Halloween
is just a short week away, and it is a great time to create memories
with the family that will last forever. I have been sharing
Halloween ideas for more than thirty years, and the most mentioned
one is Dinner in a Pumpkin. This is a perfect idea to build a family
tradition around.
Dinner in a pumpkin
Dinner in a Pumpkin
1 small to medium pumpkin
1 onion, chopped
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1.5 to 2 lbs. ground beef or ground turkey
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 (4oz.) can sliced mushrooms, drained
1 (10 3/4-oz.) can cream of chicken soup
1.5 cup cooked rice
1 (8-oz.) can sliced water chestnuts, drained
Cut
off the top of the pumpkin and thoroughly clean out seeds and pulp.
Paint an appropriate face on the front of the pumpkin with a
permanent marking pen or acrylic paint. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
F.
In
a large skillet, sauté onions in oil until tender. Add meat
and brown. Drain drippings from skillet. Add soy sauce, brown
sugar, mushrooms and soup. Simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add cooked rice and water chestnuts.
Now,
spoon the mixture into the cleaned pumpkin shell. Replace pumpkin
top and place entire pumpkin, with filling, on a baking sheet. Bake
1 hour or until inside meat of the pumpkin is tender. Put pumpkin on
a plate. Remove pumpkin lid and serve heat. For your vegetable,
scoop out cooked pumpkin and serve. Serves 6.
If
you want to have a fun drink to go along with you pumpkin dinner try
floating hand in a punch bowl.
Floating hand punch
Floating Hand
Wash
the inside of a surgical glove and fill it with water. Tie a knot or
rubber band at the top. Freeze until solid. Carefully cut slits
down the fingers and hand with a sharp knife. Peel away the glove,
being careful not to break off the fingers. If accidentally break
off a finger, do not worry. After all, this is Halloween.
Float
the hands in a very cold punch or put it wherever your imagination
takes it. For an extra spooky effect, put dry ice in the punch, but
be sure not to serve the dry ice or touch it. Be very careful with
dry ice when kids are around. The temperature of dry ice is 160
degrees below freezing and if it is touched it will cause a burn just
as if it were very hot water.
Make
these fun ideas a family tradition.
For
more fun ideas like this, check out Dian’s Holiday
Fun Year-Round.
It is packed with ideas for more than 20 holidays. It is great for
mothers and grandmothers that want to have fun with the kids, teach
them how to be creative, and share memories that will last forever.
Go to www.DianThomas.com
for more information.
Dian Thomas was blessed with the good fortune to be born near and raised in
the remote, breathtaking Manti-La Sal National Forest in southeastern Utah,
where her father was the forest ranger. She took the skills she learned in the
outdoors and turned them into a New York Times best-selling book, Roughing It
Easy. Her appearance on the NBC's "Tonight" show with Johnny Carson
boosted her into the national media scene, where she became a regular on
NBC's "Today" show for eight years and then ABC's "Home Show" for six years.
After more than 25 years of media exposure and 19 books, she now shares her
practical insights and wisdom with audiences who want to savor life.
A former Relief Society president, Dian is currently serving as a visiting
teacher. Visit her website at www.DianThomas.com