Tuesday, 30 October 2007
HALLOWEEN PARTY TIME
Ronnie dressed in his FEAR costume!
Halloween is nearly upon us and it’s not long before the devils and witches come out at the end of the month. If you are deciding to have a bit of a spooky party come the 31st then here are some ghoulish ideas for the event.
PUMPKIN BOWLS
Serve fresh vegetables using a hollowed out pumpkin as a bowl. Cut off the top and clean out, leaving the top in a jagged edge design! Use mini pumpkins to hold dips!
CREEPY ICE BOWLS
We have just made an ice bowl, which looks great with a light underneath it. To make one of these half fill up a bowl with water then put a smaller bowl inside. Weigh the smaller bowl down so it is pressed into the water and put creepy things into the water like tomato tops for spiders, olives for eyes –use your imagination! Put in the freezer overnight and in the morning remove both bowls. You will be left with an ice bowl that you can fill with delicious ice cream and bats wings on the night. The bowl can be stored in the freezer to use again.
FROZEN HANDS
Make frozen ice hands by filling clear, food use plastic gloves with water and freezing. When frozen, cut the glove away and throw them in a bowl that is full of lemonade. It will keep your pop cold and look great!
DEAD FLOWER DISPLAYS
Create creepy autumn centrepieces by filling vases with dried flowers, brown leaves, and empty branches. Tie a black ribbon bow around each display. If you can get some imitation spiders webs to drape over them, all the better.
FOG MACHINES
Fog machines are now very inexpensive and readily available during the Halloween buying season. Adding one to your haunt or party makes a big impact on your Halloween celebration and will add that extra effect to thrill and scare your trick or treaters. If you want to hire one then get ringing the hire shops now!
ALTERNATIVE APPLE BOBBING
Use apples for taper candleholders. Choose small, round apples that will sit firmly on a flat surface and remove the stems. Cut a small round hole in the top of each apple - deep and wide enough to securely hold a taper candle. Make sure the apples are shaped so that they have a flattish bottom, so they won't tip over. If you don’t like the idea of getting everyone soaking wet with apple bobbing there is an alternative. Hang the apples by their stems with thread from the ceiling and let party goers try to bite them!
PUMPKIN SEEDS
Keep your pumpkin seeds when gutting your pumpkin so you can roast them up later for a fun Halloween treat! Simply wash the seeds to get the slime off and pat dry. The seeds are now ready for roasting. Put a drop of oil into a frying pan and keep stirring them until they turn golden brown. Alternatively you can put them on a baking tray and put them in the oven for about twenty minutes on a moderate heat, again until they are golden brown. The seeds taste delicious on their own or you can add them to savoury dishes or even put them on your muesli in the mornings.
SPOOKY LIGHTING
Tie small glow sticks to string attached to helium balloons and let them sail over your house for spooky lights in the sky. Make sure to tie off the strings to something solid so they do 't get away! We ordered some small glow sticks off e-bay last year and they were reasonably priced at ten pounds for one hundred. The helium might be a bit more expensive though!
COSTUME CAUTION
Make sure that any shop bought costume is fire retardant. Nylon and other materials used to make mass produced Halloween costumes is highly flammable. Those made out of vinyl can be particularly hazardous. Extreme caution is needed when there are fireworks around and any other naked flames from candles or fires.
PUMPKINS
I sat down here at the computer half an hour ago with the intention of writing about hedging. I was just getting to a good bit when Julie walked in and reminded me that it was Halloween. And I had said that I was going to talk about something spooky. Well I’m not really the storyteller in our house so I will say a few things about a vegetable that is widely used as backdrop to a ghoulish evening; the pumpkin.
TRIVIA
Before I get started I thought I would test your knowledge on this gigantic vegetable. Here are a couple of brainteasers:
What percentage of a pumpkin is made up of water?
How much can giant pumpkin varieties grow in one day?
How big was the pumpkin that holds the world record for giant pumpkins?
Now, if you do something that you very rarely do which is to get to the end of this weeks article (or is that just me) you’ll see the answers.
PUMPKIN DECORATING IDEAS.
Instead of the traditional carved faces, your kids can try other ways of decorating pumpkins: here are a few that don’t require the vegetable being hollowed out:
· Use a thin knife (parental supervision may be needed) to carve different shapes onto the pumpkin. Try moons and stars or broomsticks. The cuts don’t have to go all the way through for a good effect.
· Paint your pumpkin with water-based paints or use felt tips. Choose colours that stand out, such as red and white for best effect.
· Choose a flat-sided pumpkin, set it on its side, and use the stem for the nose for a goofy or scary painted face.
Now of course the best pumpkins are the ones that are hollowed out so that a candle can be put inside to give that eerie glow. After you have put your artistic skills to good use creating a scary image on the pumpkin don’t throw away the goo inside, (seeds and pulp) that has been scraped out for the candle to fit in, it will come in very handy for the next project:
ROASTING PUMKIN SEEDS
For this exciting project you will need:
Pumpkin
Vegetable oil
Salt
Large spoons
Bowl and colander
Baking tray
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
After the top has been cut off the pumpkin, get the kids to scoop out the insides with the spoons. Separate the seed from the pulp. The flesh that is scraped out can be made into a delicious soup. Clean the seeds by rubbing them with a tea towel or washing them in a bowl of warm water. Rinse them under the tap using the colander then place them into a clean bowl.
Measure about a tablespoon or more of oil (depending on the amount of seeds) into a cup and let the kids sprinkle it over the seeds, along with a pinch of salt. Stir the seeds until they are fully coated.
With parental supervision again, spread the seeds onto a baking tray and cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they are dry and slightly brown. Serve with lots of spine tingling noises and creepy stories!
You made it this far so here are the answers to the trivia questions:
90 percent
As much as 25 pounds (11kg)
1,262 pounds (574kg) the 2001 world record.
TRIVIA
Before I get started I thought I would test your knowledge on this gigantic vegetable. Here are a couple of brainteasers:
What percentage of a pumpkin is made up of water?
How much can giant pumpkin varieties grow in one day?
How big was the pumpkin that holds the world record for giant pumpkins?
Now, if you do something that you very rarely do which is to get to the end of this weeks article (or is that just me) you’ll see the answers.
PUMPKIN DECORATING IDEAS.
Instead of the traditional carved faces, your kids can try other ways of decorating pumpkins: here are a few that don’t require the vegetable being hollowed out:
· Use a thin knife (parental supervision may be needed) to carve different shapes onto the pumpkin. Try moons and stars or broomsticks. The cuts don’t have to go all the way through for a good effect.
· Paint your pumpkin with water-based paints or use felt tips. Choose colours that stand out, such as red and white for best effect.
· Choose a flat-sided pumpkin, set it on its side, and use the stem for the nose for a goofy or scary painted face.
Now of course the best pumpkins are the ones that are hollowed out so that a candle can be put inside to give that eerie glow. After you have put your artistic skills to good use creating a scary image on the pumpkin don’t throw away the goo inside, (seeds and pulp) that has been scraped out for the candle to fit in, it will come in very handy for the next project:
ROASTING PUMKIN SEEDS
For this exciting project you will need:
Pumpkin
Vegetable oil
Salt
Large spoons
Bowl and colander
Baking tray
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
After the top has been cut off the pumpkin, get the kids to scoop out the insides with the spoons. Separate the seed from the pulp. The flesh that is scraped out can be made into a delicious soup. Clean the seeds by rubbing them with a tea towel or washing them in a bowl of warm water. Rinse them under the tap using the colander then place them into a clean bowl.
Measure about a tablespoon or more of oil (depending on the amount of seeds) into a cup and let the kids sprinkle it over the seeds, along with a pinch of salt. Stir the seeds until they are fully coated.
With parental supervision again, spread the seeds onto a baking tray and cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they are dry and slightly brown. Serve with lots of spine tingling noises and creepy stories!
You made it this far so here are the answers to the trivia questions:
90 percent
As much as 25 pounds (11kg)
1,262 pounds (574kg) the 2001 world record.
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