Sunday 24 October 2010

Let's Eat!

Welcome! If you are here blog-hopping from faithhopecherrytea (isn't that a great name for a blog?) or if you landed here by lucky chance today, it's good to see you! Are you ready? then (with thanks to Amy who organised us all) Lets Eat..


Maybe it's an Irish thing, I'm not sure, but the one time of year my mum always stepped up her time in the kitchen was right around now. Halloween. It was better than Christmas.

Apples are plentiful round here at this time of year, and the first thing she always made was an apple tart - brown and crisp, and if you were lucky a carefully wrapped coin hidden in your slice. We always had toffee apples, too, with the round, flat penny at the bottom as big as she could make it because that was our favourite bit, and peanut brittle. And did you know that it's turnips round here for lanterns? (Or large potatoes. Less scooping, less candle wax, my mum always said.)

But the best food treat of all wasn't really a food. It was a pie (but not one you could eat) and that's what I want to show you today.

The Halloween Treasure Hunt Pie
  • First of all my mum chose a special present for each of us. Something she knew we wanted, that was what made it so exciting. She wrapped it and labelled it with a named tag on a long string (see photo)
  • Then she worked out where in the house she wanted to hide her clues. She spread them around so there was plenty of running about from one end of the house to the other
  • Next she wrote up clues, numbered them and hide them carefully with the final clue leading to the biggest, best hiding place (see below for some ideas)
  • Finally she constucted the surprise pie with a big dish and some brown paper. It doesn't have to look sophisticated because the idea is for it to fall apart as soon as everyone pulls the tag with their name on. Once it was hidden, all she had to do was sit back and enjoy the fun.

The pie under construction

The finished pie - simply gather the brown paper up around the presents and secure with paper clips so the wrapping falls away when the strings are pulled. My strings are plaited black wool

 
The Clues: Just some ideas to get you started
  1. UNDER THE BED: If you rest on this, you'll sleep safe and sound. Don't look on the top, it's more underground.
  2. IN THE FRIDGE: Cold, colder, coldest, this clue isn't hot. Check your chees or your milk, it's easy to spot.
  3. COAT HOOKS: If you want to wrap up in the rain or the snow, to pick up a coat it's there that you'll go.
  4. LINEN CUPBOARD: Reach in your hand for something fresh, clean, smelling sweet. It could be a quilt, some towels or a sheet.
  5. OVEN: If you can't smell your supper, you can peek inside. Cos if nothing is cooking, it's a good place to hide.
The clues - nicely decorated for Halloween

And that's my recipe for today. It doesn't have to be for Halloween of course. It works for Easter or a birthday or a bit of fun on a rainy Sunday afternoon. But I bet by now you are ready to see what else is cooking, so the next stop on the hop is with Rinda. See you there!


 

34 comments:

Rachel Brett said...

What a fantastic idea, I will definitely have to try this when the kids are older- I love it and it's another opportunity to craft! :)

JO SOWERBY said...

that is such a fun idea sian. i love the images going round my head of u running around the house looking for apples and nuts!!!!1 although im abit worried about u sticking ur heads in the oven! ;-))
Jo xxxx

Jimjams said...

Ha ha what fun - we do this sort of thing at Easter (even though my eldest two are over 18!). I love the idea of the final pie being pulled apart. And there was me expecting some sort of edible recipe when I came for a look LOL :o)

Jennifer Grace said...

Great fun Sian, I love treasure hunts. We do a hunt on one of the writing courses I run - Funtastic fairies. We say the fairies have hidden clues, and the kids have to run around the big mansion house we're staying at, finding clues that lead them back to their chairs in the classroom, where a little packet of glitter, a pretty pencil, and some beads etc are hiding underneath. The kids always love it. I can't wait until my daughter is old enough for treasure hunts! xx

Ruth said...

What a cool post! Your mum was full of amazing ideas, just like you! I'm going to have to give this a try very soon!

Amy said...

That is just fantastic Sian, what a great take on the idea and yet again a wonderful story you have shared with us all!
Are TTO and TSO playing along?

furrypig said...

Wow well done for thinking outside the box with your 'recipe' great idea will definitely be trying this one out!

Diane said...

ah...my kids would love this :)

scrappyjacky said...

Sian, this sounds like so much fun...what a great 'recipe'.My kids always loved any sort of treasure hunt...we often had them at Easter and birthdays....never thought of a halloween one!

alexa said...

Wonderful recipe for fun, Sian - what a wonderful mother too! I am writing these ideas down, and looking forward to a houseful of little ones (or big ones!) for whom I can cook this up! :)

Anne said...

This is so different. It's such a fun idea.

helena said...

we did something simillar to find our easter eggs when we were kids - I loved the hunting for the next clue

Miriam said...

Brilliant Sian, it brings back memories of something I used to do with my son during advent. I also love the thinking outside the box! :)

Anonymous said...

We have always done something very similar for Easter. Even when my kids were teenagers they expected Dad to produce these wonderful treasure hunts.

Beverly said...

I LOVE THIS!!!! Too late for my children but I am putting this idea away in my book of fun things to do with future grandchildren ;)

Anonymous said...

Fun, Sian! Definitely something I'll do when there is a new set of littles in my house :) Who knows, even mine might enjoy it now!

Susanne said...

Oh this sounds like so much fun. Love the idea of the paper pie.

debs14 said...

I just had a feeling that your blog post would be highly original and I wasn't disappointed! This sounds like such a fun idea and I love the photos of the steps towards making the pie.

Lou said...

What a fantastic idea, i love it x

Carmen said...

What fabulous fun! I love the clues, and the pie that's not a pie is just genius. What an amazing Mum you have!

Sandra said...

I now see where your creativity comes from :) ... what a great idea

laurie said...

this "recipe" not only looks like fun but low-calorie, too!

Faith Hope and Cherrytea said...

what FuN!! & GREaT photos :)
thx Sian for your creativity :)
i have remedied the link to you on the post - i had ALL the list included but it wouldn't publish, so it's now back to amy's & yours:)
sorry it took so long - i had NO internet for 2 hrs after rising this morning here & have just now worked thru all the craziness!!
glad at least the post was autoposted in time!!
enjoy the Hop and Today :)

humel said...

I love this, so different! We don't really 'do' Hallowe'en but I shall definitely keep the idea in mind for Christmas, Easter, and any other possible occasion :-)

Tracy said...

That is such a clever idea, really awesome!

Deb @ PaperTurtle said...

SOOOO much fun, Sian. I love hearing about family traditions and this is a really sweet one. Thanks for sharing it with us on this super fun blog hop! xo

Abi said...

This is so sweet Sian! Would love to give this a go! Thanks for the idea! Abi xx

emhowl said...

What a gorgeous idea. I loved hunting at birthday parties when I was young.

Cheri said...

I did something similar for the girls one year at Easter. long strings winding under tables, around chair legs, over furniture, ultimately leading to the child's basket. It was a lot of fun!

Maria Ontiveros said...

What a fantastic mom you had! We did this once with Easter baskets.
Rinda

Clare said...

That's a great idea Sian, I never thought to do a Halloween treasure hunt before.

Liberty :) said...

such cute packaging and great idea.

Anonymous said...

How fun! What a nice memory too!

Lizzie said...

Lovely idea! We always have an Easter-Egg Hunt on Easter Sunday - DS loves them even now, although it's getting more challenging to think of tricky clues for him. One year we went away for Easter - "But the Easter Bunny doesn't know we're going away. How will he give me an Easter-Egg hunt?" He was thrilled to bits to find the Easter Bunny had worked out that we were staying in a holiday caravan. It made it even more fun.

Never had/made a paper pie before though - fab idea. Your mum has given you an amazing legacy of ideas, recipes and stuff to make - and you're handing it on to your own children (and grandchildren). It's wonderful.

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