Legend of Sleepy Hollow Halloween 2019

This may seem like a belated post, but it really isn't. I needed to have my Halloween costume party the weekend after the actual date so that all my dear kiddos could attend. We celebrated last night, and what fun!

 I added a card table to the end of my dining table to give room for 14 guests. I went to an auction in the spring and lucked out on a fantastic box of vintage linens. There were some gorgeous things in it! But at the bottom were also two not-so-gorgeous polyester cloths from the 60's, still in the plastic packaging. I almost donated them to Goodwill, but my inner thrifty self stopped me. The cloths were matching, and I realized I could use them both when adding onto my table and it would look like one solid expanse! I was very pleased with my super long cloth!

 And while I wanted my party and dinner to be more elegant than gruesome, the way I imagined it in the story Legend of Sleepy Hollow, a few little things "crept" into the scene. Namely my sweet little boa curled up on my pumpkin. There might have been a frog and bug or two as well. 

I set the table with alternating cream plates and vintage ones with vines, because I didn't have enough of one or the other to do the whole table. The name holder/party favors were tiny velvet pumpkins I found in packs of six at Hobby Lobby. When I think of Sleepy Hollow, the flaming-eyed pumpkin that the Headless Horseman carries is what comes to mind. I was going to use cloth napkins, but a dear friend (Hello, Ms Beth!) gave me these wonderful paper ones. They are refined enough for the mood, but also perfect for a Halloween flair. 

She also gave me the greatest platter, but I didn't get a picture of the buffets with supper on them.

 For the invites, I made ones that opened to a vellum page that showed a menu waiting to be unfolded on the back page...

When unfurled, it showed an excerpt from Irving's story, detailing the delights that Ichabod Crane gazed about on as he entered the dining hall. I wanted it to be a hint of what they could expect at our banquet.

I cooked a ham from our hog, two roasted chickens, and smoked a beef roast to go along with theme. (No broiled shad, however ;) But if you notice, he extols the meats, but waxes rhapsodic over the sweets. My kind of man! Alongside the meats, we had two pans of smoked gouda-garlic au gratin taters, fresh bread, salad, and pickled veggies. Did I get pictures? Sigh. When do I ever get pictures of the real food?? I try to time it to be ready and hot at the moment everyone arrives. Then I throw it out and we feast like wild animals. Literally. Out of all that food I had two slices of ham, two pieces of chicken, some bread, and a scoop of taters left! I LOVE good eaters! But the desserts were what I labored over with delight...

 I would be tarred and feathered if I didn't make meringue "brittle bones", and Grandma Betty's popcorn balls. But aside from that, I let the story be my guide. I wanted a plethora of little cakes and pies to make a generous looking table that Ichabod would be proud of. The little brown bundt cakes are pumpkin spice brushed with honey-butter syrup. The little ones in the covered tureen were my French Lemon Loaf that the whole family loves (recipe HERE).

See that gorgeous stack on vintage green plates? A bday gift from my dear mummy! I had so much fun making the 6-inch pies of blackberry and raspberry, and once again the desire to make things look elegant fell under the weight of wanting to make creepy little face pies! The one below has a candied cherry for an eyeball, and I cut a slit for the mouth. As it cooked, the filling began to flow out the open mouth- it was barfing berries! Okay, a tad gross, but I laughed so much.

The little dark pies are a chocolate tarts, and the orange pies are of pureed squirrel brains. All right, they are actually my absolute favorite sweet potato pie recipe HERE, made from taters my hubby swooped to the side of the road to buy me when we came home from Alabama. Sweet pies, sweet memories. And really, folks, don't the pecan halves look a little like half-submerged squirrel brains...?

Here is my happy hoard, having mainly finished eating. My friend Andrea is still working at it, because her adorable grandbaby, Charlotte, wanted to eat most of her first plate!

 After eating we had our traditional picture taking. To go with our theme, I was Katrina Van Tassel, the lady that both Brom Bones and Ichabod Crane wanted as a wife. (It was largely due to the size of the farm, and the plenteous food, but hey, I'll take it) I was going to have the hubby be Brom; he is built more like him than the spindly schoolteacher. But he decided that he was Ichabod DUANE, he he. Oh, puns never fail to get me!

 I like this picture because you can see my dear Ichabod's ponytail tied up with ribbon, just like in the Disney cartoon that I think has cemented the image in every child's memory.

Here is the big bad Grandma Wolf and her Little Red Riding Hood. Are they not adorable?! And that baby was the best little thing- she was nothing but sweetness and smiles the whole while.

My moma and pop are such good sports. And every year I am just waiting to see what they show up as. Do you remember last year when they were grandma and the big bad wolf? This year they were the ill-fated pair from the nursery rhyme of Jack and Jill, pail and all.

Pop declared that he did not fall down the hill, but was pushed!

 Here are my sweet newly-weds and my little bump of a grandbaby! Yes, it is the cutest little bump ever. Belle was Buttercup from The Princess Bride, and Will was Dread Pirate Roberts/Wesley.

 Ah, twue wuv...

 My grand-cat, Crumb, even got in on the festivities. She was a Meow-tain Troll. Seth inherited my love of puns, times five! The idea, outfit, and club was his doing :)

 Seth and Emiley have been watching their way through the Lord of the Rings series. It was a deal that if she watched them, then he would watch Titanic with her. Pretty good deal, I think!

 Emiley was the winner of our yearly Halloween trivia game! And she was also delighted when I told her that her furrowed brow, and deep eye creases were amazing. I am not always so excited when people say the same of me...

 Their outfits were a comedy of, ah, proportions- with the little Hobbit towering above Gandalf. I just have to say Seth's feet are exactly the right size for a Hobbit!

And this is my dear friend, Ms Jenny. She is the person who talking to me about homeschooling 20 some years ago, and mentored me, giving me courage to start. She came as Cinderella in rags. I was hoping that she was going to stay and put that broom to good use (you may have seen my cobweb problem in the prior Halloween post), but alas, pumpkin carriages cannot wait.

And here are my oldest children, looking fabulous! Savvy was a dark fey (like Malificent), only her eyes had been put out, instead of her wings cut off. Her antlers blend in with the real ones behind her, but her outfit was amazing- take a look at that walking stick! Devin was Cousin It from the Adams Family. But I admit when I first saw him I thought he was from the band ZZ Top ;)) Yes, that is actually all his luscious hair!

And last, but certainly not least, my friend Wendy (and mother of my daughter-in-law Belle, how cool is that?!) as Cruella Deville. You can't see at this distance, but she even has dark contacts to make her eyes look the part of a stone-cold puppy killer, he he! And that wig- she looked absolutely amazing in it. My young pal, Raley (Emiley's little sister) was a Frat Boy. I guessed surfer dude, because I've never seen any frat guys with that gorgeous a head of hair!

When a twelve year old, and a 60-something year old, both tell you how excited they have been for your party, it really makes all the preparations worth the work. I think even the tiniest guest, and the furriest, had a nice time. I am so blessed to have friends and family that I adore and can have fun with!

And so, thank you, Dear Reader, for reminiscing with me over last night's party. I hope you feel that you too were invited into the fray. I'd hand you a sweet right off the table if I could!