I’ve lived in New England my entire life and what it takes outsiders a long time to realize is that Mother Nature is fickle. She will decide to be a sunny, 70 degrees one day and then two days before Halloween, she will drop two feet of snow! This is no Halloween trick. Yesterday, parts of Massachusetts received two feet of snow and a lot of people will be without electricity for days.
Luckily, I live near the coast and we only got 3 inches. This might sound like a lot to somebody who lives further south, but here it’s like a quick rain storm. Our Halloween will go on as scheduled, even if we have to add on an extra layer under our costumes.
My favorite part of Halloween is the caramel apples. I look forward to them every year. My sister and I were out a few weekends ago doing our weekly food shopping and we stopped by Mann’s Orchard in Methuen, MA. They had homemade caramel apples that were melt in your mouth unbelievable. The caramel was a thick, lustrous, sweet sensation and when paired up with that fresh tart apple taste, it was out of this world. I wanted to immediately eat every one of them in that display case! The trick is to make your own caramel. The store bought, canned caramel never measures up to that fresh, homemade caramel taste.
I’m not a huge fan of Halloween candy. When you look at the options on the shelf, you realize it’s just the regular candy you buy year round but with a fun Halloween theme on its package. Christmas has multi-flavored candy canes, Easter has jelly beans, and Valentine’s Day has cinnamon hearts that burn your tongue and make your mouth water.
Halloween in the harvest season also means that pumpkin is available on every food and beverage menu. Pumpkin coffee, martinis, muffins and donuts, are just a few delicious treats that are only out this time of year. Pumpkin seeds on the other hand, are available year round in the grocery store or at Trader Joes. I love the ones from Trader Joes because they are lightly salted, so it doesn’t taste like you’re chomping down on a salt lick. If you wanted to really get in the spirit of Halloween you could buy a really large pumpkin, carve out the seeds, and roast them in your oven. The smell of roasting pumpkin seeds fills the entire house. My grandmother used to take the pumpkin innards and make a fresh puree which she would use in her famous pumpkin cookies. The fall is not the fall without my grandmothers 12 dozen pumpkin cookie recipe.
Growing up I dressed up as a witch every year. My family kept trying to get me to come up with something new, but I really liked putting on that pointy black hat and cackling at them. Now as an adult I do try to come up with something clever or at least interesting. This year I went for comfortable! I’m dressing up as Dr. Meredith Grey from Grey’s Anatomy, which consists of hospital scrubs I bought at Walmart, sneakers, and I printed out a picture of Ellen Pompeo dressed as her Dr. Meredith Gray character to put on my work badge. I’m looking forward to spending my Halloween Monday in those comfortable scrubs and sneakers.
Sarah Jenkins
Pumpkins for everyone!
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