Pumpkin Carving Party

You know how irritating it can be when some people sit around and talk about how different things used to be, back in “their” day?  Well, I think today I’m one of those people.  I’ve spent the last few days thinking about Halloween, and I keep reminiscing about how simple it used to be.

Take costumes, for example.  When I was really young, Mom would buy one of those cheap but readily available masks, which was always the core of my costume.  You know which ones I mean.  Those molded plastic ones that looked harmless enough until I actually put it on.  That’s when I would realize that the one piece of innocent looking elastic that held it in place was ridiculously tight.   The mask would fit so snuggly against my face that I could barely breath or see.  That was until one end of the elastic came loose, rendering the whole thing useless.  The masks always came with some simple, cheap costume, which made the whole process of dressing up a cinch.  As I got older, I was able to be a little more creative and design my own costumes.  I would like to formally apologize for the year I went as a hobo.  I meant no disrespect to any class of people.  I was 8.  I thought it was fun to wear a collection of old clothes and carry a little handkerchief tied to the end of stick.  But today, in these “politically correct” times, kids have to worry about things like that.

Perhaps the thing I miss the most is the innocence of trick-or-treating.  I, along with my brother or a group of friends, would strategically wander through nearby neighborhoods, amassing our candy booty as we went.  Given that, on a good night, we probably hit  over 50 houses, there is no way my parents knew all the people we collected candy from.  They didn’t have to.  Those weren’t the things that parents had to be worried about back then.

And then there’s the whole pumpkin carving thing.  Remember when carving pumpkins meant you just grabbed one of your mom’s kitchen knives and hacked away at it until you had a jagged, 3-toothed grinning Jack-o-lantern?  Now with the pumpkin carving tools and patterns that are available, one feels a little old-school if armed only with a knife and an imagination.   But, I’ll admit it.  In this case, I’ve fallen prey to the hype.

Our friends hosted their annual pumpkin carving party this week. The invitation said to bring a cleaned-out pumpkin ready to carve. They created workspaces by covering several tables with inexpensive plastic tablecloths.  There were several obligatory (and sharp) kitchen knives being brandished about, usually by someone with a cocktail in their other hand.  (Thankfully, and surprisingly, no one lost a finger.)  But, also on hand were an arsenal of official pumpkin-carving tools, including these little battery-operated saws.  Which, quite frankly, didn’t work very well.  We broke two of them before we figured out how useless they were.  But we hacked and carved to our heart’s content, and the end result was equal parts fun,  gratifying and impressive.

While all things Halloween may have been simpler when I was a kid, the party was a great example of how this holiday hasn’t outgrown its ability to be simply fun.

Guests brought appetizers.  The hosts provided homemade chili (here’s a link to our own chili recipe).  And I provided the dessert buffet, including butter cookies with vanilla frosting, homemade caramel corn, and orange creamsicle cupcakes.

Need more ideas for your Halloween party?  Check out our Halloween board on Pinterest.

Happy Entertaining!