Halloween 2011: A Pictorial

We started the night with Guacamoldy and Chips.

The dinner menu included Monster Meatloaf and the ever-popular Mummy Hot Dogs:

The costumes were put on. I never got a good shot of Zoe as a Bumble Bee. I think this is the best one:

Trick-or-Treating and Halloween Decoration Admiring began promptly at 6:30.  This was the best jack-o-lantern.



















Finally the nigth was topped off with Tombcakes (because yes, in addition to candy, you need dessert).

Halloween Costumes Update

So we went to the party store to look at costumes.  (I always feel guilty just buying costumes since I, of all people, former costume designer, should really make her costumes, but I can't do everything.)  The costume we went looking for was that of Mixed Martial Arts fighter.  I didn't have much hope, but I did think we could find a boxer's costume or some accessories that we could use.  The closest thing available was this:

But I think this might be a little too, um, sexy for a 9 year-old.  

There were a lot of other great costume ideas at the party store.  I made a ton of suggestions.  All of them were shot down.  Including this Athena costume which I thought we could easily turn into an Artemis costume:

But Zoe wanted no part of it.  She's convinced no one will know who she is supposed to be if she wears it and I think she despises the idea of wearing a dress.  Sigh.

Somehow Zoe was ultimately taken in by a set of bumble bee wings and so that is her costume, bumble bee.  It is kind of disappointing in a way that doesn't make sense.  I mean, it is her costume so she should be happy with it and that should be enough for me, right?  Yeah, right.

I'm still thinking of ordering the Athena costume, just in case she changes her mind.  Sigh.

Halloween 2010

Halloween was lots of fun at our house this year. There were costumes, decorations, good company, good food and candy. What more could you really want out of a holiday?

It took Zoe weeks of agonizing and pouring over catalogs to decide on a homemade vampire bat costume. I was more than happy to help her and I think it turned out spooky if not entirely bat-like.



I had some fun with the cooking of dinner and went for another Halloween themed meal including monster meat loaf, hot dog mummies, cheesy brains (cauliflower casserole) and this, my personal favorite, Ghoulcamole and chips. I stole the idea from Martha Stewart to cut tortillas out with cookie cutters and bake them. They not only looked good, they tasted really good.



Rob, in all the years that we have been together has never once dressed in a costume for Halloween. Although if you ask me, he sometimes wears costumes in his daily life -- there's the gas station attendant look (dirty sweatshirt and dirty jeans), the college boy look (clean sweatshirt, shorts in winter, and baseball cap) and the car salesman look (nice shirt, nice tie, comfortable shoes). Zoe was desperate for Rob to dress up this year and she kept pestering him about it and he kept saying no so no one was more surprised than me when he appeared in the outfit pictured below which he claims is a poacher. I think it is a little more like scary militia guys, but either way it made Zoe very happy. (I came dressed in my usual costume.)



And how could the night be complete without dessert. You would think the candy would be enough, but I couldn't resist making these ghost cupcakes.

Halloween Menu

Because Halloween fell on a Saturday this year, I decided to make a little party out of it. I invited my brother's family and Rob's brother's family. In years past I would have ordered pizza for an occasion like this, but since I have been cooking lately I felt that I could tackle cooking up a Halloween feast -- or at least something that passed for dinner. Worst case, a heavy dose of candy would make everyone happy in the end.

I based the meal around a chicken dish of my own invention and then pieced it together from there with a focus on kid-friendly-ness. The official menu was this:

Cereal Killer Chicken (cereal crusted chicken tenderloins)
Baked Cheesy Brains
Mummy Dogs
Witches Fingers (bread sticks)
Blood Red Wine
Pumpkin Cake (not pumpkin flavored, but shaped like one)

Zoe was my sous chef and she even created this menu:



I think the food was a success. Everyone seemed to enjoy it so I was really pleased. Of course that was all just to fill time before the real event -- trick-or-treating! Bags of candy were procured and there were belly-aches for all. And how could I not post a picture of Zoe in her costume...

Halloween Meme II

I was tagged by the Queen herself!

Rules:

1. Answer the questions on your own blog. -- Will do!

2. Tag 13 others to answer the questions on their blogs and link to them. -- Probably won't do since The Queen already tagged everyone! I'll just leave it at this -- if you want to do this meme, go for it!

And here we go...

1). Which urban legend ghost scared the bejeezus out of you when you were a kid?
The one about the guy who had the dog that would lick his hand at night and then one morning he woke up to discover his dog was dead and written in blood was "humans can lick too." This was one of the most popular campfire stories at my sleepaway camp. Not much sleep for me on the nights that story was told.

2). Which horror movie has the best premise?
The Birds or really any Alfred Hitchcock movie.

3). What is the most disappointing "treat" to receive in your bag on Halloween night?
It has to be an apple. Second to the apple is the little box of raisins. I mean really.

4). What's the best non-candy item to receive?
Bouncy balls. They were big in my neighborhood when I was a kid.

5). Did a monster live in your closet when you were a child?
Nope. The monster lived in the basement of course.

6). Which supernatural creature sent chills up your spine when you were ten and still does?
The headless horseman. I know it sounds silly, but that just creeps me right out.

7). Which supernatural creature makes you yawn?
The Mummy. What is he really going to do? He's held together with medical tape! The new Mummy movies have not had any improved impact.

8). What's your favorite Halloween decoration?
Jack-o-lanterns. I love to see people get creative with the carving. I still haven't carved my pumpkins, but hopefully I will get to do it this year.

9). If you could be anywhere on Halloween night, where would you be?
Right where I'm going to be. Home and then trick-or-treating with Zoe and my nieces and nephew. Halloween is a kids' holiday to me. I love celebrating with them.

10). What's the scariest book you've read so far this year?
I don't like scary books so the only thing that comes close this year is 1984.

11). Haunted houses or haunted hayrides?
Haunted houses. I feel too trapped on the hayrides.

12). Which Stephen King novel/movie would you least like to find yourself trapped in?
Misery. That was scary, scary, SCARY to me.

13). Which are creepiest: evil dolls, evil pets, or evil children?
Evil dolls -- especially clowns.

Halloween -- a pictorial history

It's that time of year...leaves changing, pumpkins, and of course, Halloween. One of the favorite holidays in our house. What could be better than costumes and candy?

Zoe keeps asking me what she was for Halloween at every age. I wasn't sure I remembered everything so I went back and consulted my photos.

Here's the full history:

2002 First Halloween -- she had two costumes this year because really, is one enough?



She only lasted about 15 minutes in the Hershey kiss costume before breaking down into hysterical sobs, but the cow costume was worn until it didn't fit anymore.


2003 -- The First Flight of the Bumblebee
Also the first time trick-or-treating.


2004 -- The Bumblebee flies again.
The costume still fit so why not?

Next to Zoe is my niece -- that was her first Halloween.



2005 -- The Year of the Witch

This was the first year she chose her own costume. She had to have that witch hat.

2006 -- The Year of the Princesses


2007 -- Argh!
This was the only moment she was actually wearing all the pieces of this costume.

2008 -- A Friend of the Devil

I just realized that I've probably posted most of these photos over the years, but it is fun to look at them all together. I am looking forward to seeing her in this year's costume. I won't give it away so I have something to post on 11/1.

Looking devilish

IMG_1243, originally uploaded by Marcyjill.

Here's Zoe all dressed up for Halloween and doing her best to look evil.

Halloween was 24 hours of celebrating this year -- starting with the parade and party at school Friday afternoon and finishing up at a party at my sister-in-law's house on Saturday afternoon. Enough candy has been consumed to make all 5 dentists scream and the tatoos will hopefully be gone by Thanksgiving.

More pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcyjill/sets/72157608599581590/

Happy Halloween, argh!

Halloween Strategery

The other night Zoë asked me if she and her two cousins could eat dinner after trick-or-treating on Halloween night this year. Traditionally the cousins come over with their parents (my brother and sister-in-law) and we all have dinner together before hitting the streets trolling for candy. Her argument was that it would be better for her younger cousins to go out earlier and then there would be plenty of time for dinner and they could still get to bed on time.

"Do you think I was born yesterday?" I asked her.

My brother is convinced she will grow up to be a lawyer or politician -- maybe both.

Happy Halloween!

Costume craziness

Every year without fail Zoë has a last minute change of heart when it comes to what she wants to be for Halloween. Not inlcuding the first one when she couldn't talk or walk -- ah the good old days! It doesn't matter if she picked out the costume herself or if I bought it for her. She did not disappoint this year.

This past Spring we took her to the huge Toys R Us in Times Square. She had received a $50 gift card for her birthday and we were there to spend it. Among other things, she picked out a Snow White dress and declared that she would wear it for Halloween, despite the fact that Halloween was 6 months away. I wasn't counting on her sticking with being Snow White and when the first costume catalogs began to arrive I asked her if wanted to look through them to pick out a costume. She insisted she was going to be Snow White.

Finally, about a month ago, I gave up and decided she absolutely would be Snow White. And then this past weekend it happened.

"Mom, I changed my mind. I don't want to be Snow White. I want to be a cheerleader," she whined to me.

I know what Party City is like in the weeks before Halloween and I didn't want to experience it again this year so I firmly put my foot down and told her it was too late to change her mind. "Besides, Snow White is way cooler than a cheerleader," I added to my firm "absolutely not."

She seems to have accepted that she is stuck with Snow White. Quite a nice Snow White costume, I should add.