On Halloween, Husband and I have started a tradition – we pull a table out on our front porch, set up Yahtzee, and put on some kind of costume. Last year he was a tourist and I was a ninja; this year, I was some kind of greek princess (wrapped in a sheet) and he was a mad scientist (using a costume he used when he was 12 years old! It fits him better now, haha).
From there, we are able to greet every family that stops by, which to me is a little different from just popping up and down to answer the doorbell all evening. It’s nice to say hi to the parents down on the sidewalk, and to get to ooh and ahh over the kids costumes as they are coming up the walk. I especially like costumes that were clearly a labor of love for someone; no problem with store-bought costumes, but I think it’s way more exciting to design and build your own halloween costume; much more like a big, crazy craft festival than just buying costumes.
I also love that we get to see and chat with our neighbors, who also seem to enjoy the evening outdoors: one neighbor smokes his cigar and talks to us about recent updates on his house, and another posts up ornate pumpkins for us to admire. There are a lot of quiet houses too, because our neighborhood isn’t inundated with trick-or-treaters, but the ones who do come come in little packs, excited and ready to hold their bags open wide for us to give them candy.
Our tradition concludes when it gets too dark and we’ve run out of candy so we adjourn to the couch for a spooky movie or TV show – I don’t normally do horror, but it’s fun to watch something at least a little thrilling on Halloween night. I don’t yet have a Halloween “meal” – happened to eat tomato soup and grilled cheese last night, no tradition to it – but I’d love suggestions for a good Halloween party dish or just a nice tradition to start as far as Halloween dinner goes!
Recipe in a Bottle 