October 2021 – Whole Heartily

Our New Halloween Family Tradition

Have you ever intentionally created a family tradition? I haven’t, until now!

My family and I grew up watching the Charlie Brown/Peanuts holiday specials around this time every year with our parents; they all have a special place in my heart, but none more than It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, and A Charlie Brown Christmas!

Continuing on with these good feelings and memories, embellishing it to make it our own, here is our new Halloween tradition:

The night before Halloween (or a few nights before), we will carve our pumpkins and light them for the first time. After, we’ll sip on cold or warm apple cider (depending on the weather) and watch It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown!

It’s simple, yet fun and heartfelt like any family tradition should be! Create happy feelings and the happy memories will follow! Feel free to use this idea for your own family tradition, or take it and change it to make it your own!

Homemade Apple Cider Recipe

INTRODUCTION

Welcome back friends! Autumn is my favorite season and while pumpkin spice has its charms, I prefer apple cider!

My family and I are starting a new Halloween tradition this year that includes drinking apple cider (check back on Friday for more details) and I thought it would be special to create our own!

Please feel free to use this recipe to create some delicious apple cider for you and yours! This cider is sweet and spiced; I used all Honeycrisp apples, but you can experiment with the combination of apples to change the flavor!

HOMEMADE APPLE CIDER

INGREDIENTS

10 medium apples, quartered
1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons of ground cloves
4 – 6 tablespoons of sugar
Water

INSTRUCTIONS

Place the apples, cinnamon, cloves and sugar into a crockpot, then add enough water to cover the apples.
Cover the crockpot and cook the contents on low for 6 hours.
Once the 6 hours have passed, use a spoon to gently crush the apples, then allow them to cook for 1 more hour.
Once cooked, turn off the heat and allow the contents to cool slightly.
Slowly ladle and strain the liquid through a fine mesh sieve into a large pot or pitcher, then strain it a second time; discard the solids.
Enjoy warm or cold!

Hen Wen’s Apple Porridge Recipe (The Black Cauldron)

INTRODUCTION

Welcome back friends! This week we’ll be cooking Hen Wen’s Apple Porridge from Disney’s The Black Cauldron.

This recipe is featured in the beginning of the film, when Caer Dallben asks Taran to feed Hen Wen the porridge he prepared for her.

This porridge looks much more appetizing than the one in the film. I couldn’t help myself! I thought to myself, if I wanted to eat porridge with apples, I’d want the apples to be cooked separately to develop their flavor more and I’m sure Hen Wen would approve!

HEN WEN’S APPLE PORRIDGE

APPLES

2 apples, peeled and cut into slices
1/3 cup of water
Cinnamon
Brown sugar

PORRIDGE

1 cup of old fashioned oats
1 3/4 cups of whole milk
1/8 teaspoon of salt
Cinnamon
Brown sugar

INSTRUCTIONS (APPLES)

Peel and cut the apples into slices.
Pour the water into a small sauce pan, then add the apples.
Sprinkle the desired amount of cinnamon and brown sugar onto the apples and stir to distribute.
Cover and cook until tender, stirring occasionally to evenly coat and cook the apples.
Once cooked, remove from the heat and set aside for the porridge (see below).

INSTRUCTIONS (PORRIDGE)

In a medium saucepan, boil the milk with the salt.
Stir in the oats.
Cook the oats for about 5 minutes over medium heat; stirring occasionally.
Remove the porridge from the heat and sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon, then stir to distribute.
Spoon the porridge into two bowls and arrange the cooked apple slices (see above) on top. I arranged mine into the shape of a rose and I believe next time I’ll cover the porridge completely.
Enjoy!

Family Friendly Halloween Movies – PG Rated

Welcome to the spooky month of October my friends!

My family and I have created a list of family friendly Halloween movies and specials for you and yours! Halloween may be celebrated a little differently this year, but that doesn’t mean we can’t kindle a little Halloween spirit!

This year we’ve decided to focus on movies and specials that are rated PG for parental guidance suggested; some material may not be suitable for children. If you are looking for movies and specials that are rated G for general audience and good for all ages, please visit last year’s list – Family Friendly Halloween Movies and Specials Rated G.

Please let us know if we missed or left out any of your family friendly (PG-rated) halloween favorites you feel should be included! We’d love to hear from you!

Organized alphabetically by title:

Family Friendly Halloween Children’s Books – Ages 5 and Under

Welcome to the boo-tiful month of October my friends!

To inspire you and your little ones into the Halloween mood, I’ve curated a list of Halloween-themed books for ages five and under! These selections are festive, without frights or scares that could upset a younger audience.

There are a handful of books on this list with a reading age that start under the age of five and peak at the age of 7 or 8.

If you have a favorite Halloween book for children ages 5 and under that you do not see here, please let me know! I would love to add it to this list!

My AncestryDNA experience

Have you tried AncestryDNA or something similar? I finally treated myself to a basic AncestryDNA kit this Mother’s Day past, and it has been very enlightening, slightly surprising, and fun!

Unbeknownst to me, I am a whole lotta Scottish! I expected English and Irish, I’ve been told about relatives from those regions my whole life, but I suppose I missed the mention of any Scottish ancestors. I felt the need to create a family tree before, but now I am very enthusiastic about finding out more about our ancestors; where they came from, who they were!

So let me take you through the process…

Once purchased, they mail you a package. I strongly suggest activating your kit as soon as you open it and find the activation number. If you don’t activate your kit before sending it in, you may never get your results back!

Before you start collecting your saliva sample, make sure you don’t eat or drink anything at least 30 minutes before drooling into the test tube. Follow the instructions within the kit to submit your sample.

Once you mail it out, you can follow your progress on the AncestryDNA application or on the website, whichever is easier. They’ll send you notifications every step of the way until your results are in!

I’d love to hear about your experience with DNA testing! What were your results? How did the whole experience make you feel?

Please let me know if you have any questions!