After all, Halloween is fun! At least in my house.
I'm not into scary, give-the-children (or me) nightmares. It's all about the
dressing up, decorations, and "Halloween food."
Past meals have featured: Deadman-Over-Worms
(meatloaf shaped like a gingerbread man with his arms at his side, on a bed of
wheat spaghetti pasta). Bleeding (strawberry puree) Cemetery Cake, Bloody
Fingers (hot-dogs shaped to resemble fingers). My granddaughters are positively
ghoulish with glee while painting on the catsup blood. And, of course, their is
the ever-popular Jell-O mold of the Frankenstein Monster's brain on the dessert
table.
So what is your decoration of choice? Jack o' Lanterns, black cats, witch
hats? š±
Or, perhaps bats (my personal favorites). How did these gentle mammals,
not-counting the vampire bats who do like to snack on hot-blooded livestock,
become associated with the spooky season, anyway?
There are a few different
theories:
They're nocturnal š
Experts say that nocturnal animals are often associated with death and darkness.
"They engage in mysterious activities in the dark and so they have been cloaked
in superstition since ancient times." Stanford University classics scholar
Adrienne Mayor told National Geographic.
And bats are particularly spooky.
"The combination of dark gray, brown, or black shades with cryptic
nighttime habits evoked a sense of awe and fear back in the time when the only
lights at night were oil lamps and wax candles."
And (those poor bats) because they often lived in caves, gave them a
historic "association with the underworld".
They are an in-between kind of animal
Bats are the only flying mammal, and some cultures consider them a 'liminal'
animal--not quite bird, not quite mammal.
Something else liminal? Halloween.
"One of the main themes of Halloween is liminality--the in-between-ness. It's
between one state and another state; between growth and death; between fall and
winter.
Blame Bram Stoker š
It wasn't until Bram Stoker's novel, Dracula, that bats could change at will.
"Dracula" is one of my favorite classic novels, I must confess-- but I'm not
buying the evil reputation heaped upon the bats.
I'll hang my Halloween bat decorations with a smile.
Those little creatures save us
between $3.7 and $54 billion in pest control services every year. They also help
pollinate of 700 plants, including many we love to eat. It's the distorted Jack lantern's
faces and the scarecrows that give me the fright.
Do you have a favorite Halloween tradition?
How about a Autumn or Halloween soup?
I enjoy Pumpkin Soup
After removing the seeds, etc. from the center, I oven-roast my small pumpkin.
I then dice up 1/4 - 1/2 of the vegetable before tossing into my crockpot.
Add roasted and diced diced pumpkin in your crockpot or InstaPot (crockpot setting).
2 cloves of garlic, smashed
1/2 tsp. ginger
2 large yellow onions
(sautƩ in Instapot or in a skillet on the stove top.)
Add 2 cups of chicken stock or water
1 tsp. Cinnamon
1/2 tsp. Nutmeg
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup Heavy cream or milk (me)
2 cups water
Remember adjust the ingredients to the amount of soup
you plan to make.
If you do not have a pumpkin you may substitute 2 - 15 oz. cans of Pumpkin puree
(not pie filling).
Cook on a low setting 6 hours; high setting for 4 hours.
When finished cooking use an immersion blender and blend soup until smooth.
Top with a bit of sour cream and roasted pumpkin seeds (I purchase my packaged.)
Happy Halloween! And the Perfect time to settle with a cup of tea and a good read šµ
Connie
Rodeo Romance:
Native American/First People's Series:
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Interesting take on bats and Halloween. Keep writing
ReplyDeleteThanks for this tidbit. Bats are so cool. Makes me want to decorate for Halloween.
ReplyDelete