Halloween must be a very confusing time for children in particular and especially so this year with a renewed onslaught by commercial interests to use the revenue from spooky related items as another attempt to jump start flagging Corporate trading figures. Tesco and Asda have been frightful. Lidl and Aldi have not been slow either.
I expect any moment now a directive from the ruling party that those failing to purchase flashing deelyboppers, plasticky face masks and fang shaped jelly sweets may risk having their benefit docked. It is after all patriotic to take part in Halloween.
My local Tesco Express has been stocking everything scary for weeks. I use the term scary to describe the ultra high sugar and chemical preservative content of the cocktail of things found in a typical goody bag. The season presents an ideal opportunity for sweet manufacturers to offload their poorest selling lines by simply bagging them up as vampire snacks, witches vittels, frankensteins chewies or werewolf off-cuts.
I will however purchase a large bag of miniature chocolate bars to keep by the front door in the event of callers . There has been disappointment on my part from a very poor take up of such treats in the last couple of years. It is important to make an effort as any perceived lack of enthusiasm will surely result in an egging attack on the front of the house on the forthcoming mischief night. Some local traders have been leafleted by the Police to deter them from selling eggs and flour to those intent on mayhem. Of course those with dreams of cake baking success will be very disappointed with this ban.
Pumpkins, a poor mans savoury melon, have had a major resurgence. My daughter, Alice found a real pumpkin patch just outside York and indulged in a late season Pick Your Own. I have never come across that before. The celebrity cooks are thinking up wonderful treats involving members of the gourd and squash families. In previous years I have struggled to buy a pumpkin in the days approaching All Hallows but this years seems to have been a bumper crop. Either that or it is that more growers are active and flooding the market.
I thought the recipe for a fleshy pumpkin soup, infused with ginger and sherry was interesting. I followed the process faithfully.
Hand scoop out and dispose of the seeds. Wash hands,optional, then claw out the insides setting aside in a heavy metal skillet. On low heat cook the flesh with butter. Add 1 pint of chicken stock, stir in previously prepared cooked onion and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Find at the bottom of the food cupboard a brittle stick of cinnamon devoid of any flavour. Empty all or any Schwarz herb or spice jars from the top of the food cupboard. Drain those old bottles of spirits after retrieving them from the sideboard. Boil down the mixture to a firmish but not stiff texture. Remove from the heat. Use a hand blender to produce a smooth mix.
The crowning glory of the recipe is in its serving inside the shell. Unfortunately, my son had, during my cooking endeavours, cut out two eyes, a cartilage free nose hole and a wide toothy grin. My eagerness to serve up the soup was dashed by the sight of the rich, orangey and creamy mixture extruding out of the orifices of the pumpkin and all over the kitchen to a combination of morbid amusement and horror of the hungry onlookers.
The whole effect was very dramatic and in some way I may have implied that the whole performance had been intentional as part of the evenings entertainment.
For Halloween tea we ended up eating '1000 year old zombie eggs in blood on an upturned rustic gravestone'. Apparently, they are available in 57 varieties.
As for the very sinister clown lurking about in the bushes............................that is something new.
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