Inspired by such Halloween geniuses as Nicole and Megan, the Minx and I set to work with a will yesterday to create our own fabulous pumpkin.
Actually we were even more inspired by that seminal work Teletubbies and the Magic Pumpkin which features a little video on how to make your own happy pumpkin.
Ours has a paper mouth and nose (mummy really couldn’t be bothered to procure bark and felt as in the video), marshmallows and raisins for eyes, raisins for teeth and nostrils, leaves for ears, cupcake sprinkles for ‘eyebrowns’ and pampas grass for hair. He is a very happy soul despite the fact that the morning dew made his marshmallow eyes rather soggy.
I knew Halloween was big in the States, but had no idea it was THIS big. The Minx has taken to trick or treating like a duck to water (surprising, not).
On Sunday evening a small witch (last year’s costume still fits hooray!) met up with an even smaller crocodile belonging to an Instant Hausfrau for a Pumpkin Prowl at Seattle’s Woodland Park zoo.
It was spooktacularly well done – we were almost as mesmerised by set pieces such as dry ice and ghosts hanging over a pumpkin-laced pond as the Minx was.
The Hausfrau has become a great friend since we arrived in Seattle and has taken it upon herself to educate us in the ways of the pumpkin.
Here is a picture of the Minx and the Husband er, enjoying themselves hugely, as we all hunted for pumpkins in their natural habitat at The Farm, just north of Seattle, as the rain lashed down and the corn maize nearly drowned in a sea of mud.
Actually the day at the pumpkin patch was fab. Whereas in England everyone would have stayed in with tea and toast and telly, the whole of Seattle appeared to have turned out in the rain to go sliding down bales of hay in the barn, play with new kittens, learn geography in the map of Washington corn maize and thrill to the story of the three little pigs acted by real pigs.
Photo courtesy of the Instant Hausfrau
Happy Halloween! The Minx looks adorable in her costume and the pumpkin is charming as well. I’m glad you aren’t allowing a little rain to spoil your fun.
American pumpkins rock, don’t they? Put european ones to shame don’t they? Have you had american apple cider yet? Have you come across the marvel that is pumpkin pie yet, or even tinned pumpkin? I recommend cracking into the recipes all over the place – soup, pie, muffins. So so so so tasty!! Oh, and keep an eye out for candy stuff. So sweet it makes your eyes water but so indicative of the season!!x Can you tell I miss it?
It’s weird that it started over here but is so big in the States.
I was in with tea and toast last night. The wind was howling so I was OK for sound effects. Our little hamlet is so remote I would die of shock if anyone came trick or treating.
By the way – The Minx looks so cute in that costume and I love the crocodile
The Halloween orgy finished last night with a trick or treating session with friends round the Queen Anne neighbourhood of Seattle.
By the end her special light-up pumpkin-faced trick or treating bucket (no, I didn’t know such a thing existed either) was full of sugar. Being extremely cruel parents, we let her fish out the bars of chocolate and then told her to leave the rest of the cr*p in the oven where the Halloween fairy would exchange it for a present. (A tip passed on by another mother, for which I am extremely grateful). So the Minx’s teeth may live to see another year.
Helen, I haven’t yet tasted an American pumpkin (though the Minx ‘made’ pumpkin pie at school the other week and apparently nearly gorged herself sick).
However, if you want good tasting European pumpkin, get the light brown Cinderella-style ones with deep orange flesh. They’re utterly delicious.
And how you can like the abomination that is American candy is beyond me. They must put something in Hershey bars to make them taste so actively nasty.
And how you can like the abomination that is American candy is beyond me. They must put something in Hershey bars to make them taste so actively nasty.
The secret is to buy crappy and cheap cocoa beans, and burn them in the roasting process. Bleck.
The in-laws are in town and the internet has been down (something about the laptop my father-in-law brings kills my router every time), so I’m late to the party. But I love the post. You got some simply lovely pictures.
A budget is just a method of worrying before you spend money, as well
as afterward.
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