Freitag, 26. Oktober 2007

To celebrate Halloween, THE HISTORY CHANNEL is putting the "eat" into Trick or Treat.

We've enlisted the help of our good friend Rod Rigby, who's an Executive Chef for CulinArt. Rod has been scouring his archive of recipes to come up with a whole host of spooky treats that are fun to make, and delicious to eat.

So on October 31 add some taste to go along with the terror, and enjoy the Halloween Holiday.

Recipe By: CulinArt
Servings: 24
Categories: Desserts, Cakes

Amount	Measure	Ingredient
1/2	pound	unsalted butter
2	cups	sugar
1	teaspoon	vanilla extract
4	large	eggs
3	cups	cake flour
1	tablespoon	baking powder
3/4	teaspoon	salt
1	cup	milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place butter in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat it until it is light and fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the sugar and vanilla and beat until well combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, until combined.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add about 1/2 of the flour mixture to the butter, mix until incorporated, add about 1/2 the milk, mix until incorporated, add the remaining flour, mix until incorporated and finally add the rest of the milk, mix until incorporated.

Line muffin or cupcake tins with paper cupcake liners. Fill each liner about 3/4 full with batter. Bake in pre-heated oven about 15 to 20 minutes, or until cooked through and the top begins to turn golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool.

Decorate as desired.

For Halloween Cupcakes:

Frost tops with orange-colored frosting, draw faces with melted chocolate or red-colored frosting.

See other recipe for Frosting.

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Per serving: 200 Calories (kcal); 9g Total Fat; (39% calories from fat); 2g Protein; 28g Carbohydrate; 53mg Cholesterol; 143mg Sodium

Food Exchanges: 1/2 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 1 1/2 Fat; 1 Other Carbohydrates

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Use spooky templates from History.com to carve your pumpkins. Simply select the template you want to use, print it out and get carving!

President John Adams and his wife, Abigail, were the first occupants of the White House. During Adams' presidency (1797-1801), the capital moved from Philadelphia to Washington, a struggling hamlet built mostly in a swamp.

Pennsylvania Avenue was unpaved, and frequent rains turned it into a quagmire. Although the White House itself was only half finished, Mrs. Adams cheerfully tolerated the noise and confusion of workmen coming and going. She was as fond of pomp and ceremony as Martha Washington had been, and, in spite of the inconveniences, held memorable receptions and dinner parties. Indeed, her invitations were highly coveted.

But one immediate problem presented itself-where to hang the family wash.

The White House was inadequately heated, and a number of rooms were cold and damp. Mrs. Adams finally decided that the East Room was the warmest and driest place in her august home, and that's where the clothesline was strung.

And that first lady has never forgotten.

The ghost of Abigail Adams is seen hurrying toward the East Room, with arms out stretched at if carrying a load of laundry. She can be recognized by the cap and lace shawl she favored in life.

Although Abigail Adams is the "oldest" ghost ever to have been encountered at the White House, she is by no means the only former occupant to occasionally wander its halls and great rooms. The home of the American chief executive has been the site of so much intense life it seems only appropriate that from within its walls come stories and legends of presidents and first ladies who linger...after life.

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Halloween, one of the world's oldest holidays, is still celebrated today in several countries around the globe.

The autumn rite is commemorated in the United Kingdom, although with a surprising and distinctive British twist. In Mexico, Latin America, and Spain, All Souls' Day, the third day of the three-day Hallowmas observance, is the most important part of the celebration for many people. In Ireland and Canada, Halloween, which was once a frightening and superstitious time of year, is celebrated much as it is here in the United States, with trick-or-treating, costume parties, and fun for all ages.

El Dia De Los Muertos

In Mexico, Latin America, and Spain, All Souls' Day, which takes place on November 2, is commemorated with a three-day celebration that begins on the evening of October 31. The celebration is designed to honor the dead who, it is believed, return to their earthly homes on Halloween. Many families construct an altar to the dead in their homes to honor deceased relatives and decorate it with candy, flowers, photographs, samples of the deceased's favorite foods and drinks, and fresh water. Often, a wash basin and towel are left out so that the spirit can wash before indulging in the feast.

Candles and incense are burned to help the deceased find the way home. Relatives also tidy the gravesites of their departed family members. This can include snipping weeds, making repairs, and painting. The grave is then decorated with flowers, wreaths, or paper streamers. On November 2, relatives gather at the gravesite to picnic and reminisce. Some gatherings even include tequila and a mariachi band! Celebrations honoring departed loved ones and family members are found as far back as ancient Egyptian times.

Guy Fawkes Day

On the evening of November 5, bonfires are lit throughout England. Effigies are burned and fireworks are set off. Although it falls around the same time and has some similar traditions, this celebration has little to do with Halloween or the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. The English, for the most part, stopped celebrating Halloween as Martin Luther's Protestant Reformation began to spread. As followers of the new religion did not believe in saints, they had no reason to celebrate the eve of All Saints' Day. However, a new autumn ritual did emerge. Guy Fawkes Day festivities were designed to commemorate the execution of a notorious English traitor, Guy Fawkes.

On November 5, 1606, Fawkes was executed after being convicted of attempting to blow up England's parliament building. Fawkes was a member of a Catholic group who wanted to remove the Protestant King James from power. The original Guy Fawkes Day was celebrated right after his execution. The first bonfires, which were called "bone fires," were set up to burn effigies and symbolic "bones" of the Catholic pope. It was not until two centuries later that effigies of the pope were replaced with those of Guy Fawkes. In addition to making effigies to be burned in the fires, children in some parts of England also walk the streets carrying an effigy or "guy" and ask for "a penny for the guy," although they keep the money for themselves. This is as close to the American practice of "trick-or-treating" as can be found in England today. Guy Fawkes Day was even celebrated by the pilgrims at the first settlement at Plymouth. However, as the young nation began to develop its own history, Guy Fawkes was celebrated less frequently and eventually died out.

Where It All Began

In Ireland, where Halloween originated, the day is still celebrated much as it is in the United States. In rural areas, bonfires are lit as they were in the days of the Celts, and all over the country, children get dressed up in costumes and spend the evening "trick-or-treating" in their neighborhoods. After trick-or-treating, most people attend parties with neighbors and friends. At the parties, many games are played, including "snap-apple," a game in which an apple on a string is tied to a doorframe or tree and players attempt to bite the hanging apple. In addition to bobbing for apples, parents often arrange treasure hunts, with candy or pastries as the "treasure." The Irish also play a card game where cards are laid face down on a table with candy or coins underneath them. When a child chooses a card, he receives whatever prize is found below it.

A traditional food eaten on Halloween is barnbrack, a kind of fruitcake that can be bought in stores or baked at home. A muslin-wrapped treat is baked inside the cake that, it is said, can foretell the eater's future. If a ring is found, it means that the person will soon be wed; a piece of straw means that a prosperous year is on its way. Children are also known to play tricks on their neighbors, such as "knock-a-dolly," a prank in which children knock on the doors of their neighbors, but run away before the door is opened.

Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Pumpkins But Were Afraid To Ask...

- Pumpkins are fruits. A pumpkin is a type of squash and is a member of the gourd family (Cucurbitacae), which also includes squash, cucumbers, gherkins, and melons.

- The largest pumpkin pie ever baked was in 2005 and weighed 2,020 pounds.

- Pumpkins have been grown in North America for five thousand years. They are indigenous to the western hemisphere.

- In 1584, after French explorer Jacques Cartier explored the St. Lawrence region of North America, he reported finding "gros melons." The name was translated into English as "pompions," which has since evolved into the modern "pumpkin."

- Pumpkins are low in calories, fat, and sodium and high in fiber. They are good sources of Vitamin A, Vitamin B, potassium, protein, and iron.

- The largest pumpkin ever grown was 1,689 pounds. It was grown by Joe Jutras of North Scituate, Rhode Island.

- Pumpkin seeds should be planted between the last week of May and the middle of June. They take between 90 and 120 days to grow and are picked in October when they are bright orange in color. Their seeds can be saved to grow new pumpkins the next year.

History Of The Jack-O'Lantern

Pumpkin carving is a popular part of modern America's Halloween celebration. Come October, pumpkins can be found everywhere in the country from doorsteps to dinner tables. Despite the widespread carving that goes on in this country every autumn, few Americans really know why or when the jack o'lantern tradition began. Or, for that matter, whether the pumpkin is a fruit or a vegetable. Read on to find out!

People have been making jack o'lanterns at Halloween for centuries. The practice originated from an Irish myth about a man nicknamed "Stingy Jack." According to the story, Stingy Jack invited the Devil to have a drink with him. True to his name, Stingy Jack didn't want to pay for his drink, so he convinced the Devil to turn himself into a coin that Jack could use to buy their drinks. Once the Devil did so, Jack decided to keep the money and put it into his pocket next to a silver cross, which prevented the Devil from changing back into his original form. Jack eventually freed the Devil, under the condition that he would not bother Jack for one year and that, should Jack die, he would not claim his soul. The next year, Jack again tricked the Devil into climbing into a tree to pick a piece of fruit. While he was up in the tree, Jack carved a sign of the cross into the tree's bark so that the Devil could not come down until the Devil promised Jack not to bother him for ten more years.

Soon after, Jack died. As the legend goes, God would not allow such an unsavory figure into heaven. The Devil, upset by the trick Jack had played on him and keeping his word not to claim his soul, would not allow Jack into hell. He sent Jack off into the dark night with only a burning coal to light his way. Jack put the coal into a carved-out turnip and has been roaming the Earth with ever since. The Irish began to refer to this ghostly figure as "Jack of the Lantern," and then, simply "Jack O'Lantern."

In Ireland and Scotland, people began to make their own versions of Jack's lanterns by carving scary faces into turnips or potatoes and placing them into windows or near doors to frighten away Stingy Jack and other wandering evil spirits. In England, large beets are used. Immigrants from these countries brought the jack o'lantern tradition with them when they came to the United States. They soon found that pumpkins, a fruit native to America, make perfect jack o'lanterns.

Ghost ships, in the mythology of the sea, are almost as plentiful as barnacles on a rock.

One of the most celebrated is the phantom schooner of Harpswell which was seen by many people, usually in the late afternoon, fully rigged and under sail; a breathtaking sight, though apt to vanish without warning in a shimmer of light or a sudden rising of fog. This vision has been immortalized in the poem The Dead Ship of Harpswell, by John Greenleaf Whittier, whose opening lines are as follows: What flecks the outer gray beyond The sundown's golden trail? The white flash of a sea-bird's wing, Or gleam of slanting sail?

The period around 1812 was a splendid time for industrious young men to make a legitimate fortune on the high seas. A couple of boys barely into their twenties could prosper trading cod and lumber for the rum, molasses and coffee of the Indies, which was precisely the career George Leverett and Charles Jose envisioned when they set out from Portland, Maine. Their destination was the Soule Boatyard in South Freeport and their mission was to arrange for the building of their own new vessel.

However, shortly after arriving in South Freeport they met the lovely Sarah Soule, fell violently in love with her, and out of sorts with each other. Perhaps because of his Portuguese blood, Jose pursued her more hotly, though in the end it was George Leverett she preferred. After a bitter argument, during which Charles tried to hurl George into the Royal River, the friendship between the two men ended. Charles disappeared and George proceeded with construction of the ship. When she was finished, he appropriately named her Sarah and prepared for his wedding to Sarah Soule.

Ill fortune arose on every side. At first there were strange obstacles in the wedding preparations. Then Captain Leverett found it oddly difficult to line up a crew. Still, he was a determined young man and, at last, with his bride in his house and a crew on his ship, Leverett sailed into Portland harbor to take on cargo for the West Indies. At the same time, there arrived a curious black craft which flew no flag and was outfitted with cannon. The ship was the Don Pedro Salazar and her captain was none other than Leverett's former partner and romantic rival, Charles Jose.

Much like a storm cloud on the horizon, the Don Pedro trailed the Sarah south. As the voyage progressed the Sarah's crew grew more and more uneasy and petitioned Captain Leverett to head for Nassau to report the menacing pursuer to the British Admiralty. He never reached the harbor. As soon as the Don Pedro saw what course Leverett was taking, she opened fire, killing all but Leverett and severely damaging, though through some miracle, not sinking the unarmed Sarah.

Still blinded by jealousy and seeking murderous revenge, Jose could have tortured the survivor in a variety of traditional methods. However, Jose, after looting the ship, chose only to tie Leverett to the foot of the Sarah's mainmast and head him out to sea.

It was then that Leverett experienced an extraordinary phenomenon. Helpless as he was and facing certain death and destruction on an unmanned and shattered vessel, he still was possessed by a strange notion that the ship was under control. Indeed the dead crew began to rise up and take their posts one by one. Sails were set and the ship's course was turned toward home. Captain Leverett, at this point, understandably lost consciousness.

On a bleak November day people on Potts' Point saw a fully rigged yet tragic wreck sailing with uncanny accuracy along the unmarked channel. Suddenly the ship came to a full stop without benefit of an anchor. A pale and silent crew lowered an apparently unconscious man into a boat, rowed him ashore and laid him on a rock, his log book beside him. Without even the squeak of an oar-lock, the ghostly sailors returned to the ship just as a heavy fog suddenly blanketed the harbor. When it had lifted the ship was gone. The unconsciousman was soon recognized as George Leverett and it is said that he recovered at least enough to relate this tale, though he surely never went out to sea again.

The last sighting of the Sarah was in the 1880s on a crystaline summer afternoon. A guest seated on the piazza of Harpswell House looked seaward toward the horizon in time to see a wondrous vision.

A great schooner, under full sail, her canvas gilded in the sun, was heading slowly for the harbor. He summoned a friend, but when they looked again the ship had vanished. Believers say that the magnificent wreck and her ghostly crew, weary from wandering, had reached home port for the last time.

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Halloween

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Der Titel dieses Artikels ist mehrdeutig. Weitere Bedeutungen befinden sich unter Halloween (Begriffsklärung).

Jack-o'-lantern, leuchtender Halloween-Kürbis

Typisches geschmücktes Haus zu Halloween in Milwaukee

Zurechtgeschnitzte Rübe zu Halloween

Als Halloween wird die Feier des Vorabends vom Allerheiligenfest in der Nacht vom 31. Oktober zum 1. November bezeichnet, die vor allem in Irland und Nordamerika gefeiert wird. Am gleichen Termin wurde zuvor bereits das alte keltische Fest Samhain gefeiert. Daher glauben einige, dass Halloween auf irisches oder gar keltisches Brauchtum zurückgeht. Diese Herleitung ist jedoch umstritten. Das Allerheiligenfest am 1. November hat sich von Rom aus verbreitet, wo kein keltisches Erbe aufzunehmen war.

Das Wort „Halloween“ geht sehr wahrscheinlich auf das Wort „All Hallows’ Eve“ (Vorabend von Allerheiligen) zurück. Seit einigen Jahren steht es vermehrt in Konkurrenz zum Reformationstag am selben Tag und verdrängt, durch die vermehrte Kommerzialisierung und die Nähe der Termine, das traditionellere Martinssingen und Martinisingen am 10. und 11. November.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

[Verbergen]

Verbreitung [Bearbeiten]

Da der Tag somit auch mit Allerheiligen verbunden war, wurde Halloween früher nur in katholisch gebliebenen Gebieten der britischen Inseln gefeiert, vor allem in Irland. Von dort kam es mit den vielen irischen Auswanderern im 19. Jahrhundert in die USA und gehörte dort zum Brauchtum dieser Volksgruppe. Allerdings wurde es aufgrund seiner Attraktivität bald auch von den Kindern anderer Einwanderer übernommen und entwickelte sich zu einem wichtigen Volksfest in den USA und Kanada.

Aus Nordamerika kam das Feiern des Halloweenfestes dann wegen des Bekanntwerdens durch Fernsehserien nach ganz Europa, wo es nun in noch stärker kommerzialisierter, vielfach veränderter Form gefeiert wird. So hat die neu-europäische Variante des Fests eher fröhlichen und weniger schauderhaften Charakter als westlich des Atlantiks. Während in den USA z. B. auch Schulklassenzimmer mit Hexenmotiven oder Rathausvorplätze mit Jack O'Lanterns (ausgehöhlten und mit Fratzen versehenen Kürbissen) geschmückt werden, bleibt der Halloween-Schmuck in Europa eher in Geschäften oder privaten Räumen vorherrschend, breitet sich aber inzwischen nach und nach auch bis in Gärten, an Häusern und auf Balkone aus. Auch die Aufforderung „Süßes oder Saures“ (englisch: trick or treat), also Süßigkeiten zu bekommen oder andernfalls einen Streich zu spielen, ist in Europa noch nicht so weit verbreitet wie in Nordamerika. Dieser Teil gestaltet sich so, dass verkleidete Kinder in ihrer Nachbarschaft von Tür zu Tür wandern und von den Leuten, die sie zu Hause antreffen, Süßigkeiten „fordern“ – ansonsten drohen Streiche, wie sie in Europa auch z. B. aus der Hexennacht btw. Walpurgisnacht bekannt sind. Halloween wird als ein Phänomen bezeichnet, da es erst seit den 1990ern zelebriert wird, aber schon sehr verbreitet im deutschsprachigen Raum ist. Halloween taucht mittlerweile auch zunehmend im Fernsehen und im Radio auf.

Mit der wachsenden Popularität des Festes ist auch in den letzten Jahren die Kritik von seiten einiger christlicher Gruppen lauter geworden – insbesondere evangelikale Christen in den USA distanzieren sich sehr scharf von Halloween und vertreten die Meinung, dass mit dem Fest Missbrauch durch satanistische Vereinigungen getrieben werden könne. Ein Zusammenhang zwischen Allerseelen/Allerheiligen und älteren heidnischen Totenfesten zur selben Zeit wird meist bestritten.* In Deutschland wird eher kritisiert, dass der alte Brauch, an Martini bzw. beim Martinssingen an den Haustüren Lieder zu singen, von dem Ruf „Süßes oder Saures“ verdrängt wird. Seit einigen Jahren wird Halloween neben der Walpurgisnacht und der Sommersonnenwende auch an den Externsteinen in Nordrhein-Westfalen gefeiert.

So heißt es z. B., dass die alten keltischen Priester einmal im Jahr ein Kindesopfer von einer der örtlich ansässigen Familien forderten. Um die betreffende Familie zu bestimmen, die eines ihrer Kinder zur Opferung herauszugeben hatte, wurde jener ein Totenschädel auf einem Stab vor die Wohnstätte gestellt. Hiervon soll sich der noch immer erhaltene Brauch, erleuchtete Kürbisköpfe vor das Haus zu stellen, ableiten.

Verkleidungen [Bearbeiten]

Verkleidetes Kind in den USA

Zu Halloween sind Verkleidungen beliebt; viele Kinder, aber auch Erwachsene verkleiden sich. Populäre Kostüme sind Hexen, Geister, Vampire, Fledermäuse, Skelette und Kürbisse.

Traditionelle Halloweenfarben sind schwarz, orange, weiß und gelb.

Siehe auch [Bearbeiten]

Halloween-ähnliche regionale Bräuche:

Halloween-ähnliche Bräuche international:

Literatur [Bearbeiten]

Dewald, Markus: Kelten – Kürbis – Kulte. Kleine Kulturgeschichte von Halloween; Stuttgart: Thorbecke, 2002, ISBN 3799501061
Lisa Morton: The Halloween Encyclopedia; McFarland & Company, 2003 (Englisch)

Weblinks [Bearbeiten]

Commons: Halloween – Bilder, Videos und Audiodateien

Wiktionary: Halloween – Bedeutungserklärungen, Wortherkunft, Synonyme und Übersetzungen

Von „http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween“

Kategorien: Feiertag | Gedenk- und Feiertag (Vereinigte Staaten)

Halloween-der schrecken in der Nacht

Freitag, 26. Oktober 2007

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John and Abigail Adams

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