We didn't celebrate Halloween, as we believe it is an evil-in-nature holiday that doesn't need celebrating. Perhaps if we had small children.
My best memory of Halloween was when I was about, oh, 10 or 11, and me and my Dad went to this one neighborhood about 3 miles from ours. We rode our bikes, and I had a basket on my bike. My Dad's bike had a "rack"-style basket...
I had a thing in my bike's basket that held the candy. I would go trick-or-treat, then dump the candy I got from the house in my bike's "pot." What this did was make the people think they had the honor of me starting out on their house, so they gave me two- to five- times the candy, along with a noticeable attitude of joyful pride. Suckers. I probably got two gallons worth of candy that year.
I went dressed as an Army Ranger. I found a hat on the ground (like a year before) that had a Ranger emblem on it. It fit, and stayed so well...I would ride my bike with it on, and be it wind or rain, it wouldn't budge. I want another hat like that, truly. It no longer fits me, as my head has grown some over 8 years. I even went as far as to have a fake gun on my side.
Still, the greatest part of that Halloween, is that me and my Dad were gone maybe 2.5 hours, and somehow my Mom and Brother made a thanksgiving-style dinner, even bringing the table inside. Imagine our surprise! A feast, prepared somehow in only a few hours. We didn't expect that at all. Thanks, Mom. You made my Memory Lane.
And we know it wasn't ordered because it tasted too bad. Ohh, burn. I know this sounds like a great holiday memory of Halloween, but let me assure you, aside from tricking the people into giving me more candy, it was pitiful.
In addition, we don't celebrate Christmas; it's a holiday invented by the Catholics to satisfy their Pagan-turned-Catholic members. I think it's OK to celebrate it, but not proper to assume it's Christs birth when there's no biblical evidence.
Although we slightly miss the holiday (it's my second favorite- really, Thanksgiving and Christmas are the only two good holidays out there), we're getting over it in this, our second year without it, and third year knowing it's not so Christian. I don't miss it that much. We were never big on Christmas.
Last year we didn't celebrate it but got some gifts. Most notably those great stainless steel bowls from my dear Aunt (thanks!). The year before, I'm pretty sure is when we weren't going to celebrate, but did anyways. Shame.
I have decent memories of Christmas. But none as great as my memories of Thanksgiving- our only holiday left. Easter is a Pagan holiday, too. Thus we need to concentrate on celebrating Thanksgiving extra-hard. And my birthday.
I make Cranberry sauce from scratch, and it's the highlight of the meal. Well, that isn't true, the highlight of the meal is my Mom's potato rolls, but the Cranberry sauce was new. We had to welcome it. She makes about 60 of them, so we have leftover rolls for days. I will clean out half a refrigerator this year (we have 3 refrigerators, a stand-up freezer, and a mini-fridge- Al Gore would be rolling around in his grave!) to store the leftovers/let things chill, such as Sticky-D's World Famous, All You Can Eat Chocolate-Chunky Poopy Pie! (picture at right)That pie looks delicious, huh? We actually sent this with my Aunt to take to her Thanksgiving celebration. Imagine having to eat it. They must have gotten a ton of laughs...if they went through with it. It's just a chocolate cream pie in a graham cracker crust, but you pipe the filling into it. The correct way is to let it drop from a height. It's best if it's a ziptop bag, and you need the hole in the corner to extrude somewhat lumpy...cream filling.
Last year was a strange Thanksgiving in the Quixotic U-Say. Me and my family are very private people. Example: some couldn't imagine Thanksgiving without at least 20 relatives packed around a table. These ones are desperately awaiting the invention of the double-decker table. Us? Having my Aunt and Granny over causes mild claustrophobia. Us ones are desperately awaiting the day we can survive as social beings with only robot companions. It was fine, but we really celebrate better alone...and our family accepts that. They're so good to us. The... weasels.
Last year was the first year we had a homegrown Turkey. Uhh, coincidentally, last year was the first year since I had no teeth that I haven't eaten Turkey. We had a gallon ziploc bag full of leftover, cleaned turkey (ohmeohmi! Sandwiches!) in the freezer until it got frostbitten...it was horrible. It was tough, it tasted bad, it was stringy...my Mom and Dad just looooved it, but it was disgusting. Not just that it was homegrown, either. Oh- and for how much they looooved it, they didn't finish it off within half a year. Actions speak louder than words, and I feel like that is a horrible mean thing to say.
It was a good Thanksgiving, though, and this one will be better. Edit: It wasn't! My Dad went to jail!!! We had to order a meal from Bashas! And cry! (he was sentenced to 3 months for skipping out on probation and being on the lamb for 10 years).
Everything I can think of, at the moment:
Turkey
Gravy
Mashed Potatoes
Honey-glazed Carrots
Green beans Amandine (best name evar)
An Appetizer platter of Vegetables with ranch dip, serving as a Salad of sorts
A platter with Salami, and Black and Green olives
Cranberry Sauce
Potato Rolls
Stuffing
Butter, butter, butter for everything!
Pumpkin Pie (2 of them)
Pecan Pie (1 of them)
Blueberry Pie (just 1)
Sticky-D's World Famous, All You Can Eat Chocolate Chunky Poopy Pie (just 1)
Hopefully, fresh, raw, whipped goats-milk cream for topping them. And for putting into the Poopy Pie.
The beauty of the pies is that the Pecan can be done 3 days ahead of time, the pumpkin 1, then blueberry 1, and the Poopy Pie 2. The Poopy Pie's crust is store-bought, and the others' crusts can be made 3 days ahead of baking. Edit: Now that I'm smarter, I know they can be bought as well! HAH HAH HAH GLORY
Then I'll make a recipe from Electric Bread (it's a really fabulous bread machine cookbook, seriously, it's fabulous and I would be loathe to make bread without it, 5-stars), I believe it's called Herbed Bread, which is supposed to be great for Turkey Sandwiches. We will be eating leftovers for a week. I can wait!
Potato rolls and mashed potatoes and gravy and cranberry sauce and turkey and olives and pie, oh my!
It took me too long to write this.
It's getting down to 45 degrees in the mornings now. Woohoo.
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