Aaron Family Blog: Halloween and beyond

We had a lot of fun with Halloween costumes this year! We ended up making two (Elizabeth's Sherlock and Rachel's Little Bo Peep), borrowing two (Emma's indian and Matthew's doctor), and using one we already had (Joshua wore Matthew's old dragon costume from Kindergarten).

For Elizabeth's detective costume, I found an online pattern on Martha Stewart that of course ended up being much harder than it looked, but it turned out! Elizabeth helped trace and cut it out, and I learned a lot about bias tape :0) I thought it was really clever how the hat was made of one black baseball cap glued inside another, facing the opposite direction. It even has matching side flaps tied up on top.

Last year after Halloween, I thought how cute Rachel would look as Little Bo Peep. I found some inspiration on Pinterest, then hit the fabric stores for a pattern. The only pattern I found was pretty complex, so I ended up using a dress she already had and making the staff, lacy pants, apron, and bonnet to go with it. This costume definitely took the most time, but I was thrilled when it turned out! I learned a lot about sewing from the mistakes I made as I went. I never learned much about sewing growing up, and but don't want to let that stop me from learning. The pattern called for lots more of the eyelet trim, but it was something like $2 a yard! So I cut way back on the amount of trim, but it was still very cute and girly. For the staff, I found a $2 plastic Christmas candy cane decoration at Home Depot and hot glued white ribbon over it.

Emma borrowed the Indian costume from one of her friends. Score!

At the school Halloween Parade:

We always have a traditional Halloween dinner of Scarecrow Chili, Frightful Fingers with Swamp Dip, and Boo Beverage. The kids know they have to eat dinner before going trick-or-treating! Here are the recipes:

Frightful Fingers

We make these with Swamp Dip every Halloween.

1 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese

1 tsp. Italian-herb seasoning

½ tsp. paprika

11 oz. pkg. refrigerated breadstick dough

4 Tbsp. melted butter

1 beaten egg

1/3 cup sliced almonds

Heat oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl, combine Parmesan cheese, Italian-herb seasoning, and paprika. Unroll breadstick dough and cut each rectangle in half lengthwise, then slice each half crosswise into 4 equal strips. Cut a small triangle from each side of one end of breadstick strips to taper it into a fingertip. Roll in melted butter and sprinkle with herb mixture. Cut two 1/8”-deep slices crosswise into each finger to make a knuckle. Place 1” apart on ungreased baking sheet. Brush tapered end with beaten egg and place an almond slice on it to make a fingernail. Bake 8-10 minutes, or until golden brown. Yield: about 48 fingers.

Swamp Dip

1 pint (2 cups) sour cream

1 (1 oz.) pkg. ranch dip mix

Green food coloring

½ a 10 oz. pkg. frozen chopped spinach (defrost and squeeze dry)

In a medium bowl, combine sour cream, ranch dip mix, 6 drops green food coloring, and spinach. Refrigerate at least 1 hour to let flavors blend. Yield: 2 cups.

Boo Beverage

2 cups orange juice

2 cups milk

2 pints orange sherbet

4 medium ripe bananas

2 cups whipped topping

18 miniature chocolate chips

In four batches, process the orange juice, milk, sherbet and bananas in a blender until smooth. Pour into glasses. Cut a hole in the corner of a pastry or plastic bag; fill with whipped topping. Pipe a ghost shape on top of each beverage. Position chocolate chips for eyes. Yield: 9 servings.

Scarecrow Chili

1-1/2 pounds ground beef

2 celery ribs, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

green pepper, chopped, opt.

1 can (46 oz.) tomato juice

1 can (28 oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained

1 can (16 oz.) kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 can (10-3/4 oz.) condensed tomato soup, undiluted

½ cup water

1 Tbsp. chili powder

1-2 Tbsp. brown sugar

3 bay leaves

Salt and pepper to taste

2 cups elbow macaroni, cooked and drained

In a Dutch oven, cook the beef, celery and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Add the tomato juice, tomatoes, beans, soup, water, chili powder, brown sugar, bay leaves, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

Stir in macaroni. Cook, uncovered, 5 minutes longer or until heated through. Discard bay leaves before serving. Yield: 16 servings (4 quarts).

Ready to go Trick-or-Treating:

This was a great year for trick-or-treating. I think Elizabeth and Emma went out three times! Matthew decided that instead of trick-or-treating this year since he's 13, he would host a small party with some friends. We had a bunch of goodies and snacks, and he planned some games and ghost story telling on the trampoline with flashlights. When not many people showed up at first, Brent went and rounded up some of the boys from the ward who were out trick-or-treating, and he ended up with a good-sized group for his party.

The view in front on Halloween

Fall colors in the back yard

Cutting up the leftover jack-o-lanterns to cook them, Brent had a little fun making himself a mask

Beautiful Utah Sunsets & Sunrises

Rachel wrote this sweet testimony for FHE and I had to get a picture of it. Here's a translation: "I am thankful for the earth. I like to bear my testimony. I love my family. I want to be a missionary. I wish I were a mom. I love everyone." Love it!