From Deseret News archives:
Tricks & treats: 'Soul cakes' and food folklore spice up All Hallows Eve
"Everything that wasn't harvested by November first would be cursed by the fairies, and you couldn't eat it," Gorrell said. "So there was a big rush to get in the harvest. People would also give thanks to their ancestors by cooking food and leaving it at their grave sites to feed all the souls roaming about. They still celebrate this in Mexico as the Day of the Dead."
In the eighth century, the Catholic Church changed the date to All Saints Day, or All Hallows a commemoration for all those saints who didn't have a specific day of remembrance.
"The church wanted to get rid of all these festivals which they thought were evil, so all these holidays were changed," Gorrell said.
The night before became known as All Hallows Eve and shortened to "Halloween."
Gorrell doesn't have a soul cake recipe but instead shared a recipe for Raisin-Filled Cookies that her grandmother makes every year for Halloween.
Many of the traditional Halloween games first revolved around foretelling the future, especially who will marry whom. Apples are often involved in many of these games, probably because they were in season.
In "bobbing for apples," girls used to name each apple for a different suitor. The girl would kneel over the tub, shut her eyes, put her hands behind her and try to catch an apple with her teeth. The one she could bite would be her future husband. A variation was to hang apples from a doorway (also done today with doughnuts). The first one to finish eating the apple gets married next.
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