Irish Halloween History

 

These spooky carvings are the original Jack-o'-lantern carved from turnips, not pumpkins. 

Carving of pumpkins is a popular Halloween activity these days and it has its roots in ancient Irish tradition.

The ancients believed that at Samhain/Halloween/Last day of October, that the veil separating the world of the living from the world of the dead (Otherworld) became very thin, allowing Otherworld spirits to mingle with the living. 

There were two kinds of spirits, the good and bad. 

Good spirits were welcomed into homes and were honored through celebrating and feasting.

Evil spirits also made the crossing and it was believed would roam the earth searching for souls to take back to the Otherworld. Consequently the ancients came up with a plan to fool the evil spirits.

Stingy Jack was one of the more famous evil spirits and his soul roams the earth at Samhain.

After dark, the best way to scare an evil spirit is to have evil looking faces shining through the darkness. This hopefully was enough to frighten Stingy Jack and the other bad spirits away.

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 myth goes, God would not allow such an unsavoury 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.”

Irish immigrants in the US carried on the traditions of their homeland but used pumpkins instead of turnips which are much easier to carve. 

For this very reason the American tradition has travelled back across the Atlantic and nowadays it is mostly pumpkins which are carved into Jack O’Lanterns in Ireland.

The Pagan Kitchen Pumpkin Pie

 

Pumpkin pie is popular in the United States and Canada, but in other parts of the world, not so much.

1621 – Early American settlers of Plimoth Plantation (1620-1692), the first permanent European settlement in southern New England, might have made pumpkin pies (of sorts) by making stewed pumpkins or by filling a hollowed out shell with milk, honey and spices, and then baking it in hot ashes. 

An actual present-day pumpkin pie with crust is a myth, as ovens to bake pies were not available in the colony at that stage.

Northeastern Native American tribes grew squash and pumpkins. 

They roasted or boiled them for eating. Historians think that the settlers were not very impressed by the Indians’ squash and/or pumpkins until they had to survive their first harsh winter when about half of the settlers died from scurvy and exposure. 

The Native Americans brought pumpkins as gifts to the first settlers, and taught them the many used for the pumpkin. 

This is what developed into pumpkin pie about 50 years after the first Thanksgiving in America.

1651 – Francois Pierre la Varenne, the famous French chef and author of one of the most important French cookbooks of the 17th century, wrote a cookbook called Le Vrai Cuisinier Francois (The True French Cook). 

It was translated and published in England as The French Cook in 1653. 

It has a recipe for a pumpkin pie that included the pastry:

Tourte of pumpkin – Boile it with good milk, pass it through a straining pan very thick, and mix it with sugar, butter, a little salt and if you will, a few stamped almonds; let all be very thin. Put it in your sheet of paste; bake it. After it is baked, besprinkle it with sugar and serve.

As for our Pumpkin Pie recipe, if you give it a try, we do hope you enjoy it.

Ingredients

Crust

¼cup butter, softened

¼cup shortening

1¼cups all-purpose flour

1Tbsp granulated sugar

¼tsp salt

1egg yolk

2Tbsp ice water

Filling

3eggs

115 oz can pumpkin

½cup granulated sugar

¼cup packed dark brown sugar

1tsp ground cinnamon

½tsp salt

½tsp ground ginger

¼tsp ground cloves

¼tsp ground nutmeg

¾cup whole milk

¼cup heavy cream

Directions

Crust

Beat together butter and shortening until smooth and creamy.

Chill till firm

Sift together flour, sugar and salt in medium bowl

Using a pastry knife or fork, cut the chilled butter and shortening into the dry ingredients until the flour is mixed in and it has a crumbly texture.

Mix egg yolk and ice water into the dough with a spoon then form it into a ball with your hands.

Don't work the dough too much or your crust will lose its flakiness. 

Flakey crust is good crust.

Cover dough ball with plastic wrap to sit until the filling is ready.

Filling

Beat eggs.

Add pumpkin and stir well to combine

Combine sugars, cinnamon, salt, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg in a small bowl.

Stir spice mixture into the pumpkin.

Mix in milk and cream.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

While oven preheats let filling sit so that it can come closer to room temperature.

Unwrap pie dough, then roll it flat on a floured surface and line a 9 inch pie dish.

When oven is hot pour filling into pie shell, and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 and bake for another 50 to 60 minutes or until a knife stuck in the middle comes out clean.

Cool pie, then chill. Slice chilled pie into 6 pieces to serve restaurant size portions. Whipped cream on top is optional but highly recommended.

Here’s a conversion chart, just in case:

If you feel artsy,

you can design a moon and stars pie crust top. 

Cut your design and bake it.

Allow to cool and place on top of your cooled pumpkin pie.

Halloween is Almost Here

 

We’ve been getting ready for Halloween since the beginning of the year because we love the atmosphere, excitement and emotions created by this special holiday.

We honor Samhain for the special Pagan day that it is.

Having said that, we also love the season of Halloween.

For all the people who love cheesy horror movies, fake cobwebs, and the endless supply of cupcakes, we are among and with you.

Halloween, with all its tacky, silly goulishness, is the best holiday. We salute the people who love it, we have a commonality with you.

Halloween is the only Holiday where grown adults can be silly and get away with it.

To enjoy Halloween all you need is bad wig, fake blood on a T-shirt and you're all set.

It's a holiday that is actually fun for kids and adults, at the same time, imagine that.

Other holidays are fun for kids and adults as well, but the money, the cost of some of these holidays put people in debt all year round.

Because of the expense the stress levels go through the roof.

On the other hand, carving a pumpkin, bobbing for apples, going a hayride or experiencing a corn maze are inexpensive Halloween ways to have, a lot of fun.

 

It’s Mabon Time