Halloween 'Mystery' Dinner

Tradition: definition...the handing down of patterns of behavior, practices, and beliefs.

Holidays bring tradition. Effectively, they evolve with each generation. Blame it on the genes or blame it on the joy of repetition. To me, repetition brings memories...blessed, wonderful memories.

Halloween is the start to those traditions. As a child, every year my mom served us a Halloween 'mystery' dinner. It was an anticipated event where each of us were given a coded menu where we filled in the order of our dinner. Items were disguised under Halloween surnames, such as 'witch's hair' or 'skeleton bones'. My mom draped the kitchen with blankets to hide the menu while she cooked. We all sat in anticipation for our food to arrive. Once dinner started, we all giggled when our mysterious food items came and we made the connection to their Halloween names.

Now, as it is my turn to be a mother to my small children, I have watched as they have excitedly anticipated the same novelty year after year. Tonight was our Halloween 'mystery' dinner. Ryan's sister, Missy, and her kids joined us. They witnessed the event last year and were excited for a repeat. Here was the menu this year (with their accompanying food items):

Skeleton Bones...string cheese
Frankenstein's Finger...hot dog
Fingernails...chips
Vampire Coffin...hot dog bun
Swamp Goop...peanut butter cookie
Witch's Wig...leaf of lettuce
Squirt of Blood...ketuchup

So fun! I love being a mom. Thanks Mom for all of the traditions...which subsequently should be thanked to a long line of tradition makers. Thank you!