I work with kids, now that’s something I thought I would NEVER say! Me working with kids – nup, my sister, Jan, was the teacher, not me!
Well, somehow that has changed a little, and, every now and then I work with kids in the kitchen. This Halloween morning we cooked together again – I’m pretty sure that you can guess what the theme was for that day… Yes, Halloween….
It’s all about Halloween…
Now I really didn’t know a great deal about Halloween, pretty much just what I see on TV! I had a little research to do, I wanted to learn more…
As we know, Halloween, is observed annually on October 31. It is believed that Halloween is linked to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, the beginning of the new year. The Celts were farming and agricultural people who, until 2000 years ago, lived across Britain, Ireland and Northern France, and celebrated Samhain on a day that roughly corresponded to November 1 on the Gregorian calendar. They believed that the new year began with the beginning of winter, and Samhain marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark cold winter. It was also believed that the worlds of the living and the dead come together on Samhain eve, that spirits freely roamed on earth, with the souls of those who had died returning to visit their homes, and those who had died during the previous year journeying to the “otherworld”.
Another theory links Halloween to the beginning of Allhallowtide, a three day Christian observance, dedicated to remembering the dead it begins with All Hallows’ Eve (October 31) and is followed by All Hallows’ (Saints’), Day (November 1) and then All Souls’ Day (November 2). If you continue to read into it, you find that Samhain seems to have led to All Hallow’s Eve, with a little date changing for the latter, by a Pope, centuries ago!
Today Halloween is celebrated in many parts of Europe, and most of North America, and is growing in popularity here in Australia, where spooky costumes, spooky parties, trick or treating, loads of lollies/candy and pumpkin carving are the focal point. This is what guided me on my search for ideas for our Halloween session.
So what to cook? I spent so much time looking at what was on offer around the web (rather appropriate, hey), and finally decided to do something with pumpkin. Found a recipe for hand held pumpkin and pork pies, tested it, but was not to my liking, so felt stumped! Then it come to me! You know, the light flickered, and I asked myself why I was trying to reinvent the wheel?
I knew exactly what to do. I took my original recipe for Thai Pork Rissoles, grated a pile of pumpkin, mixed it through, and there we had it. They tasted great, the rissoles (meat patties) were really moist from the pumpkin, the flavour, yum, I love Thai, and all I needed for serving were some wraps (flat bread), a simple chopped salad of iceberg lettuce, grated carrot, spring onion, fresh mint and coriander, a squeeze of lime juice and a sprinkling of salt, pepper and sugar, add a couple of sauces for the kids to choose from, and I had the healthy option for the day.
A slight variation on my Thai Flavoured Pork Rissoles, created for a kids Halloween event. See notes below for Gluten Free Option.
- 1 kg pork mince
- 500 g pumpkin, grated
- 2 onions, finely chopped
- 2 french shallots, finely chopped
- 1 egg
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed, or finely chopped)
- 2 tbs fish sauce
- 2 tbs soy sauce
- 2 tbs chilli sauce
- ½ cup dry bread crumbs
- A handful of coriander leaves, finely chopped
- 3 cm piece fresh ginger, finely grated or chopped
- Zest of 1 lime
- 3 Kaffir lime leaves, finely chopped
- 1 tsp sea salt flakes
- ½ tsp coarse ground black pepper
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Place all the ingredients in a bowl.
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Using clean hands, mix until well combined.
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Take approximately ½ cup of the mixture and roll into a ball, then flatten slightly.
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Heat the BBQ to medium heat.
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Cook rissoles for 3–4 minutes each side, until golden brown and cooked through.
- Alternatively you could heat a little oil in frying pan and cook 3–4 minutes each side, until golden brown and cooked through.
- Gluten Free Option
- Use gluten free breadcrumbs
- Ensure that the sauces used are gluten free.
Now for something yummy and fun, and also sweet – I found this fabulous idea at https://www.mynameissnickerdoodle.com.
Graveyard Pudding Cookie Cups (Image: mynameissnickerdoodle.com)
I was pretty sure that I could make this would work. It had to be gluten free, so made my crisp coconut biscuits and added a good whack of dark cocoa powder and two eggs, rather than one egg and one egg white, to the mix. There – we had the dirt! Found candy eyes, locally, not an easy feat where we live. Picked up some fresh blueberries, made up a dark red jelly, and then I needed a Chocolate Mousse recipe!
The chocolate mousse element had been troubling me, I didn’t want to do the traditional chocolate mousse as there’s a bit too much involved. Then one night I happened to be watching “Better Homes and Gardens“, when Colin Fassnidge whipped up a simple chocolate mousse using avocado, banana, dark cocoa and a few other basic ingredients so, when out shopping, I picked up a copy of the magazine and I was set. All that I had to do then, was make some fun gingerbread biscuits to finish the cups off.
On the day I divided the kids into two groups. One group, grated pumpkin, chopped herbs, mixed, rolled and baked the rissoles. The other group crushed the biscuits, mashed the jelly, and made the mousse.. And somewhere in between the salad was (creatively) made. They got the pumpkin bit, and even managed to associate the green in the chopped salad, to Halloween – I loved it.
Everyone made up their own Graveyard Dirt Cup, and popped it in the fridge. Then they made up their pumpkin and pork wraps, and went to sit down together to eat lunch.
With the healthy option done and dusted, there was a bee line for the fridge, it was time for dessert!
Until next time…
Never Say Never!
and Bon appétit!
Links:
- All Hallows Eve (Catholic Culture)
- Colin Fassnidge’s Chocolate, Avocado & Banana Mousse
- Crisp Coconut Biscuits – Gluten Free
- Halloween (Britannica)
- Halloween (Historic UK)
- Thai Flavoured Pork Rissoles
- Thai Flavoured Pork and Pumpkin Rissoles
If you have a moment, I would love to hear your thoughts on what you see on
this page – just pop a note in the comments box below.
With many thanks and kindness,
Julie.
