Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Picasso pumpkins and pop quiz

Pumpkin carving and roasting salted pumpkin seeds are annual rites of Halloween for us. We were up to our elbows in pearly white, pear-shaped seeds as we scooped out pumpkin contents and cut out faces. This year's tours de force were quite cubist. My daughter drew the faces, from various angles on the same pumpkin, and I cut them out. Picasso would be proud of this four-year-old's post-impressionist interpretations. Next year, perhaps she'll inject some Monet inspired light play, or some abstract expressionism, Jackson Pollock style. Makes we wonder why we ever carved conventional faces before.

We also hosted our 12th annual Halloween Open House! By design, I created a ghoulish table of haunted delights WITHOUT SUGAR OR CANDY. Real food for unreal people. Old standbys were garlicky vampire repellant, crunchy turnip witches teeth (in water), paranormal pizza...

Here's a pop quiz to see if you can guess what other savory delights were, and to test your "talk backwards" abilities.

Fare: Bat wings dipped in gore, Fun: aslas dna spihc nroc eulb

Fare: Ants on sticks, Fun: selknirps etalocohc htiw rettub tunaep ni deppid slezterp

Fare: Troll tongues, Fun: edisni dellor eseehc maerc htiw staem iled decils

Fare: Octopus tentacle, jellyfish, and mermaid hair soup, Fun: sreppep toh decils dna smoorhsum ekatihs elohw seldoon daerth naeb

As always, the cupboards were bare by the time all the guests left. All that food fueled good humor and greater hauntings all evening long.

4 comments:

Apis Melliflora said...

Miss A, your pumpkins faces are outstanding! I see a future in art for you.

Mamela, you've opened my eyes to new ways of making healthy food spookalicious and perhaps more edible to my little monsters.

Anonymous said...

What fun, love all your Halloween ideas and the Pumpkins, adore them...totally creative works of art. I'm still working on the pop quiz. I'm rather tired tonight, but I did quickly figure out the "BLue corn chips and salsa." I'd say you had a spookalicious All Hallows Eve!

The Dragonfly said...

As I'm rushing around like a crazy trying to prepare for a certain trip - my brain cannot function to focus on the quiz. I will say, however, that your pumpkins rocked!

west wind said...

I invite my tired-eyed friends to come up with your own interpretations of what the "fare" names may be. That would be really fun. Should have thought of that before. Would give me some ideas for next year!