Hallow'een Friday 6

The lovely Singing Owl posts:
"All Hallows Eve (Halloween) is near. As a child, Halloween was one of my favorite holidays. We didn’t yet worry about razor blades in apples or popcorn balls or some of the other concerns people have with Halloween these days. Halloween was a chance to be mildly scared, and better yet, to dress up and pretend to be something we really weren’t. Let’s talk about that a bit, but then let’s add in some food ideas for this year. Where I live the leaves are falling, the temperature is chilly and pumpkins are for sale everywhere, along with many kids of apples. What's more, the "Holiday Season" will soon be upon us. ACK! I could use a new idea for dessert. So, here we go…"

1. How did you celebrate this time of year when you were a child? My mom and the two oldest sibs would help me and my youngest brother choose or create a costume, and take us out to roam great distances throughout the neighborhood. The parents would then sort through the bag and throw out the things about which they were nervous, and then dole out what we collected appropriately.

2. Do you and/or your family “celebrate” Halloween? Why or why not? And if you do, has it changed from what you used to do? DH and I usually purchase candy, and welcome trick or treaters. We often go to costume parties if there is one available, which DH really gets into. The last one we went to at her nephew's, we went as Spartans [as in MSU Spartans] complete with facial hair and appropriate armor. The most elaborate costume DH ever created consisted of numerous pull tabs [remember those?] from beer and soda cans, collected for nearly a year, and joined together to create chain mail for "Sir Laughs-a-lot".

2. Candy apples: Do you prefer red cinnamon or caramel covered? Or something else? 5+ plus years of braces in my youth kind of turned me off from caramel apples and chewing gum. But apple slices dipped in peanut butter rock.

3. Pumpkins: Do you make Jack O’ Lanterns? Any ideas of what else to do with them? Not usually ... although it has been such a good year for pumpkins and they are so pretty that I might just carve one this year. And roast the seeds.

4. Do you decorate your home for fall or Halloween? If so, what do you do? Bonus points for pictures. We have lots of maple and oak trees in our yard, so we leave the autumn decor up to Mother Nature.

5. Do you like pretending to be something different? Does a costume bring our an alternate personality? Yes and yes ...

Bonus: Share your favorite recipe for an autumn food, particularly apple or pumpkin ones. I'm feeling bone dry in the recipe department ... because my creative energies are being directed elsewhere. See previous post!