Traditions

Since Halloween is on a Sunday this year, we won't be participating in the usual fair of Trick or Treating. We are choosing to obey the Sabbath and to keep it holy. I didn't even buy new Halloween costumes this year. Our 2 year old is too young to complain, but our almost 7 year old son is a bit put off by it and doesn't fully understand why it is he won't be scoring hoards of candy this year. Oh, we'll still carve our Jack-o-lanterns and I still put up my Halloween decorations.

But, we are going to focus on our roots and traditions. Growing up, my family had many Halloween traditions. My mom would make a dinner in a pumpkin - delicious, meaty, cheesy and laced with pimento olives. Also on the table were rolls, jello molds in the shapes of a ghost and pumpkin, a salad (I think) and for dessert - the Chocolate Cream Snow Ghost Pie. Before partaking of this creamy, chocolaty, whipped cream-topped confection, my mom would read the story of why there was a slice missing from it. Ooooo. Scary. Not really. But it was always fun to listen to. In our neighborhood, there was one house that had a cotton candy machine. Now that was cool. You bet there was always a line of trick or treaters waiting for this tower of spun sugar. There he was, every year with his cotton candy. Awesome.

I've grown up. Got married. Got the 2 kids. I've carried my mom's dinner in a pumpkin tradition to my own family. Even got my husband to like the olives ;). The cotton candy man is gone, though. Thankfully, we are having a Trunk or Treat at our church this year on the Friday before Halloween and you can bet there will be a cotton candy machine!

So with Halloween on a Sunday, and being the faithful, obedient Latter-day Saint that I am, I will obey the Sabbath and show my children that we can still have a fun and tradition-filled Halloween without gorging on tons of candy.

So here's where the new traditions start. My husband has Irish roots. Uh, duh. Look at our last name. A few years ago I looked up "Traditional Irish Halloween." I was excited with what I found. I found a few things including a few recipes that I never made. But this is the year! So in addition to my mom's dinner in a pumpkin goulash (that will be eaten earlier in the week), I will be making some Irish Halloween recipes that will be eaten on Halloween Eve.

Colcannon. It literally means "white head." Now don't get grossed out. It's not that kind of white head. It's mashed potatoes, kale, butter, salt, and pepper. Sounds pretty harmless, right? You can also add milk, cream (yum!), leeks (double yum!), onions, chives, or garlic. This is a year-round staple food of the Irish, but at Halloween it's choc full of surprises - literally. It is served with prizes of small coins concealed in it.

Barm Brack. A yeasty bread with raisins, currants, even candied orange and lemon peel and usually made in flattened rounds. Often served toasted with butter along with tea. I've made Irish soda bread before, but this is sweeter than that because of the raisins. Barm Brack is the center of an Irish Halloween custom. The bread traditionally contains various objects baked into the bread and is used as a sort of fortune-telling game. The objects include: a pea, a stick, a piece of cloth, a small coin, and a ring. Each item carries a meaning to the person who gets it in their slice of bread. The pea, the person would not marry that year; the stick, "to beat one's wife with," would have an unhappy marriage or continually be in disputes; the cloth or rag, would have bad luck or be poor; the coin, would enjoy good fortune or be rich; and the ring, would be wed within the year. Okay, I admit a few of these are a little off-putting, but it's just supposed to be for fun. I think I might just put a toy ring in the one I cook. Not too sure about baking all those other things in it.

Can't wait to try all this out and to see how my kids handle staying in this year.