I don’t know about you guys, but Halloween snuck up on me this year. Probably because of the move. Despite our new home being in disarray and still waiting on area rugs and a couple of chairs for the living room, we decided to have our annual soup and pumpkin carving get together last weekend. We could have easily skipped it this year, but you never know how many Halloweens you have left in you. I am glad we did it. The usual noise was doubled when you have wood floors without area rugs and nothing hung on the walls yet. Fortunately, no one seemed to mind. Well, except us older people that cannot hear as well under normal circumstances. Ahem.

It was surprising to me how much we lean into our routines. I have been doing this soup and pumpkin carving party for years, but everything was thrown up into the air in a new home. Where do we set up the tables? We have always taken a picture of the completed jack-o-lanterns in front of the fireplace. Where is the best spot to take that picture now? You have to rethink how you entertain in a new space.

From the minute the kids got in the door, they were asking when we were going to make “witch’s brew.” Mr. U started this tradition when our kids were little. We usually served it at birthday parties, right after the treasure hunt around the property. Once the grands came along, we moved it to the pumpkin carving party, and it is always a hit. The recipe is from a friend’s family cookbook that we received as a gift when we got married. It is a simple root beer recipe, but Mr. U makes it more interesting when they add ant’s blood (aka – root beer extract). But it is the dry ice that creates the magic. Be sure to have vanilla ice cream on hand to make root beer floats after the kids are done casting spells over it.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you all have a fun, safe Halloween! We will be sitting at home with our feet up by the fire.

Feature photo credit to my amazing sister, who is always behind the scenes getting things done.