HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!!

We are having a great Halloween! The boys dressed up as super heroes - adorable! Brandon was Batman and Ryan was Superman. Their school did all the traditional Halloween activities...trick or treating, games, pumpkin carving, costume parade, and lots of food! All the little kids were SO adorable! I made spider deviled eggs and pumpkin glazed brownies for Ryan's classroom luncheon. Moms kept asking me what kind of food they should bring for Halloween...? Uh, good food? haha All I could tell them is that I can't get through Halloween without eating deviled eggs...c'mon...that's a given! And, of course, they had no idea what deviled eggs were. So, I brought some. Also, I bought our ayi a package of Reeses PB cups and carved little pumpkin faces on them while she watched...she got SUCH a kick out of it! I realized what a GREAT and simple potluck dish that would make...put a whole bunch of Reeses PB cups carved like pumpkins on a plate! *NOTE: I only carved the chocolate away from the PB of the cup. If you try and carve deeper...it falls apart. But since the PB is kind of orange and the chocolate is kind of black/brown...it totally works!


For all the Halloween "events" we are attending this year, I have been busy in the kitchen baking and cooking. I made chocolate chip muffins and whipped up an appetizer for the potluck in Puxi. I also carved the Reeses for ayi, whipped up some deviled eggs and baked two big brownie circles for the pumpkin shaped brownies, as well as threw together a confection glaze for the brownies and colored the glaze orange with food coloring. Not to mention decorating the pumpkin brownies with M&M's for the face(s). Since our ayi cooks both lunch and dinner for us 6 days a week, I really think she figured I couldn't find my way through the kitchen with two hands, a map and a flashlight. I think she was a little startled when I threw everything together in an afternoon. haha

I was asked to carve a pumpkin for Ryan's class...which turned into an event in the dance hall with a couple of different classes - yikes! The kids got a kick out of it. Only a few of the kids were willing to come up and put their hand in the gooey mess. hee hee But, they really liked watching the eyes, nose and mouth pop out of the pumpkin as it was being carved. Both, kids and parents alike, ooohhed and aaahhhed when it was time to put the candle in the pumpkin and turn off the lights. It was pretty cool...they all clapped. :) After the lights came back on, the kids and parents kept coming up to the pumpkins and peering inside the holes to see the candle. The parents went picture crazy...taking pics of their kids next to the pumpkins on the table. It was neat.


Yes, there is a plural aftter pumpkin. We carved two. I had picked a couple of pumpkins out for us and my friends at the local market near our house. Many other veteran mamas mentioned that the pumpkins sold here around Halloween are a bit different than the US. They are big, squat and very THICK! With this in mind, I chose pumpkins that were a little smaller, but had a good space for carving and hopefully had a thinner skin to carve. My friends had no idea how to choose a pumpkin and asked if I would pick out some good ones for them. Each classroom at school got a pumpkin picked for them. At the last minute, I ended up bringing the one I had picked out for our home. GOOD THING! I asked for a volunteer and gave the [hopefully] thinner skinned pumpkin to the novice to carve in front of the classes. GOOD THING I DID! My friend, Christine, volunteered and she was able to carve the smaller one without too much difficulty and with only a few instructions from me. I, on the other hand, chose to carve the bigger pumpkin. OMG! It was so thick, I had a very hard time carving it! I'm so glad I wasn't the only one up there carving a pumpkin. Mine took twice as long and the end result was...shall we say...more than a little pathetic. hahaha I stood up there, trying to explain how to carve a pumpkin to all these International moms and I couldn't even stick the knife in the pumpkin all the way! Too funny! Do as I say...not as I do! It was a good thing Christine was able to carve hers diligently since we had a room full of 2 year olds with attention spans of gnats! haha Seriously...my pumpkin looked like one of the two year olds carved it. hahaha So much for instruction! My knife got so stuck, I thought I would be presenting a pumpkin on a stick to everyone! And I was sweating profusely by the time I finished! Sheesh!

After all the partying and eating was finished at school, we went home for naps. The kids had to rest because we then picked up Daddy from work and proceeded to drive to the Puxi side for a haunted house potluck and more trick or treating! It was a lot of fun. It was madatory that EVERYONE be dressed up...even Daddy's. Since the pickings are slim here for adult costumes...Allen went as a long haired devil with cape and pitchfork and I had a purple wig with a mask. Pretty lame. haha However, I really enjoyed the fact that we were trick or treating ON Halloween, at night, with lots of other little kids. The compound we were visiting had their security guards put lighted devil horns on and they had a table set up for bobbing for apples. Remember that? I remember when I was a kid...we used to do that every Halloween. However, as an adult...you realize how disgusting bobbing for apples is from a vat of apples other people have dipped their heads into. Yuk! haha I'm glad to report that this table was very sanitary. They had individual plastic bowls that they did NOT re-use...they just kept grabbing plastic bowls from their pile, poured water into them and put an apples in each one. MUCH better! haha Anyway, the compound also had many happy and spooky residents who joined in the Halloween fun! The house where the party was had their garage turned into a haunted house and everyone brought delicious food for the potluck.

We have also been invited to join our friends at Season's Villas (one of the primary expat communities) here in Pudong TOMORROW, November 1st, for their Halloween clubhouse party and trick or treating. Our ayi has opted to come along for the fun as well. I have no doubt we will all be Halloweened out by the time we are finished tomorrow night! But, at least the boys are getting a TON of use out of their costumes this year! haha

We are thinking of our loved ones back home and wishing all of you a very safe and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!