Halloween Friday Five...err...Six

It's Friday and I'm near a computer - that must mean it's time for the Friday Five!

All Hallows Eve (Halloween) is near. As a child, Halloween was one of my favorite holidays. We didn’t yet worry about razor blades in apples or popcorn balls or some of the other concerns people have with Halloween these days. Halloween was a chance to be mildly scared, and better yet, to dress up and pretend to be something we really weren’t. Let’s talk about that a bit, but then let’s add in some food ideas for this year. Where I live the leaves are falling, the temperature is chilly and pumpkins are for sale everywhere, along with many kids of apples. What's more, the "Holiday Season" will soon be upon us. ACK! I could use a new idea for dessert. So, here we go…

1. How did you celebrate this time of year when you were a child?
With lots and lots of candy, natch! I remember one year when one of my classmates parents' threw a Halloween party and we actually bobbed for apples and the like, then we ran around town throwing firecrackers and generally making a nuisance of ourselves for a couple of hours. Harmless fun, really, except for those people who liked to go to sleep before 10:00pm!

2. Do you and/or your family “celebrate” Halloween? Why or why not? And if you do, has it changed from what you used to do?
These days we find ourselves celebrating Halloween at our local lakeside pavilion Halloween fundraiser sometime close to 31st October (usually the Saturday before). It's a lot of fun; they fry up a big batch of walleye and hand out prizes for the best costumes (ours usually suck so we've never won). Then on Halloween night we make sure we have a bit of candy for trick-or-treaters who stop by. Beloved HATES horror flicks, so my favorite part of the holiday has gone by the wayside somewhat these last few years.

2. Candy apples: Do you prefer red cinnamon or caramel covered? Or something else?
If it ain't caramel covered, it ain't a candy apple

3. Pumpkins: Do you make Jack O’ Lanterns? Any ideas of what else to do with them?
I love making Jack O'Lanterns - we'll have a couple this year! Beloved likes roasting the seeds, but other than that we're clueless; I wouldn't have the first idea how to make an actual pumpkin pie.

4. Do you decorate your home for fall or Halloween? If so, what do you do? Bonus points for pictures. For Halloween, no, but we have been known to break out some Indian corn and a few odds and ends for an autumnal theme around the house. I'm usually getting ready to decorate for Christmas in October because stringing lights in November in Minnesota is a good way to get frostbite.

5. Do you like pretending to be something different? Does a costume bring our an alternate personality?
Oddly enough, even though I love doing theater I don't particularly enjoy costume parties. It's like I either have to go whole hog or not at all.

Bonus: Share your favorite recipe for an autumn food, particularly apple or pumpkin ones.
This is so terrible: I've got nothing! Usually we just make a lot of soup and grilled cheese this time of year because it's just good and easy. I need an autumn recipe!