Tag: Halloween

Vintage Halloween Cards


Happy Halloween all you ghouls, goblins and other creatures of the night.

Halloween is a multi-billion dollar business with costumes, especially those for dogs, being a HUGE item.  It’s so commercial, everyone vying for the best costume, the most absurd foods (like kitty litter cake, which is actually quite tasty), and bizarre decorations.  Universal Studios and other big theme parks go to elaborate extents to make scary ‘stages’ where people pay good money to go and get scared.

But it used to not always be like that.  While people now send cards to others during the season, it’s not the BIG thing to do, but once, a long time ago, it was.  Take a look at these awesome Halloween cards from the early 1900s.  I just love this stuff, don’t you? (all these pics are in the public domain, by the way).

Danse Macabre – Tim Burton style


Ever since I was a little girl I have loved classical music.  I think it stemmed from watching Disney’s Fantasia when I was around six years old.  I grew addicted to the music and I needed to know who the composers were.  My love for the classics grew, as did my exposure to more and more sonatas and symphonies.  One of my favorite pieces, Igor Stravinsky’s “Firebird Suite” appeared in Disney’s Fantasia 2000 and it happens to be my favorite clip from the entire film.  I wonder why.  (watch here)

When I was around fourteen years old, I discovered a haunting piece, the Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Saëns, and it immediately became one of my favorite pieces to play around Halloween.  When I thought about what I wanted to post today, this music immediately popped into my head, so I went on a hunt to find something that would showcase the music well.  I came across the following  video that happens to combine three of my favorite artists into one:   Saint-Saëns, Johnny Depp and the king of Halloween animation, Tim Burton.  I hope you enjoy the music as much as I do and that it becomes one of your favorite Halloween pieces as well.

May I present, the Danse Macabre – Tim Burton Style

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Kitty Litter Cake


What’s a Halloween party without Kitty Litter Cake?  Aww, come on.  Look at it.  Don’t you just want to munch down?  🙂  Actually, it’s a pretty darn good cake, but the presentation is  a little…hmm, how shall I put it…GROSS!  But Halloween isn’t about pretty and frilly.  It’s all about ghouls and ghosts and yuck, so if you have an hour or so and want to make something the kids and/or everyone in the office will rant about…make the cake.

To start out with, you’ll need a brand new kitty litter box, kitty box liner (optional), and kitty pooper scooper.

Recipe:

1      (18.25 ounce) package German Chocolate Cake Mix

1      (18.25 ounce) package white cake mix

2      (3.5 ounce) packages instant vanilla pudding mix

1       (12 ounce) package vanilla sandwich cookies

3 drops green food coloring

1      (12 ounce) package tootsie rolls

Directions:

1.   Prepare cake mixes and bake according to package directions (any size pan).

2.   Prepare pudding according to package directions and chill until ready to assemble.

3.   Crumble sandwich cookies in small batches in a food processor, scraping often. Set aside all but 1/4 cup. To the 1/4 cup add a few drops of green food coloring and mix.

4.    When cakes are cooled to room temperature, crumble them into a large bowl. Toss with 1/2 of the remaining cookie crumbs, and the chilled pudding. You probably won’t need all of the pudding, you want the cake to be just moist, not soggy.

5.     Line kitty litter box with the kitty litter liner. Put cake mixture into box.
Put half of the unwrapped tootsie rolls in a microwave safe dish and heat until softened. Shape the ends so that they are no longer blunt, and curve the tootsie rolls slightly. Bury tootsie rolls randomly in the cake and sprinkle with half of the remaining cookie crumbs. Sprinkle a small amount of the green colored cookie crumbs lightly over the top.

6.       Heat 3 or 4 of the tootsie rolls in the microwave until almost melted. Scrape them on top of the cake and sprinkle lightly with some of the green cookie crumbs. Heat the remaining tootsie rolls until pliable and shape as before. Spread all but one randomly over top of cake mixture. Sprinkle with any remaining cookie crumbs. Hang the remaining tootsie roll over side of litter box and sprinkle with a few green cookie crumbs. Serve with the pooper scooper for a gross Halloween dessert.

Bon Appetite my ghoulish friends!

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Friday Riddles


With Halloween rapidly approaching, I thought I’d post some goofy riddles.  Enjoy.  Answers are at the end.

1.  What kind of ghost haunts a hen-house?

2.  Why do ghosts like to go to baseball games?

3.  What do you call a ghost in a torn sheet?

4.  What do little ghosts drink?

5.  What happens to a fast witch on a slow broom?

6.  Why did the vampire read the Wall Street Journal?

7.  What do birds give out on Halloween?

8.  What looks and acts like a black cat but is much smaller?

9.  What can you hold without ever touching or using your hands?

10.  I threw away the outside and cooked the inside.  Then I ate the outside and threw away the inside.  What did I eat?

Answers:

1. poultry-geist

2.  they like to boo the umpire.

3.  a holy terror

4.  evaporated milk

5.  she flies off the handle

6.  He heard it had great circulation.

7.  Tweets

8.  a black kitten

9.  your breath

10.  corn on the cob

 

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