It’s my third Halloween in Australia! It’s not a very popular holiday here, but I’m fortunate to have some people in my life who love Halloween and the Day of the Dead.
Back in 2012, Theo and I hosted a pumpkin carving dinner party at our house and since then we’ve been gathering with my sister-out-law and her adult children. Last year, she made sugar skulls and we all gathered at her house to decorate them. This year, we gathered at the home of Theo’s niece and her fiancée for both pumpkin carving and decorating sugar skulls over a vegetarian Mexican-inspired lunch. After three years in a row, it’s officially a tradition.
Here are some of my favourite images of the day.
Field pumpkins, the big orange type that Americans use for jack-o’-lanterns are not common in Australia. When Halloween rolls around, supermarkets carry them for a limited time and a premium price. Don’t feel obligated to buy them. You can carve any kind of pumpkin and they will look just as good. In the Celtic countries where this custom comes from, jack o’ lanterns were carved from turnips, potatoes, or beets. The pumpkin was an American adaptation.
What are you doing for Halloween?
Those beetroot heads are fabulous!
Right? And they look creepier as they age and “bleed”.
This is all great – I’ve not seen the sugar skulls before and I think they are particularly good. And the pumpkin spewing guacamole, and the jack o’lanterns. What fun for your Australian nieces and nephews!
Happy Halloween.