Remember, remember, the 5th of November...now we have had a go at embracing Halloween and the Dia de los Muertos, we promised we would tell you about a very British "celebration" - Guy Fawkes' Night...also known as Bonfire Night.

What a lot of people can probably tell you is that a lot-a-lot of years ago, somebody called Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the Parliament in London. He got caught, and on Guy Fawkes' Night, people celebrate by lighting bonfires, having fireworks and making "a guy" to burn ceremoniously (think a scarecrow).

Children learn the rhyme:

Remember, remember the fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason, why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.

As is usual, over time, certain details get forgotten, and others get amended. For full details of Guy Fawkes' Day, have a look at good old Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes_Night
For a children's version (or for grown-ups who don't want to plough through lots of information), have a look here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/15351828

Sheffield (where we live) has a fireworks display every year on the 5th of November, called "After Dark" - you can see the 2011 one here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcbnP09TGk0 - Toby hasn't been yet, because it starts quite late...maybe next year.

Bonfire night is also the time of warming autumn recipes, treacle, toffee, and a special type of gingerbread from our region, called parkin. There are lots of recipes for bonfire night here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/occasions/bonfire_night - we'll definitely try a parkin one this year!

One of two "stuffed pumpkin" recipes, this one was shared by Nancy, from a heritage cookbook:

Stuffed Sugar Pumpkin

1 (3-4lbs) sugar pumpkin
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1 medium onion, chopped
1lb ground beef
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup cooked rice
3/4 tsp pepper
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 cup water

Cut lid out of pumpkin, remove seeds. Prick inside cavity with fork. Rub inside with 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp mustard.
Cook onion and ground beef in skillet until lightly browned. Remove from heat. Add eggs, rice, pepper, 2tsp salt and 1/2 tsp mustard. Stuff pumpkin with mixture (amount you need may vary depending on pumpkin - we had a bit more rice). Replace pumpkin lid.
Place pumpkin in shallow pan with 1/2 cup of water. Bake in oven at 350F (175C) for 1 hour 30 minutes or until pumpkin is tender (ours just took 50 minutes!). Add more water if necessary. Makes six servings.

This was our "Friday family tea" yesterday - thank you so much for sharing, Nancy!

We are one pumpkin short of achieving our "five things to do with a pumpkin" challenge (note for future: never try and buy a pumpkin *after* Halloween - it's hard work!) We ordered pandan leaves for Kung's Thai custard a couple of weeks ago...hopefully, they'll get here soon!

We are always curious to find out what and how other cultures celebrate, so when we discovered that the Latin American community here in Sheffield was running activities for the Day of the Dead, we couldn't wait to take part! 

There were loads of activities, from decorating sugar skulls to colouring, making masks, making flowers and face painting. Through it all, we learnt how the Day of the Dead is a much happier celebration than we might be used to when it comes to "death"! 

Once we got home, we continued our exploration and baked "Pan de Muerto", which, we were told, is one of the traditional foods to go hand in hand with the festivities. Here are some pictures, and the recipe we used - enjoy!

Pan de Muerto

INGREDIENTS:
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup warm water (110 degrees
F/45 degrees C)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons orange zest
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon orange zest
2 tablespoons white sugar
DIRECTIONS:
Heat milk and butter in a saucepan, until the butter melts. Add warm water and take off the heat. In a large bowl combine 1 cup of the flour, yeast, salt, and 1/4 cup of the sugar. Add milk and beat, then add eggs and orange zest and mix well. Add remaining flour until you have a dough you can knead. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. Proof the dough in a covered bowl in a warm place for about an hour, or until doubled in size. Knead again and shape into a large round loaf with a round knob on top. Use additional dough to make bone shapes and decorate around the outside of the loaf. Place dough onto a baking sheet, loosely cover with plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm place for about 1 hour or until just about doubled in size.Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for about 35 to 45 minutes. 

Glaze: Warm sugar, orange juice and zest in a saucepan. Bring to the poil and boil for two minutes. Brush over bread while it is still warm, and sprinkle with caster sugar.