RECEIPS: Pumpkin Cake O' Lantern

Made from two bundt cakes, this jack-o'-lantern will light up any party. Because of its delicious homemade pumpkin flavor, this cake is sure to be carved up in a hurry. If you're pressed for time, substitute three boxes of spice-cake mix for the ingredients we've listed here. Serves 24.
Ingredients

CAKE:
5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
4 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 1/4 cups milk, at room temperature
1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, at room temperature
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 1/4 cups sugar
6 large eggs, at room temperature
FROSTING:
2 packages (8 oz. each) cream cheese, at room temperature
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
Approximately 9 cups powdered sugar
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Instructions
Heat the oven to 350º and butter two 10-inch bundt cake pans.
In a large bowl, stir together the flour, spices, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
In a medium bowl, stir together the milk, pumpkin, and vanilla extract until smooth.
In another large bowl, beat the butter or margarine and oil together with an electric mixer until combined. Next, beat in the sugar. Then beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Alternately beat in the milk/pumpkin mixture and the flour mixture until just combined.
Divide the batter between the two prepared pans. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean.
Cool the cakes in the pans for 15 minutes, then turn them out onto wire racks to cool completely.
Directions for Frosting: In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Mix in the vanilla extract. Then beat in the powdered sugar gradually until the frosting is a spreadable consistency. Color about 1 cup of the frosting green and the rest orange.
Assemble the Cake:Trim the bottoms of the cakes so they lie flat against each other. Frost the flat surface of the bottom cake and place the other cake on top. Frost the entire cake orange. When the frosting dries, add green frosting leaves and top with the ice cream cone to create a stem.
Decorate the Cake:Sprinkle sugar over your work surface and use a rolling pin to flatten 12 large yellow and white gumdrops together into a pancake about 1/4 inch thick. Adults only: use a knife to cut out the eyes, nose and mouth. Microwave 2 tablespoons of chocolate chips for about 60 seconds. Dip the left side and bottom of the facial features in the melted chocolate. Dab a small amount of water onto the top surface of each feature, sprinkle the edible glitter on top, then press the facial features onto the cake.

Halloween is coming up!

HISTORY

Halloween, Hallowe'en, or Holloween is celebrated on the night of October 31.Halloween dates back two thousand years to Britain and Ireland and a Celtic festival called Samhain which marked (segnava) the end of the “season of the sun” and the beginning of the “season of darkness and cold.”
The first of November was considered the end of the summer period, when herds (greggi) were returned from pasture (pascolo) and land tenurespossedimenti fondiari were renewed.
It was also a time when the souls (anime) of the dead were believed to return to visit their homes. People set bonfires (falò) on hilltops for relighting their hearth (caminetti) fires for the winter and to frighten away evil spirits (spirit malefici). They sometimes wore masks and other disguises (travestimenti) to avoid being recognized by the ghosts (fantasmi) they believed were present. That’s how witches (streghe), hobgoblins (folletti), fairies (fate) and demons came to be associated with the day.
The period was also thought to be favourable for divination on matters such as marriage, health, and death. When the Romans conquered the Celts in the 1st century AD (anno domini - d.c.), they added their own festivals of Feralia, commemorating the passing of the dead, and of Pomona, the goddess of the harvest (raccolto).
In the 7th century AD, Pope Boniface IV established All Saints’ Day, originally on May 13, and in the following century, it was moved to November 1.The evening before All Saints’ Day became a holy, or hallowed (sacra), eve (vigilia) and thus Halloween.By the end of the Middle Ages, the secular and the sacred days had merged (si erano fusi).
In North America, the celebration of Halloween was forbidden (proibita) among most of the early colonists, but in the 1800s some festivals celebrating the harvest developed and incorporated elements of Halloween. Irish immigrants brought versions of the tradition with them to America in the nineteenth century.Other western countries adopted (hanno adottato) the holiday in the late twentieth century.
Traditions
Traditional Halloween activities include trick-or-treating (dolcetto o scherzetto), ghost tours, bonfires, carving (scolpire) jack-o’-lanterns, and costume parties.
Trick-or-treating is the main Halloween event for children. They disguise themselves in costumes and ring the doorbells (campanelli) of their neighbours yelling (gridando)"trick or treat!" They receive candy (dolcetti caramelle) or similar items such as chocolate bars (tavolette di cioccolata), loose change (spiccioli), or even crayons and pencils.The jack-o’-lantern, a carved pumpkin (zucca scolpita), lit (illuminata) from within by a candle, is one of Halloween's most prominent symbols. It can be traced back to the Irish legend of Stingy Jack, a greedyavido (tirchio), gambling, hard-drinking old farmer.
He tricked (ingannò) the devil into climbing a tree and trapped him by carving a crosss (colpendo una croce) into the tree trunk (tronco). In revenge, the devil placed a curse (maledizione) on Jack, condemning him to forever wander (vagare) the earth at night.Halloween costumes usually relate to death, magic, or mythical monsters.Traditional characters include ghosts, ghouls (demoni), witches, vampires, bats (pipistrelli), owls (gufi), crows (corvi), vultures (avvoltoi), black cats, spiders (ragni), goblins, zombies, mummies, skeletons and demons.Black and orange are the colours of Halloween. Black represents death, night and scary creatures; orange represents autumn, the harvest and fire.The most common game played at Hal loween par t ies is bobbing (pescare) for apples. Apples float (galleggiano) in a large basin (recipiente) of water and people have to use their teeth to get the apples out.