Halloween parties in the Philippines often take place on the weekend before October 31st. For many Filipinos, the last day of October is reserved for driving or flying to their home provinces to be on time for Undas — the combined celebration of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day on Novermber 1st and 2nd, respectively — to visit the graves of their loved ones.
American-style Halloween celebrations with the costumes, decorations and trick or treat are, therefore, held earlier. In the past, I never really bothered. Well, except once. 2008. We just bought a house, we were new in the neighborhood and we donated trays of butterscotch brownies. The whole experience, especially the trick or treat part, was so… Well, we never participated again.
Then, we moved. New neighborhood, new people. Our village had its bash on October 25 with over 300 people (adults and children) in attendance. I volunteered with the organizing committee and was asked to be one of the three judges to choose who deserved the prize for Best Costume (divided by age bracket), Best Prosthetics and Most Creative Loot Bag. Let’s just say it wasn’t easy with over 200 children — from toddlers to pre-teens — competing. But it was riotous fun. Elsa, Jasmine, Tinkerbell, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (yes, all four of them!), K-Pop Demon Hunters and even a Storm Trooper. And among those who went the gory path, some of the prosthetics were good enough to be in movies.
But, let’s get back to food. I also pledged a donation of dessert bars, and these were my family’s contribution to the Halloween party.
No, this is not a sponsored post. My daughter, Alex, is the baker behind @the.yellow.kitchen.ph, a small home-based business that keeps her busy. She’s always experimenting. That photo at the start of the post — the cream and green mummies, Frankenstein’s monster and poisoned apples — was the culmination of a four-day experiment with matcha shortbread cookies.
They didn’t make it in time for the village’s Halloween party but we’re giving some of the cookies to neighbors with young children. It’s only just October 29, after all.
And just what do we plan to do on October 31st when the neighborhood will likely be a ghost town after the exodus of the Undas crowd? I’m thinking of having something we’ve enjoyed before but not often enough.
Served as a scary Halloween drink, brain hemorrhage relies on specific gravity to form the distinct layers. The “brain” is the effect of the curdling of the cream component in Bailey’s Irish Cream when it hits the pool of peach schnapps. Get the recipe.
