Hayama Halloween Special
I’m not the most diehard Halloween fan, but this holiday still has a nostalgic hold on my heart. Unfortunately, here in Japan it’s not widely celebrated, so you’ll need to take matters into your own hands to make it feel more like home.
The food
With my yearly physical only a couple weeks away, I wanted to make something healthier thank pie and cookies this year. The solution? Pumpkin soup.
A recipe so simple, even a cooking dummy like me can make it well. Grab a pumpkin, peel the skin, cut into small pieces, boil in chicken stock, and blend into a purée. Boil longer to increase thickness, or stir in milk/heavy cream for a creamier taste and texture. You can find the full recipe here.
The decorations
It doesn’t take much to give your home a touch of the Halloween spirit. A spooky wallpaper and LED lighting can spice things up. If your reading from Japan and want to go all out, you can find a bunch of reasonably priced decorations here on Amazon Japan or at your neighborhood Costco.
It doesn’t take much to give your home a touch of the Halloween spirit. A spooky wallpaper and LED lighting can spice things up. If your reading from Japan and want to go all out, you can find a bunch of reasonably priced decorations here on Amazon Japan or at your neighborhood Costco.
One good option is to invest in decorations you can use throughout the year instead of just the one-and-done variety.
The costumes
I’ve never believed in store-bought costumes. Half the fun of dressing up for Halloween is trying to create something great with what you already have lying around, and repurposing second-hand goods.
I a personally too busy/lazy to do the whole costume thing this year, but if you want some inspiration a simple Google search or some browsing through Pinterest out to be more than enough to get your creative juices a’simmerin.
The films
No Halloween would be complete without something spooky on the boob tube. I am too anxious of a person to enjoy Horror movies often, but there are a handful of great movies that deserve your eyeballs.
A mixture of family friendly and truly frightening classics.
Hope you enjoy whatever you end up doing for Halloween, because this year being the blurry mess it’s been, a little colorful distraction before the bleakness of winter is welcome.
