There’s a goose in the house October 30, 2011

When I was little, Halloween wasn’t really celebrated in any significant way.

I can remember my Dad being tasked by my Mum with carving a pumpkin into a lantern for us, and the mutterings and bad language that accompanied his efforts, but that’s about it. There certainly wasn’t any trick or treating in our village, and the shops had nowhere near the spread of decorations, toys and gimmicks that they do today.  The real excitement of the last week of October was the fact that bonfire night was just around the corner.

Fast forward 30 years and Halloween has suddenly become equal in status to Christmas or Easter! As well as costumes and decorations, you can now buy pumpkin carving kits, Halloween tattoos and even spooky foodstuffs.

Yesterday afternoon twinsdaddy was tasked with putting up our Halloween decorations, most of which are leftover from the infamous Halloween party we threw for the big brother and his friends last year. Fortunately, a party hasn’t been an option this year as he’s been invited trick or treating with one of his pals and having never been before, that’s now become his reason for living.

I personally don’t support the idea of scaring the wits out of children just for the fun of it, so our decorations are mostly of the harmless pumpkin variety. We’ve got a “Keep Out” sign that’s meant to look like a gravestone that hangs from the kitchen door but I think the meaning is lost on my three who just like to sweep under it swishing the plastic drapes as they go.

We’ve also got a bloody severed hand that was our one concession to the big brother last year when he rightly complained that there was absolutely nothing spooky or scary about our house. He takes great pleasure in sticking it behind the sofa so that when you sit down, you can feel a plastic finger digging into your spine. The girls aren’t worried, they think the blood is ketchup!

The only other semi-scary addition is the paper ghost who is now hanging from the light fitting in our lounge. The girls have perfected their scary “oooohhhhh aaaaaahhhh” noises that accompany the mere mention of it, but unfortunately for the brunette, she’s had a bit of confusion with her vocabulary.

Whenever she enters the lounge, she now starts making her scary ghost noises, then shouts, “Ooooooh mummy, there’s a goose in the house”.

At which point the big brother and the blonde collapse into fits of giggles, and her whole scary ambience is shattered.

It’s probably for the best.

 

Nigella eat your heart out! October 31, 2010

Now, I don’t normally add personal photographs to my blog, but for my Halloween cookies, I am going to make an exception.

I spent a great deal of time on Friday and Saturday preparing for the eagerly anticipated Halloween party, and have to say, I feel quite proud of myself.

I like to cook, but I’ve never really grasped the concept of baking. Savoury things I can cope with, but I find cakes and puddings to be a little tricky. There’s a lot of pressure for things to rise, or set, or become golden, and frankly, it’s a lot like hard work!

However, for THE PARTY, I pulled out all the stops and baked (and iced!) biscuits. And that’s not all! With the help of numerous Halloween websites, I created an entire meal of spooky offerings.

The menu was as follows:

Mummified pizzas

Spider jellies

Blood-drenched popcorn

Marshmallow ghosts

Chocolate chip bat cookies

All washed down with Vampire’s blood punch.

I can’t claim I achieved any of the above with the casual ease of Nigella, nor with her wanton looks (much to husband’s disappointment) and top to toe cashmere. Denim and desperation were more the order of the day in my kitchen. Let’s just say I don’t think anyone will be offering me a television series any time soon.

With the party in full swing, my Director of Entertainment did a fabulous job with the games. Apple bobbing went on forever as highly excitable, sugar-fuelled 6-year-olds decided this was the most fun they’d ever had, and insisted on playing round after round.

They then played Spooky Statues, Make a Mummy and the Graveyard game. All of which we’ll be patenting and then I’m going to hire out my husband to provide party entertainment for every Halloween from now on. With a bit of thought, I’m sure we can branch out to cover christenings, weddings, bar mitzvahs and the common or garden birthday party.

I’m actually not entirely sure who had the most fun – my 6-year-old or my 38-year-old.

Even the twins appeared to enjoy themselves. I had thought I’d be dispatching Joy upstairs with them to spend 2 hours safely ensconced in their bedroom until the chaos was over, but no; costumes were worn, mice ears and all. They very much enjoyed the musical games and joined in with enthusiastic dancing in their own unique style.

They even joined the table to sample the party food. The blonde stuffed her face with cobweb shaped crisps whilst the brunette opted for pizza with lashings of grapes and peppers on the side. Given that one of my girls gets at least 6 or 7-a-day, whilst the other barely manages 1 or 2, can I take an average and claim they both get their required daily intake of fruit and veg?

Back to the party. I have to admit to feeling just a tiny bit smug as the proceedings went off without a hitch and all our guests seemed to genuinely have had a great time. Well, apart from the poor child who weed himself, but we’ll gloss over that little incident I think.

So now the party bags have been distributed, the acres of loo rolls have been cleared, and the helium vampire and ghost are starting to look a little flaccid. I know exactly how they’re feeling.

 

 

Halloween Party = Trick, or Treat? October 27, 2010

In a moment of weakness, I told my 6-year-old son he could have a Halloween party. I think I suggested a “small gathering”, but the subtlety of this description I fear was lost on him. He had visions of inviting his entire class along with parents and siblings. I was hoping for a sort of scary play date with dressing up and maybe 2 extra children to feed.

We finally settled on 4 boys and 4 girls who would be honoured with an invitation. Still thinking this was a low-key event, I didn’t worry about it too much until the questions started.

“What games will we play?”

“Will the food be scary?”

“When shall we all sort out our costumes?”

All? Hhhmmmmmm.

It became clear that this wasn’t a low-key event, but a defining moment in my son’s social development. The Mums of the lucky guests have all caught me at school to say how excited their children are about attending ‘the party’. They have also passed comment about how brave I am. I’m regretting it already.

However, I’ve accepted that I must throw myself into this and put on the required show. I’ve spent hours researching scary finger food online. It’s surprising how many websites are devoted to this very subject. And what’s really surprising, is just how gory and grotesque some of the suggestions are. Some of the pictures made me feel quite queasy. There seems to be a choice between either a basic pumpkin/bat/ghost theme, or the stomach-churning severed limbs/brains/bloody internal organs option. I hope it’s obvious that I’ve chosen the former.

We went en masse to the local party shop which is a warehouse emporium of plastic tat and helium. It was an interesting morning. My son was enthralled by the severed heads and bloodied stick-on bite marks which were far too realistic for my liking. I tried to steer him towards the broomsticks and glow-in-the-dark pumpkins, but he was insistent. We compromised on a severed hand whilst simultaneously reassuring the brunette who’d been sobbing hysterically ever since we set foot in the shop.

I’ve appointed my husband as Director of Entertainment which simply means he’s in charge of the games, whilst I’m in charge of the food. Apple bobbing, pin the tail on the ghoul and pass the pumpkin are among my suggestions for innocent, slightly spooky fun. I have skull shaped lollies and chocolate eyeballs as prizes. Blood and guts are most definitely not allowed.

We’ve had a full family try-on of the costumes. My husband looks absolutely bloody terrifying as a Quasimodo ghoul-alike and the blonde is a semi-convincing mini witch. She’s going through a hat phase, so we’re onto a winner there. The brunette would make a wonderful black cat if only she’d keep her tail on and stop tugging at her ears (which incidentally are mice ears as they were out of cat!)

Even our lovely helper Joy can’t escape the dressing up box. She’s been allocated a devil’s trident and bloodied-knife on a headband for the day. Her contract is due for renewal next month so I do hope she doesn’t ask for a transfer.

Let the spooky fun begin…