl says: All Hallows Eve (Halloween) is near. As a child, Halloween was one of my favorite holidays. We didn’t yet worry about razor blades in apples or popcorn balls or some of the other concerns people have with Halloween these days. Halloween was a chance to be mildly scared, and better yet, to dress up and pretend to be something we really weren’t. Let’s talk about that a bit, but then let’s add in some food ideas for this year. Where I live the leaves are falling, the temperature is chilly and pumpkins are for sale everywhere, along with many kids of apples. What's more, the "Holiday Season" will soon be upon us. ACK! I could use a new idea for dessert. So, here we go…

1. How did you celebrate this time of year when you were a child?
When I was under 11 we lived way out in the country so Trick or Treating wasn't easy. My parents would take us to a few houses but then we went to a big Halloween party one of the families nearby put on every year in their hay barn. We'd bob for apples and play many games, plus eat a lot! Apples, of course, were a staple in our goodie bags - everyone in farm country had apple trees. We grew pumpkins in our garden to make jack o'lanterns and pumpkin pies.

When I was 11 we moved to a suburb where we could (and did) go house to house, and we always said "Trick or Treat for Unicef", collecting coins for poor children around the world.

2. Do you and/or your family “celebrate” Halloween? Why or why not? And if you do, has it changed from what you used to do?
It seems like I am usually out of town on Halloween, but when I'm home I attend the Halloween party in my community and then wait for the little ones to come by the apartment for their goodies. Not nearly as much fun as trick or treating myself, but I do see some adorable little costumes. I don't see Unicef boxes anymore - did the schools stop doing that while I wasn't looking?

2. Candy apples: Do you prefer red cinnamon or caramel covered? Or something else?
I love the red cinnamon ones!

3. Pumpkins: Do you make Jack O’ Lanterns? Any ideas of what else to do with them?
I haven't made a jack o'lantern in years, but I have used pumpkins to make pumpkin pie, and kept cut-up pumpkin in the freezer to use in various stew recipes over the winter. Now that I live where there is no real winter, I don't make hearty winter stew as often.

4. Do you decorate your home for fall or Halloween? If so, what do you do? Bonus points for pictures.
I have a boxfull of fall/halloween decorations, but I don't decorate much anymore. It's harder to do in an apartment :-)

5. Do you like pretending to be something different? Does a costume bring our an alternate personality?
I LOVE dressing up! I've always enjoyed acting and Halloween and costume parties and, more recently, Renaissance Faires.

These days I dress up sometimes to preach from the point of view of someone else - and sometimes become that someone else more effectively than I'd planned! Last Palm/Passion Sunday I suddenly started crying when the character I was playing was telling about the crucifixion by singing "Were you there?" Luckily, my congregation decided to sing with me - totally unplanned, but it gave me time to compose myself.