Halloween meals

Fun-sized treats have their place, but why not go beyond the candy corn this year with a sweet or savory recipe that won't scare you away?

Apple bites

These toothsome treats are a fun and healthy break from Halloween sweets.
 

What you'll need

·         Apples

·         Slivered almonds

(If you're not going to serve them right away, baste the apples with orange juice to keep them from browning.)

How to make it

1.  Just quarter and core an apple, cut a wedge from the skin side of each quarter, then press slivered almonds in place for teeth.

Pizza Mummies

Disguises aren't just for Halloween. Surprise your family with these dressed-up, spooky-looking snacks any time of year.

What you'll need

·         English muffins

·         Pizza sauce

·         Black olives

·         Scallions

·         Red or green pepper

·         Cheese sticks or slices

How to make it

1. Heat the oven to 180º C. For each mummy, spread a tablespoon of pizza sauce onto half of an English muffin (toast it first, if you like). Set olive slices in place for eyes and add round slices of green onion or bits of red or green pepper for pupils.

2. Lay strips of cheese across the muffin for the mummy's wrappings.

3. Bake for about 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the muffin is toasty.

Halloween

Halloween is now celebrated across the world on the night of 31st October. Modern day celebrations generally involve groups of children dressed in scary costumes going from house to house, demanding “trick-or-treat”. 

Children ask for treats (chocolates, candies, etc.) on Halloween and threaten to play tricks on those who refuse.

The Origins

It is believed that Halloween originates from a Celtic tradition called Samhain. The dark half of the year was beginning at the night of Oct. 31. The Celts believed the dead returned to Earth and the boundaries of the living and dead were blurred.

In the mid-19th century Irish and other immigrants took Halloween customs to the USA and by 1900 it was a popular festival.

The Jack-o-lantern

Every time we carve a pumpkin head at Halloween, we honour “Stingy Jack.,” but who is he?

Stingy Jack was a miserable, old drunk who loved playing tricks on anyone. One dark, Halloween night, Jack ran into the Devil himself in a local public house (pub). Jack tricked the Devil by offering his soul in exchange for one last drink.

When he died, he was allowed to enter neither heaven nor hell. The Devil gave him an ember from the flames of Hell to help him light his way. Jack placed the ember in a hollowed out turnip, one of his favorite foods which he always carried around with him whenever he could steal one. For that day onward, Stingy Jack roamed the earth without a resting place, lighting his way as he went with his "Jack O'Lantern".

That is why originally, Jack-o-lanterns were made of turnips and potatoes in Ireland, and of beats in England. When the European immigrants came to America, and found the pumpkin they started to make the lanterns of it.