I Survived the Cutting of the Spaghetti Squash...So Bring On Those Literary Pumpkins!

October likes to tease us with hot weather here in Southern California, just when the grocery stores are starting to stock an abundance of pumpkins and other fall vegetables, er, fruits. (Did you know that pumpkins are actually berries?!)

"I'm a what?" gasped Harry.
photo source

Despite the heat, I thought I'd share a cozy fall recipe that I made a few days ago. During the short-lived cooler temperatures we had last week, I went to the market and bought a large spaghetti squash to roast for a yummy pasta-less lasagna.  

I wrestled the huge squash for quite a while in my attempt to cut it in half and scoop out the insides. Quite scary, since my big butcher knife kept getting stuck deep down in the dense yellow flesh.

Luckily, it turned out beautifully for our dinner, and I've shared the recipe below (at the end of this post).  Next time, I think I'll just buy two smaller squash - which are much easier to cut then one large one.  

Do any of you have some squash-cutting tips...or better yet, pumpkin carving tips?  Because it's time for my annual round-up of Literary Pumpkin and Party Ideas that I've gathered from around the internet.  (You can find even more ideas on my "Pumpkin/Turkey/Fall Time" Pinterest Board.)

Here's to a BOOkish HALLOWEEN -

OCTOBER IS PUMPKIN TIME:

Click here for "OCTOBER IS PUMPKIN TIME"

featuring pumpkin books by Tasha Tudor and others, for ages 4-8

BOOK OR TREAT:

Click here for "BOOK OR TREAT: LITERARY PUMPKINS"

for OZ, Jack Skellington, Cinderella, and Edgar Alan Poe inspired pumpkins!

BOOK OR TREAT 2:

Click here for "BOOK OR TREAT 2: INTO THE WOODS"

for some not-too-scary Halloween/Fall/Woodland Party ideas, 

costumes, and pumpkins.

A STORYBOOK PUMPKIN PATCH:

 Click here for my "STORYBOOK PUMPKIN PATCH" post...

full of Book-O'-Lanterns (pumpkins carved up to look like favorite storybook characters!)

WELL-READ PUMPKIN ROUNDUP:

Click here for my "WELL-READ PUMPKIN ROUNDUP" -

Fun costumes, pumpkins, and parties based on classic children's books.

LITERARY THEMED HALLOWEEN
PARTIES FOR 'TWEENS AND TEENS:

Click here for "LITERARY THEMED HALLOWEEN

PARTIES FOR 'TWEENS AND TEENS"...

Sherlock, Steampunk, Sleepy Hollow, Edgar Alan Poe, 

and OZ themed parties and pumpkins.

Now for the promised recipe:

SPAGHETTI SQUASH - LASAGNA STYLE

Ingredients:

2 small-medium sized spaghetti squash*

1 T + 2 t. olive oil, divided

1 onion, chopped

1 shallot, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/4 lbs. ground turkey

1 jar chunky marinara sauce (Trader Joe's)
2 T. tomato paste, to thicken sauce

1/4 c. chopped green olives
1 t. dried oregano

1/2 t. dried thyme (or a few sprigs of fresh leaves, stems removed)

1/2 t. dried basil (or 1 T. fresh, chopped)
1/4 t. dried rosemary

1 c. ricotta cheese

1 c. mozzarella cheese, shredded

*Depending on the size of the squash halves to be filled, you may have extra sauce.  It can be frozen or refrigerated to reheat for another meal.

Preheat oven to 400.  Line cookie sheets with foil.

Squash Preparation: 

1. Slice squash in half length-wise; scrape out seeds.  

2. Rub 1/2 t. olive oil into each of the 4 squash halves.  Season with salt and pepper.

3. Place squash face down on cookie sheets and bake for 30-50 minutes (to test, flip over the squash and squeeze halves gently - you'll know they're done, when the middle is soft.)

4. Set aside when done.

Meat Sauce:

1. Meanwhile, saute onion, shallots, and garlic in 1 T. olive oil over medium heat until soft. 

2. Add ground turkey, cooking until no longer pink.  Drain off fat.  

3. Add jar of chunky marinara sauce, sliced green olives, and herbs.  When sauce begins to bubble, stir in 2 T. tomato paste, reduce heat, and simmer 5-10 minutes.

To Assemble:

1. Spread about a 1/4 c. ricotta cheese into the bottom of each right-side up squash half.

2. Spoon meat sauce into each half, mounding it a little bit.

3. Sprinkle 1/4 c. shredded mozzarella cheese onto each of the four filled squash halves.

4. Switch oven setting to "broil", and place the cookie sheets in the oven.  Broil for about 2 minutes, until cheese is lightly browned and bubbly.  (Watch closely!  It browns quickly!)

To Serve:

Scoop out about 1/2 a lasagna-filled squash for each person - or if the squash are  really small, just eat right out of the squash half!  I serve this with sauteed spinach.  YUMMY!

WELL-READ PUMPKIN ROUNDUP

Check out this Cheshire Cat Pumpkin!
(source:  Weiss Guys)

Each October I look forward to finding literary themed jack o'lanterns and bookish costumes to share with you for Halloween.  (And at the end of this post I've also included some pumpkin-themed treats!) 

Where the Wild Things Are Halloween

Wild Thing (from Alpha Mom)

source 

Max (from Pottery Barn Kids)

Wonderland Halloween

I'm LATE! (from Weisse Guys)

One more: Alice grew! (from Misha Lulu)

Willy Wonka Kids' Costumes

(from Le Petit Arbre)

An Oompa Loompa with Mr. Wonka

Peter Pan

Costume tutorial on Make it and Love it

Harry Potter

Cute (and easy!) - source

(from Spearmint Baby)

You'd have to be a professional to pull this one off!
source - Tumbler

NOW FOR THE PUMPKIN-Y TREATS...

So easy - tissue paper and floral tape!
(source here)

Tangerine Pumpkins (and Banana Ghosts)

Pumpkin Spice Buddies recipe

Mommies:  CrockPot Pumpkin Spice Latte
(recipe here, from Stephanie O'Dea)

More (Non Scary) Halloween Fun...If you've followed my blog for very long, you know I like to find ideas that are family friendly and book themed for Halloween -- like a "Storybook Pumpkin Patch", "Literary Themed Parties for 'Tweens and Teens",  "Book or Treat", and "Literary Pumpkins".

Go to my Pinterest Board for more ideas and recipes.  Happy Fall!

October for Anne Shirley...

From Anne of Green Gables
by Lucy Maud Montgomery

source

Excerpt from Chapter XVI: "Diana is Invited to Tea with Tragic Results"

October was a beautiful month at Green Gables, when the birches in the hollow turned as golden as sunshine and the maples behind the orchard were royal crimson and the wild cherry trees along the lane put on the loveliest shades of dark red and bronzy green, while the fields sunned themselves in aftermaths.

Anne reveled in the world of color about her.

"Oh, Marilla," she exclaimed one Saturday morning, coming dancing in with her arms full of gorgeous boughs. "I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers. It would be terrible if we just skipped from September to November, wouldn't it? Look at these maple branches. Don't they give you a thrill--several thrills? I'm going to decorate my room with them."

"Messy things," said Marilla, whose aesthetic sense was not noticeably developed. "You clutter up your room entirely too much with out-of-doors stuff, Anne. Bedrooms were made to sleep in."

"Oh, and dream in too, Marilla. And you know one can dream so much better in a room where there are pretty things. I'm going to put these boughs in the old blue jug and set them on my table."

My October view: It's not Green Gables, but it's Home.

A Storybook Pumpkin Patch full of Book-O'-Lanterns

What child wouldn't love to help make a storybook themed Jack-O'-Lantern?  Low on the scary scale, high on the fun factor...

Have you every wondered how the tradition of Jack-O'-Lanterns started? Every October, carved pumpkins peer out from porches and doorsteps in the United States and other parts of the world. Gourd-like orange fruits inscribed with ghoulish faces and illuminated by candles are a sure sign of the Halloween season. The practice of decorating “jack-o’-lanterns”—the name comes from an Irish folktale about a man named Stingy Jack—originated in Ireland, where large turnips and potatoes served as an early canvas. Irish immigrants brought the tradition to America, home of the pumpkin, and it became an integral part of Halloween festivities. [source: history.com]

POOH BEAR

source

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OLIVER JEFFER'S PENGUIN

source

SOME HUNGRY CATERPILLARS

[source]

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VARIOUS LITERARY SPIDERS

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Lots of schools host "no-carve-pumpkin" contests each year. I couldn't resist posting these cute book pumpkins that I found on the blog, "Sunny Days in Second Grade". Click here to see more!

FROG AND TOAD!

RAINBOW FISH

Source: Unless noted otherwise, all the bookish Halloween pumpkins featured in my post are from parents.com.  Click HERE for how to's.

Three Literary Themed Halloween Parties for 'tweens and teens (try thaying THAT 3 times!!)

1- Quothe the Raven Party
For a sophisticated party for teens, try this "Creative Raven" theme, using lines from Edgar Allen Poe's poem as your inspiration: you can find faux blackbirds and crows at most craft stores around this time of year. Better Homes and Gardens Halloween Issue 2012 has some great inspiration for an Edgar Allen Poe "Raven" themed party...

Dress up a large mirror with a feathery wreath and verses
from EDGAR ALLEN POE'S The Raven for a spooky dining room decoration.
Source  HERE

"But the Raven still beguiling all my fancy into smiling, 

Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird, and bust and door; 

Then upon the velvet sinking, 

I betook myself to linking 

Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore- 

What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt and ominous bird of yore 

Meant in croaking 'Nevermore'."

Birdcage pumpkin [source]

2- A Victorian Steampunk Party, Sherlock Holmes Style...

Get out your monocles, pipes, and capes...

Instead of using a magic wand, make a Cinderella Pumpkin using gears for the wheels,
a soap dish for the driver's seat, a drawer pull for the door, and a sink drain
for the window.  The little mice are mini white pumpkins with upholstery-tack
noses, wire whiskers, and nail feet. [source]

Easy to find Steampunk accessories (gears
and goggles), and costumes on Amazon.

I found a whole list of ideas on Squidoo, including using metallic paper goods, clocks, a fog machine, lanterns, and..."Mustache on a Stick"!

More free silhouette printables from bhg

3- Oz Pumpkinhead Party (with a little bit of Washington Irving's Sleepy Hollow, and The Nightmare Before Christmas thrown in.)

Before Jack Skellington - the main character in Tim Burton's animated film,The Nightmare Before Christmas - there was L. Frank Baum's storybook character, Jack Pumpkinhead.

"...in his first scene in The Nightmare Before Christmas, Jack Skellington does have a pumpkin on his head, and looks very much like Jack Pumpkinhead. Also, the director of Nightmare was Henry Sellick who, eight years earlier, had been a storyboard artist on Return to Oz, and therefore had several opportunities to draw Jack Pumpkinhead. From another perspective, similarities can also be seen between Scraps, the Patchwork Girl of the OZ books, and Sally in The Nightmare Before Christmas, so there may be another connection there, but it's also not terribly likely."(source: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz website).

Scarecrow Crunch 

4 cups crunchy oatmeal cereal squares or Chex cereal
4 cups tiny twist pretzels
1 can salted peanuts
1 bag of autumn mix honey candy
1 bag of candy corn
2 cups peaunut butter M&M’s
2 (6-ounce) boxes caramel popcorn with nuts

1 (6.6) bag chocolate graham Teddy bears

source

Jack Skellington Cupcakes [source: spoonful disney blog]

A hat tip to Washington Irving, at the Magic Kingdom. [source]

Listen to The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow Audio Book.  Or the radio archive on iTunes here.

Easy Decor/Activity/Party Favor

Miniature pumpkins can be colored in minutes with acrylic paints or permanent markers. The secret to their jewel-like sparkle is a finishing (polyurethane) glaze applied after the paint or ink has thoroughly dried.

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