Happy Halloween!

[TheHeadlessHorseman]

Happy Halloween to everybody here! I hope you have fun and enjoy the holiday. Stay safe my friends.

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[Andybev01]

Right back at ya.

The link below goes to one of my favorite weekly radio programs of corny music.

'Retro Cocktail Hour' From Kansas public radio.

It's full of obscure midcentury, mostly, music.
And it's actually two hours , not one.

It's free to listen to and this is the halloween show from last friday.

https://kansaspublicradio.org/podcast/r ... ber-26-202

[Murfreesboro]

Thanks for the link, Andy, and happy Halloween to all! We're in for a stormy evening in middle TN. I hope I get a few ToTers. I haven't put up as many yard decorations as I often do, because I don't want them all storm-battered. I have enough out to attract the little ghouls, I think.

[Andybev01]

It's stormy here as well, but PNW kids are made of sterner stuff.

I got one JOL carved, candy in a big bowl, and I will put on my skelly suit.

[Murfreesboro]

Do you roast your seeds? I will be roasting mine tomorrow.

[Andybev01]

I have never tried to although I like eating roasted seeds.

[Murfreesboro]

It's so simple, Andy. I don't always even dry them out first, although you're supposed to rinse them and dry them overnight. But really you just spread them out on a sheet pan, season them as you prefer (I use Goya Adobo), and roast them for 2-3 hours at a low temperature, like 225 or 250. I check them every hour, maybe turn them or stir them around. Once they are crispy, they're done. Such a seasonal delight.

[MauEvig]

Happy Halloween! A little late to the thread I know.

Murf if I try roasting seeds I'll have to let you know. I was too tired to carve my pumpkin this year. (Maybe that's why I didn't get any trick or treaters? But the house was full on decorated otherwise )

I might still do a late carving anyway. I heard you can save the guts and make pumpkin puree that you can use for baking. I've never done that, and usually just opted to either throw it away or toss into my compost.

But I do intend to save the seeds. These big pumpkins usually have a ton of them, so there should be enough for both garden and roasting.

Do you think a sweet, or savory seasoning is better for roasted pumpkin seeds? I imagine it's up to individual preference, but I'm for trying different things.

[Andybev01]

Pumpkin guts are not what you want for pie, it's too wet and fibrous.

Cut a sugar pie in half scoop out the stringy stuff and place the halves on a baking sheet, facing up or down, doesn't matter.

Roast in a 350° oven until golden brown and fork tender, like a baked potato.

Let them cool until you can handle them, scoop out the flesh, discard the shells.

Puree in a blender, Cuisinart, potato masher, whatever.

If the pumpkins are really wet, sqeeze the pulp in a flour sack towel or several layers of cheesecloth until it stops dripping.

[Murfreesboro]

Andy preempted me. It's the flesh, not the stringy stuff, you want to cook.

But do separate the seeds from the strings, and roast them. Personally, I prefer savory ( same for me with popcorn), but to each his/her own.

You can eat any pumpkin, but most people just carve the big jacks and use the smaller sugar pumpkins for baking. However, the seeds from any of them are great for roasting.

[TheHeadlessHorseman]

Oh what a night! Late December back in 63... uh, wait a minute... let me try that again...

Oh what a night! Late October here in 24, What a very special time for me, I'll remember what a night.

Well, I had a great Halloween, it's definitely one the best that I've had in years. As usual, my day started at midnight and I got some of the usual traditions prepared while everyone was still sleeping. The morning started with a visit from The Great Pumpkin, the girls were excited for the candy and presents, though I think that Sam is starting to get suspicious about why I'm not ever around when he arrives.

After I wrapped up here, I went to visit my neighbor's kids for the first time, they just moved into the area this year and when I told them about how I dress as The Great Pumpkin, they asked if I would stop by to visit their kids. I was honestly surprised at how the kids reacted to me, I thought that they might be scared, or hesitant to come near me, but it was the exact opposite, they ran up and hugged me, and they were both happy to get the candy and presents.

The kids were just great, they are only 2 and 3 yrs old, and this was going to be the first year that they would be trick or treating, so I'm glad that I could do something to make their Halloween more special for them. I also invited their mother and them to join us when we went out trick or treating that evening.

To be honest, now I kind of understand how people feel when they dress up as Santa, when you watch their little faces light up, you just have this awesome feeling of happiness that is hard to put into words, but it reminded me of when my kids were that age.

After that we got into our costumes, I dropped the kids at school, and my wife and I went to work for a few hours to make sure that everything was going smoothly, and I wasn't expecting it to be so busy at that time of day, but I'm not complaining. Both my wife and I went home early to get things ready, I put up the remaining decorations in my yard, and she got things ready for the trick or treaters. As usual, she stayed here to give out candy, and I went trick or treating with the kids.

We started the night with a big group, there was my kids, my neighbor and her 2 kids, 3 other kids that are friends with my kids and one of their parents, and myself, for a total of 10 of us. It was that way for about a hour, but then we ran into more people that we knew and the group grew to 18 people, which is the largest group I've ever been a part of for Halloween, but it certainly was fun.

I was shocked that it was so busy this year, I haven't seen this many people decorate and give out candy in about a decade, it was awesome that the kids got to experience something close to the Halloween that we grew up with. Honestly, even though I was walking around and talking with the other adults, there was a part of me that felt the same magic that I did when I was a kid, and at my age, I'm thankful for that because it's something that I didn't think I would ever feel again.

When we dropped everybody else home, there were a few parents that let their kids stay at our place for a sleepover. So after everybody got out of their costumes, and sorted through their candy, we decided to watch a movie, and not just any movie, but one of my favorite movies from when I was a kid ... The Monster Squad.

I have been waiting for years for my kids to be old enough to watch this movie, and I finally got to introduce it to them this year. Of coure, there is some language that I didn't want the little kids to hear in it, but I've watched the movie so many times that I know exactly where to mute it so they didn't hear anything bad.

Some of the younger kids were scared by some scenes, but they enjoyed the movie, and I'm glad that my kids liked it. After everybody went to sleep, I was up by myself as usual so I watched a few horror movies and finally went to sleep around 2am only to get back up a 5am. By the way, my wife told me that we had almost 200 trick or treaters that night, so it looks like it was a good Halloween for everybody around here.

I hope everybody here has been doing well, I did read through the recent posts here, and I'll be back soon to reply to them when I have some time as things have been busy here, but I had some time to post tonight because I'm up waiting on the election results.

WOLFMAN'S GOT NARDS!

[Murfreesboro]

Oh, I'm so glad to hear Halloween was perfect for you and yours! Weather daunted us somewhat, but I've had great.Halloweens, too, especially when my kids were ToTing, and I wouldn't take anything for the memories. Honestly, for me, the best Halloweens of my life were with them, because in my childhood adults didn't get into it like many do today. I know exactly what you mean about experiencing the magic along with them.

[TheHeadlessHorseman]

My mother has said the same thing, that her favorite Halloweens were from the late 70s to the mid 90s when she went trick or treating with us, and she also enjoyed the holiday more as a adult because more people accepted and celebrated Halloween than they did when she was younger.

We often tell the kids what it was like when we were kids in the 80s, how Halloween was such a big celebration for us back then, and we used to trick or treat for about 4 hours every Halloween, and some years it was so busy that we would each have 2 pillowcases filled with candy at the end of the night. Yes, the 80s was a wonderful decade.

Of course, the kids have a hard time believing that it was that good back then because they only know what the holiday is like for them now, even when we show them old pictures of us as kids they can't believe that people celebrated the holiday with such passion compared to now. In recent years there is usually about 1 or 2 houses in each neighborhood around here that actually give out candy, and if they do, then they are usually done around 7pm now, and most years I have to drive the kids around to different areas to get candy, and they still barely fill their bags.

That's why I was so pleaseantly surprised the other night when we went out and it was so busy, I haven't seen that many people celebrate the holiday in this way in years. I don't know if there was a sale on decorations and candy, or a bunch of new people moved into the area, or if the holiday is just making a comeback, but I was happy to have experienced it, especially because Sam is 10 this year and she's probably going to want to stop trick or treating soon.

On a funny side note, back in Sept. when I brought the kids to Spirit Halloween to get their costumes, Phoebe chose a really unusual costume, she wanted to be a FBI agent with the blue jacket with the letters on it, so we got it, and the earpiece and shades for her. When we asked her why she wanted the costume, she said because it has her name on the back of it, my wife and I were confused, so she said that FBI is the KEWL way to spell the name Phoebe ... I guess that's just how kids talk these days. By the way, she has been wearing the jacket every day since then.

[Murfreesboro]

I didn't get in on 80s ToTing, because I had kids so late, but the 80s were the best decade of my life as far as society was concerned. My ToTing years with the kids spanned 1990-2013, because they were born four years apart, and my younger two happily ToTed into their teens. We were lucky that a nearby street turned Halloween into a block party. Sometimes the police would come to direct traffic. Sadly, the pandemic sort of ended that, although there are still a few houses there that carry on with the yard haunts.

[Andybev01]

I took down Halloween and most of my fall yesterday, leaving Thanksgiving stuff out until that weekend, and put up my Christmas tree and mended a wreath or two.