One thing we found interesting is that the tradition of trick-or-treating may have stemmed from an old tradition called "going-a-souling." Basically poor people would go door to door begging for food. They were given "soul cakes" if they promised to pray for that family's dead relatives. And now we give out candy to kids. Interesting. Funny how traditions get tweaked and changed through the generations and meshing of cultures.
Anyway, we decided to make some "soul cakes" to see how they tasted. Oh. My. Goodness. Yum! Here's the recipe we used. I don't know how traditional the recipe is, but I'm sure the beggars back in the day enjoyed their "soul cakes." They aren't much like a cake. More like a sugar cookie. A really scrumptious sugar cookie with nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, and allspice. Oh and sprinkled with powdered sugar. I think I ate half the batch.
We also made some haunted house pop-up cards. Find it here. The kids weren't quite as into it as I was hoping. I knew the older two wouldn't be as excited, but I thought the youngers would like it. They still turned out really cute.
What's a Halloween day without caramel apples and popcorn balls? Yeah, can we say too many sweets? This does not happen often and I was in a treat-making mood so we did it.
What a fun day that was! Not only did the kids get a fun history lesson they also got to do art, cooking, and taste a bit of history. Have any suggestions that I can add to our day next year? I'd love to hear them!
No comments:
Post a Comment