Pumpkin Pies

Ingredients:
  1/4 cup pecans
  1/4 cup sugar
  1/2 teaspoon salt
  3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  6 tablespoons butter, ice cold
  2 to 3 tablespoons ice cold water
  1 egg, plus 1 egg yolk
  1/2 cup dark corn syrup
  1 tablespoon sugar
  1/2 cup canned pumpkin filling
  1 teaspoon vanilla
  1/4 cup pecans, chopped plus 24 halves for garnish
Special equipment:
  2 (12-cup) mini muffin tins

Directions
  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  For the dough:
  In a food processor, pulse pecans with the sugar, salt, and flour, until the nuts are ground and the ingredients are combined. Add in butter and pulse until dough resembles coarse meal. Slowly pour in ice water through the feed tube, pulsing, until the dough comes together. Remove from processor bowl onto clean work surface sprinkled with flour.
  Form dough into a ball and divide evenly into 24 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and evenly press into each cup, until the bottom is covered. If the dough is sticky, dip your finger in flour first.
  Bake 15 to 18 minutes, until the crusts are very golden. Check periodically to make sure they don't get too brown.
  Meanwhile, make the filling: In a medium bowl, whisk the egg and yolk with the corn syrup, sugar, pumpkin filling and vanilla. Stir in the chopped pecans.
  Remove dough from oven and spoon 1 tablespoon of the filling into each cup. Top each with 1 pretty pecan half. Return the pans to the oven and continue baking, for 12 to 15 minutes more, until the pumpkin filling is set. Allow to cool before removing from the pans.

  My friend made it for me once, it was so delicious. Then I tried it myself. The first batch I made of these came out kind of dry because I used extra flour while shaping the dough since it was too sticky. The second batch came out much better. Next time I will use pumpkin pie filling and see what that tastes like!

Halloween !!!

Halloween is not a important day in China, most of Chinese don't know much about it. So I'd like to talk something about Halloween.

Time:
October 31st is Halloween

Origin:
The Celtic peoples lived over 2,000 years ago in the place that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and Northern France. Halloween’s origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. For the Celtic peoples, the New Year was celebrated on November 1st of every year. This date marked the end of Summer and the beginning of Winter. And this time of year often associated with human death.The Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred as the dead searched for the afterlife. Thus, on the night of October 31st, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to Earth to cause mischief and trouble.

Traditions:

Many of the traditions associated with Halloween can be traced back to the ancient festivals of Samhain, such as costuming, trick-or-treating and pumpkin carving.

People have been making Jack-o-lanterns on Halloween for centuries. The practice originated from an Irish myth about a man known as “Stingy Jack.” Stingy Jack one day invited the Devil to have a drink with him. Not wanting to pay for the drink, he tricked the Devil into  turning himself into a coin, and then put the Devil into his pocket next to a cross that prevented the Devil from changing back into his original form. Jack freed the Devil after the Devil promised not to bother Jack or, should he die, claim his soul. Eventually, when Jack did die, God would not take him into Heaven, and the Devil, who had promised not to claim Jack’s soul, could not take him into Hell. Thus, the Devil sent Jack’s spirit into the night with only a  burning candle to light his way.  Jack put the candle into a  carved turnip and has been roaming the Earth ever since. The Irish began to refer to this ghostly figure as “Jack of the Lantern,” and then simply as “Jack-o-lantern.”