Halloween Experts

There are chocolate bunnies at Easter, and candy hearts for Valentine’s Day, but there is no candy more closely associated with a holiday than candy corn and Halloween. This delightful confection was first invented in the 1880′s, and was an immediate hit. Farmers, especially, seemed to be fond of the kernel-shaped candy. Today, nearly 8.3 BILLION pieces of candy corn are produced each year, and most are sold between September and November. We thought it might be fun to try making our own version of this Halloween treat, so, here is the recipe and instructions.

Ingredients and Utensils

1/4 cup white cane sugar, not powdered
2 tbsp light corn syrup
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp butter
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
5/8 cup powdered sugar.
1/16 tsp salt- just fill up an 1/8 tsp halfway
1 tbsp powdered milk
food colours: red and yellow for traditionnal candy corn, or any colours you like.

Note on Ingredients:

If you do not have a candy thermometer, get one. A regular thermometer doesn’t work at 250F and drop testing the sugar tends to be rather imprecise.
The powdered sugar needs to be powdered, not granulated. If it isn’t, you will have a large, delicious, but sticky, mess.
The salt can be omitted, as it has a minimal effect on the taste.
You MUST use powdered milk, not liquid.
This recipe may be doubled without affecting the consistency of the finished product.

Directions

Following these steps correctly will determine whether you will have a soft, honey-and-milk candy or a solid mass that is impossible to cut.

First: Make sure there is enough water in the botton of the pot to cover it entirely. Without some water, your sugar will burn.

Then: Measure your cane sugar, corn syrup, honey, butter, and vanilla into the pot.
For measuring the butter, the paper wrapping should have tablespoons marked on it, so cut it there, or just scoop it with the spoon.
Now that all your ingredients are together, stir them together a bit. This should result in a bit of a slush. Clip on the candy thermometer and put it on the stove.

Next: Cook over medium-high heat. The slush will become liquid quickly, so stir frequently and check the temperature constantly. If you smell burning or see any darker colouring, turn the heat down, stir a whole lot, and hope the sugar’s still fine. The mixture will bubble a lot. This is normal. The color should be a very light caramel.

It takes about 3 minutes for the sugar to reach 250F, but dont’t rely on the time. Watch the thermometer closely as the temperature rises. As soon as it reaches 250F (not 250C) turn the stove off.

Making dough

Using a flour sifter, sift the following ingredients into your sugar mixture:
1tbsp powdered milk
1/2 cup + 2tbsp powdered sugar
pinch of salt

Stir until you have an even consistency without clumps. You will have a pale caramel dough.

Pour about 1/4 cup powdered sugar into a bowl. With a wooden spoon, scrape the dough off the pot and into the bowl. coat the top of the dough with a thin layer of powdered sugar. If the dough isn’t burning to the touch, knead it until it is firm enough to form into balls, one for each color you want to use for your candy corn.

Coloring and rolling

Poke a hole in each ball and squeeze a few drops ( 3 or 4) into the hole. Now, knead the dough until the colouring is evenly distributed ( or nicely marbled.) You may want to use plastic gloves to avoid coloring your hands as well.

Once you have your colored balls of dough, start rolling them out in your hands until you have a long rope of candy. Lay the 3 colored ropes together in whatever order you want, and push them together until they stick to each other. Stretch and flatten the rope until it is about an inch wide and about 1/2 inch thick.

Cutting and Finishing

Cutting the ropes into candy-corn sized pieces with a medium, non-serrated knife.
Every other piece will have a white tip. If you want them all to have white tips, experiment with a bull’s eye formation for cutting (small circle of white, surrounded by ropes of orange and yellow). To ensure that it won’t stick to the sheet, move the pieces around on the sheet. Let them sit there overnight to lose a bit of moisture and harden a bit.

Congratulations!
You now have homemade candy corn! You will find that you have produced a softer candy than what is commercially available, but the fresh taste will more than make up for the difference.

It’s summer here in the U.S., but we like to keep our Halloween skills sharp. We’d really like to try out some new pumpkin carving techniques that we’ve seen, but pumpkins aren’t in season. Then, we remembered a summer cookout we attended some years ago, where they used a carved watermelon lantern as a centerpiece. This lantern was carved with a tropical scene; palm trees and a setting sun, and as the day lengthened into evening, it provided a welcoming glow to the party.

That memory got us thinking about what other kinds of fruit and vegetable carving might be possible, and so we began looking around for ideas. Here are some of the wonderful, amazing and, wow, sometimes unbelievable ideas that we found!

Watermelon seems to be a good alternative to pumpkin carving. They have roughly the same kind of anatomy: sturdy skin, thick rind and soft, scoopable “guts”. The great part of carving watermelon, is that the inside is edible, while a pumpkin’s is not. We found a lot of great ideas for watermelon carving, from simple to very intricate.

Just as in pumpkin carving, the skin of the watermelon can be cut away entirely, pierced, or removed in layers. In this example, cutting through the green rind to expose the red meat of the melon, makes a striking contrast. The addition of the carrot beak and olive eyes, attached with toothpicks, complete the look of this fruit sculpture. We think this would be a delightful centerpiece for a summer graduation party!

We can only imagine the time and planning that went into this incredible carving. It might not be for beginners like us, but it’s so beautiful, we just had to include it to show you the possibilities. Our research indicates that you should start small, so we will be practicing on potatoes until we are good enough to attempt something of this magnitude! We are certainly looking at watermelon in new and exciting ways!

Melons aren’t the only thing we want to try carving! When we were young, we remember visiting an antique store, where we found the most wonderful doll. It was an old woman with a shawl, and her face was so perfectly wrinkled, and almost leathery. The store owner told us that she was a dried apple doll. We did the research at the time, learning how to carve and dry the apples to make the “shrunken heads” that can be hung and used as eerie decorations at Halloween, as well as the basis for these homemade art dolls. Unfortunately, we had many interests at the time, and our plans for an army of shrunken apple heads got lost in the shuffle. These images might be just what it takes to get us back on that track! These to require patience, however, since the apples can take 4-6 weeks to dry completely.

There’s not a lot of carving involved in making this flock of sheep from cauliflowerr florets, olives and black-eyed peas for the eyes. We haven’t been able to figure out what the legs are made of yet, so please, if you have any ideas, let us know! We do know that these are excellent after school snacks, served with a little dip. The kids love to make them, too!

There are hundreds of ideas out there for fruit and vegetable carving! So, if you are like us, and need to keep your Halloween skills up to snuff, or if you’re just feeling a need to be artistic with produce, check around the internet for more wonderful and whacky ideas for carved fruits and vegetables. We have to leave you with one final watermelon carving, because it is PERFECT for Halloween and you know, that is our passion. Ladies and Gentlemen, and Zombies of all ages, we give you…the watermelon BRAIN!!!!

Ask any paranormal enthusiasts their opinions of the most haunted city in America, and the answer will be a resounding “New Orleans!” Originally claimed for France by explorers in 1682, the city of La Nouvelle Orleans was established between Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi River in 1718. The colonists who settled the city were French, French Canadian, German, Spanish, Creole, the buckskin-clad frontiersmen from upriver, called the “Kaintocks”, slaves and free people of color. A busy port city, it was frequented by Caribbean pirates and adventurers. It grew up to be the city steeped in legends of witchcraft, voodoo and occult mysteries.

The city currently hosts a number of haunted tours. Depending on your interest, you can visit the cemeteries, which are particularly eerie. These old graveyards feature above ground burials, small mausoleums and crypts which give the impression of walking through the cities of the dead. According to legend, many of the cemeteries are hubs of paranormal activity. These same tours will escort you to places of interest in the legends of Voodoo in New Orleans. If neither of these interest you, Ghost and Vampire tours are also offered. The latter became wildly popular after New Orleans resident, Anne Rice, set many of her Vampire novels in the city.

A few of the many ghosts that you might encounter on your visit, include:

The Naked Ghost, who is, allegedly, the spirit of a young slave girl who fell in love with her master. In an effort to convince him to marry her, she went, naked, to the roof of his house and froze to death during the long, cold night.

Marguerite, the Ghost of the French Opera House, who was an aging Madam who lived near the Opera House. When her young lover was unfaithful, she killed herself, but swore revenge from beyond the grave. For over 100 years, her spirit, white haired and sobbing, is said to walk from the Opera House to the boarding house where the murders of her lover and his lady friend occurred.

The LaLaurie ghosts, in the French Quarter, are purportedly the spirits of Madame LaLaurie, and her household slaves, whom she tortured, some say, to death.

The infamous Marie Leveau, Voodoo Queen of New Orleans

Official Halloween activities in New Orleans include a huge, Mardi Gras-like parade, a Haunted Fun House, and Monster Bash costumed ball. Additionally, a special Halloween event called the Endless Night is held in New Orleans for the Lazarus Project, a fund raising effort for AIDS research.

Whether you are planning a Halloween party, or providing entertainment for your neighborhood trick or treaters, the holiday would not be complete without a haunted house. Providing a scary place with surprises around every corner will attract more kids than a bag of goodies you could hand out. There are a few things to consider when planning your haunted space, and we have listed some here, along with suggestions on how to achieve spooky on a budget!

Choose a theme. This should include consideration of the age of the children who will be touring your haunted space. Younger children may be frightened of some effects that will delight older children. There are three kinds of haunted house attractions to include: the kind that startle, the kind that set a scary atmosphere, and the kind that just gross everyone out. The path should include many sharp turns, and your attractions should be positioned just around the corners for maximum effect.

Fences, porch and large trees in the backyard will supply the base for the walls for your haunted space. Sturdy clothesline can be strung between the house and these elements, with poles for support every six feet. Old sheets, pinned to the clothesline, that reach to the ground will make great corridors. You can purchase these at second hand stores very inexpensively. The sheets can be spray painted in dark, spooky colors and patterns, to add to the atmosphere. Provide lighting by using strings of Halloween lights, usually available in purple and orange, to cast an eerie glow. Black lights and strobe lights will also help set the mood, and still give enough light to safely navigate your haunted maze. Make sure that you include an open area, partway through, both as a feature, and to provide an “escape” for kids who might become too frightened to continue. This open area is the perfect place to build your haunted graveyard. Using plastic headstones and body-sized patches of potting soil, make “fresh” graves. Use plenty of fake spider webs on all your outdoor elements to add to the creepiness.

Scary props can be purchased, rented, or homemade. Stuff clothing to make dead bodies. Stuff a cloth bag to make a head and add a scary mask for personality. Alternate these with the occasional volunteer, dressed as zombies or vampires, who can reach out and startle your visitors. Use Halloween sound effects, or music CD’s to add to the mood. A well-placed fog machine will help create that perfect haunted atmosphere, and will also disguise some of the normal, everyday things that might remind your guests that they are just in your backyard, not the haunted grounds of Dracula’s castle.

Some things to remember:

1. Encourage visitors to stay on the marked path, both for safety and to keep them from pulling down your walls & props.

2. If using dry ice, instead of a fog machine, make sure it is only handled by adults, since exposure to skin can cause injury.

3. Have volunteers positioned along the path who can help children “escape” if they become too frightened to continue.

4. Place old pieces of carpet over extension cords, to prevent tripping.

5. Remember to keep your scary scenes dimly lit to add to the fright.

6. If using jack o’lanterns as decorations or lighting, use battery operated lighting in them, to reduce the chance of a fire hazard.