Halloween….It’s that time of year where there is an eerie chill in the air, and the autumn leaves swirl and crunch under your feet.

I love Halloween. With Halloween costumes in the shops, and all them scary pumpkin faces flickering in the windows. But where did Halloween come from?

Halloween - All Hallow’s Eve, or Halloween for short - originally comes from people called the Celts, who lived in Europe thousands of years ago.  It came from an ancient festival called Samhain, it announced the end of the summer season and the beginning of the winter. They thought ghosts & spirits visited the living on 31st October because of the long hours of winter darkness so they dressed up like ghosts and danced around a lit bonfire so the spirits would not harm them.

Now witches have been associated with Halloween for a long time. Legends talk about witches gathering twice a year. The first is held on 30^th April, which is the eve of May Day and the other on 31^st October.  On these nights, it is said there would be a gathering of witches where they would come on broomsticks to celebrate a party. There are superstitions that witches cast spells on unsuspecting people, transforming themselves into different forms and also causing other magical mischief!

Traditionally folk would give food to the spirits. Later, they gave the food to poor people. This is where trick-or-treating comes from.

Halloween is one of the oldest celebrations in the world, dating back to 2,000 years.

Today is a lot different with people bringing in new traditions. But I have to say I prefer today's traditions, with the youngsters all dressed up with their cute face paints.  I’m looking forward to dressing up and dragging my daughter out with me trick-or-treating when she’s old enough (she’s now only 1, so few years yet)

The only problem I’ve left with, is what do you do with all the icky pumpkin inners after you’ve sculptured your master piece. Maybe soup perhaps?  Here are some ideas on how to use them yucky pumpkin inners!:

• Have a party and play a game where everyone is blindfolded and while telling them a spooky story get them to feel inside a bowl of yucky guts …aka pumpkin inners!
• Create brains with adding red colouring.
• Bake the seeds – Preheat oven to 177celcius (Medium) Separate the seeds from the inners, lay them on a buttered or greased baking sheet. Do not rinse. This removes a lot of the flavor. Bake for 10 minutes. Salt then eat.
• A tasty pumpkin soup.

If you have a pumpkin master piece you want to show off, or have a wicked Halloween costume, then please post on our Facebook or tweet me a piccie on Twitter

To check out local events click HERE  and if yours isnt here or know of one, then please add them by clicking HERE  or email me aimi.pb@thebestof.co.uk

 HAPPY HALLOWEENING! ………