Halloween!

Everyone, meet Jack-O-Lantern!

And here is Jackie-O-Lantern...

And this is Jack, lighted in the dark...

Unfortunately, the holes in the pumpkin are too small to provide enough oxygen for the candle to burn for long periods of time... *sobz!*

(Oh, the pumpkins were carved at the International Centre, where Becky and gals provided the pumpkins, and Phil taught us how to carve them! Thank you soooo much!)

***

Anyway, for those interested in Halloween, here are some short easily-digested bits of information:

It is on 31st October.

1st Nov is known as All Saints Day. And another word for "Saints" in old English is "Hallows". Thus, 31st Oct is actually the eve of "All Hallows Day", which later became what we know as Halloween.

It is believed to have originated from Ireland.

And there is a story how the Jack-O-Lantern came about. (Oh, an Irish lady actually read us this story, so it should be pretty accurate... :) )

The Jack O'Lantern legend goes back hundreds of years in Irish History. As the story goes, Stingy Jack was a miserable, old drunk who liked to play tricks on everyone: family, friends, his mother and even the Devil himself. One day, he tricked the Devil into climbing up an apple tree. Once the Devil climbed up the apple tree, Stingy Jack hurriedly placed crosses around the trunk of the tree. The Devil was then unable to get down the tree. Stingy Jack made the Devil promise him not to take his soul when he died. Once the devil promised not to take his soul, Stingy Jack removed the crosses and let the Devil down.

Many years later, when Jack finally died, he went to the pearly gates of Heaven and was told by Saint Peter that he was too mean and too cruel and had led a miserable and worthless life on earth. He was not allowed to enter heaven. He then went down to Hell and the Devil. The Devil kept his promise and would not allow him to enter Hell. Now Jack was scared and had nowhere to go but to wander about forever in the darkness between heaven and hell. He asked the Devil how he could leave as there was no light. The Devil tossed him an ember from the flames of Hell to help him light his way. Jack placed the ember in a hollowed out Turnip, one of his favorite foods which he always carried around with him whenever he could steal one. For that day onward, Stingy Jack roamed the earth without a resting place, lighting his way as he went with his "Jack O'Lantern".

Ooh, you will notice that Jack's lantern is carved from a turnip. That is because the first Jack-O-Lanterns in Ireland were originally carved from turnips, not pumpkins.

***

Well, our Halloween was quite uneventful. No trick-or-treaters came by. (Coz no one else in our neighbourhood was giving out candy... such a pity) So now we have a whole bowl of Kit-Kats and Hersheys Hugs-And-Kisses to ourselves... now all we need is a bit of discipline...

Oh but I did try to bake a pumpkin pie! Check it out!



This is super easy to make! (No need any heavy machinery or special tools!) I never expected myself to like pumpkin pie, but this is surprisingly good!

And here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
2 large eggs
1 can (15 oz) 100% pure pumpkin puree
1 can (12 fl oz) evaporated milk
1 unbaked 9 inch (4 cup volume) deep-dish shell pie

Mix sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves in small bowl.

Beat eggs in large bowl.

Stir in pumpkin and sugar-spice mixture.

Gradually stir in evaporated milk.

Pour into pie shell.

Bake in preheated 425F oven for 15 min. Reduce temp to 350F, and bake for 40 - 50 min or until knife inserted near center comes out clean.

Cool for 2 hours.

Serve immediately or refrigerate.

Enjoy!!!