Tag: Halloween

Pumpkin Hacks & Tips!

It’s that time of year! Halloween is just around the corner and you want to carve the most epic pumpkin of your life. Well, lucky for you, I’ve found a few great tips and even a pumpkin hacks video. First, tips on how to make your pumpkin last longer:

  • Before you start, let your pumpkin dry completely. Scoop out all the guts and then let the interior get completely dry before starting carving. This means less moisture inside the pumpkin to accelerate rot.
  • Did you know cutting the stem off the pumpkin is actually bad for it? That stem is still delivering vital nutrients to the pumpkin, even after it’s been off the vine. Try cutting a hole on the side or back of the pumpkin to keep the stem attached.
  • Once you’ve carved, try making a DIY pumpkin spray! Just fill up an empty spray bottle with water and add one tablespoon peppermint castile soap. Shake the bottle to mix, and spray your carved pumpkin daily to slow down the decay process.
  • This may seem counterintuitive in a carved pumpkin, but you can avoid candles and keep the pumpkin from drying out too fast. Use one of those flickering battery-operated lights in there instead.
  • Those edges of your carved pumpkin that start to rot first? Try putting a little petroleum jelly on them to lock in moisture. Olive oil and coconut oil should have a similar effect!
  • If your pumpkin is starting to shrivel, that’s an indication that it needs a cold shock (pumpkins resist heat). Try giving it an ice bath for an hour or leaving it in the fridge overnight.
  • Finally, to keep fruit flies from eating away at your pumpkin, make sure ALL guts are removed (this is what attracts the flies). If they’re still coming, throw a small fruit flay trap nearby to get rid of those pests.

Now, on to some fun pumpkin hacks! Check out the YouTube video below. Enjoy your pumpkin-carving and trick-or-treating this weekend!

Event Round-Up: Sept. 15

It’s that time again, folks! School is back in full swing, and we’re on a holiday drought until Halloween. But that doesn’t mean the well of fun activities in the Bay Area has completely dried up. That’s one of the best parts about living here – there is always something to do!

Here are five fun events around the Bay Area for the next month or so to tide you over:

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Exploratorium After Dark (San Francisco – every Thursday)

The Exploratorium is a super interesting, cool museum no matter the time of day. But make it adults-only, serve drinks, cut the lights, and give us a mind-bending cache of exhibits to wander through from 6-10 pm every Thursday? Sold! Don’t miss it!

National Public Lands Day (All Parks – Sept. 22)

It’s one of the best days of the year for outdoor enthusiasts. All National Park Service sites that normally charge an admission fee will have free entrance for the day. If the one excuse for not exploring this beautiful place we live has been a desire to not pay the fees, well, now’s your chance.

Autumn Beer Tasting with Anchor Brewing (San Francisco – Sept. 26)

Anchor Brewing is one of the better local breweries to come out of the Bay Area, and now you have the chance to taste autumn beers right as the season turns. It’s only 20 bucks, 90 minutes of your time, and you get generous helpings of newly released beers from the head honcho brewer at Anchor!

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Movies Under the Stars: The Jungle Book (Civic Park – Sept. 28)

There’s nothing better than laying out under the stars and catching an outdoor movie with the family. On Sept. 28th, the Movies Under the Stars series in Walnut Creek comes to a close with The Jungle Book, playing at 7 p.m. on that night. There is a little music for about an hour beforehand too, if you want to come out early!

Grease Sing-A-Long at Sundown Cinema (San Francisco – Sept. 28)

Well, sorry Walnut Creek. San Francisco took your outdoor movie idea for this date and went all-in. You can go to the Jerry Garcia Amphitheater in San Francisco and watch Grease on the big screen outside for free! Food trucks and vendors will be there early, and the best part about this is you get to sing along to the catchy tunes of this movie classic!

Happy Halloween!

It’s that time again, ghosts and ghouls! Halloween is one of my favorite holidays (not sure it is technically a holiday, but it was in Nevada where I grew up – that was the day Nevada became a state!).  I want to wish everyone out there a Happy, scary, sugar-filled Halloween tonight.

If you want to swing by my house and get treats from the best neighborhood in town, come to Parkmead! I usually get 200-300 Trick-or-Treater’s on Halloween, depending if it falls on a school night or a weekend. Our neighborhood is flat and on a horseshoe, so all the ghosts and goblins come to our street where many of the families have decorated or are hosting parties in their garages.

I usually invite friends over, make my famous Willie’s Chili, stoke up the chimney and pass out candy in my front driveway while having a mini-party with friends. I have even seen little red wagons carrying a child and a six-pack in the back as the parents roam their way around the neighborhood and their kids run from house to house!

My favorite part is seeing all the creative costumes and hearing the really young kids say “trick-or-treat!” You can see some of the awesome costumes from years past in the slideshow below! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

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Enjoy spook-tacular events all weekend long!

This weekend, you’ll be sure to see hundreds of little cats, vampires and ghosts running around Walnut Creek and the East Bay. It’s one of the most festive times of the year: Hallo-weekend!

Though the actual holiday is a week from today, there are plenty of events coming up over the weekend to take part in. For example, there’s a cool annual Candlelight Tour at the Winchester Mystery House. You get to tour the 160-room mansion with just a flickering candlelight to guide your way. The entire tour takes about 1 hour and tickets start at $20.

Another cool option is spending the night in a haunted jail cell in an underground dungeon on Halloween. For those of you who are really into scaring yourselves, the Ghosts of Alcatraz event by San Francisco Dungeon might be for you. Enjoy the darkness of an authentically reproduced Alcatraz cell for the night, and try not to faint from the terror.

For a couple more family-friendly, laid-back Halloween options, check out the pumpkin patch at Speer Family Farms in Alameda. It’s close enough to Walnut Creek but also worth the trek to see what they have available for you and the kids!

Lastly, on Friday from 2-5 pm, Walnut Creek Downtown is hosting a trick-or-treat for people of all ages! They ask you to bring your favorite costume and your own candy bag to collect treats from participating downtown businesses. Start at the Lesher Center and wind your way through from there. Broadway Plaza will host a similar event on the actual day of Halloween.

Whatever you do for Halloween weekend, make sure to be clever and creative with those costumes, not eat too much candy, and be safe while walking at night!

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East Bay pumpkin patches

According to WikiRealty, real estate consumers are already Googling Halloween at a much higher rate (3-4 times more often!) than they are homes. If you are looking for an outing to get pumpkins that is not a major grocery store, check out the following graphic from Placer Title Company.

Go grab a pumpkin at one of those patches – you may even find one with a longer stem. Halloween is just around the corner so make sure to get your pick of the litter!

 

Escaping the Halloween Madness

DSC02920If you want a change of scenery this Halloween so you don’t have to be around to answer the door for all the ghosts and goblins trick-or-treating, consider Maui.

Last year, while it rained in Walnut Creek, I was enjoying warm sunshine while watching the World Series at the beach bar with many fellow Giants fans.

We also had a great time people-watching at the Lahaina parade! Lahaina is a small town about 15 minutes from Ka’anapali – it’s an oceanfront former fishing village across the channel (in which dolphins and whales tend to migrate!) from the island of Lanai.

People in costume start to congregate on the sidewalk to watch the parade, which has the mayor, a marching band and many more people dressed up.

And just like back home, kids get candy from people standing on the side of the street.DSC02901

Once the parade is over, you can grab dinner at one of the local restaurants – Kimo’s is always a favorite, especially as the sun sets over Lanai (note: reservations for dinner need to be made days in advance for a busy night like Halloween).

After dinner, you can meander the main street (which will be closed off to traffic) to people-watch.

The costumes range from G-rated to PG to the occasional R. Take a look at the pictures below!

Another fun fact is that October and early November are off-season for Hawaii, so flights are reasonable. A direct, round trip ticket on Alaska Airlines between Oakland and Maui is only about $400. It’s a great time to visit and a great place to get away!

Halloweekened is Coming!

Fall is a great time of year. With the change in weather and light, I tend to cook more and want to snuggle up to a good book or movie. As the holiday season approaches, it’s fun to decorate your house with pumpkins and wreaths, but Halloween has always been my favorite.

I happen to live on a street that is flat and shaped like a horseshoe, so it’s a great place for kids to safely trick-or-treat. Many of my neighbors decorate their homes – some quite extensively! Our street gets about 300 trick-or-treaters on average.

Of course, one of the best parts of Halloween is seeing the costumes. Below I am sharing some of my favorite costumes from a few years ago (it rained last year).

This year, with Halloween falling on a Saturday and fair weather predicted, I’m expecting record numbers! I’m hosting a few friends for chili and drinks, where we will hang out in the driveway around the fire pit and pass out candy. In our neighborhood, it isn’t uncommon to see parents walking their Disney princesses and superheroes around the neighborhood, pulling a red wagon with a six-pack stashed in the back for socializing with the neighbors.

On a related note, Daylight Savings Time ends with the hallowed eve this year, so remember to turn your clocks back before you go to bed.

Happy Halloween to all, and to all a spooky night! Stay tuned for tomorrow’s blog: what to do if you want to escape the neighborhood and find a fun getaway this Halloween…