7 Reasons to Visit Hal-Glow-Een at the San Diego Zoo: Pumpkin Macaroni and Cheese

Every year we try to incorporate one new Halloween event into our calendar.  Sometimes they end up being keepers (like the Gingerbread house building we did last year) and other years we decide that we don't need to make it a yearly event.  This year our new event was Hal-Glow-Een at the zoo.   For three weekends in October the zoo, which normally closes at 5pm, stays open late for Halloween festivities.  Prior to us going I could find very little information about the event.  What does it entail?  Is it worth it?  If you're considering making this a family event for next Halloween, here are some good tips to keep in mind.

#1: Music and Dancing

 Hal-Glow-Een is made up of several different areas throughout the zoo with activities at each area.  And a lot of the activities involve music and/or dancing.  We started the evening out with the Skeleton Band, who played a bunch of kid friendly Halloween music that got both my kids up and on their feet grooving.  

We also stopped by Dusty Keys, who, along with his skeleton friend, played Halloween songs on the organ, told jokes, and generally kept the kids entertained.  

Special tip: Dusty Keys is located at the Boardwalk Beer Garden if the grownups want to grab a drink while the kids watch the show.  

And of course, the bubble dance party which goes on all night.  There are black lights, bubbles, and fun music for your favorite little dancer.

Special tip: In addition to the bubbles put on by the dj, they sell light up bubble wands which of course every kid wants.  So be prepared ahead of time to either buy one or tell your child "no" a million times.  

#2: Fun Shows

In addition to the musicians, there are also non-musical shows.  At several times and locations throughout the zoo there are "Animal Encounters,"  a chance to get a closer look at some very cool animals.  Thatbaby made us stop each time we passed one. 

There's also The Spooky Review which features aerialists, acrobats, and jugglers.  We happened upon it early in the evening, but I'm betting it would be even more fun at night when the performers neon costumes glowed.

The kids loved Dr. Zoolittle, which had a ton of crowd participation.  There was magic, bug eating, and a cupcake walk where 3 kids win cupcakes. 

Special tip: Both the Spooky Review and Dr. Zoolittle are located beside restaurants, so they make a great place to stop and grab dinner while you watch the show.

#3: Python Path

Most of the animals don't take part in the Hal-Glow-Een festivities.  With the exception of the reptiles in the reptile house.  Glow in the dark reptiles adorned the wall as we wandered through looking at different snakes, lizards, and frogs.

#4: See the Zoo at Night

Since the zoo normally closes at 5pm, you get to see a side of the zoo that few experience.  Some of the animals are more active as the weather cools down.  Others who may hide during the day come out and sleep in the open at night.  

Special tip: The zoo is really dark at night.  Most of us were using cell phone flashlights to get around.  I recommend either starting at Africa Rocks (which is the easiest to get lost in the dark) or bringing a light source with you.  Glow wands, sticks, and jewelry are definitely helpful.

#5: Boo Crew

Do your kids love costumed characters?  Street performers?  Both? Well Hal-Glow-Een has them! It's pretty cool to see the Boo Crew wandering around and interacting with kids.

#6: Food and Drink Specials

Almost every restaurant had specials for Hal-Glow-Een.  Like spooky straws for your drinks.  Or cotton candy shaped like candy corn with a light up stick.   The zoo doesn't usually run seasonal food specials, so if you like the idea, this is the time to get it!

#7: You Can't Do It All

There's so much to do at Hal-Glow-Een, there were a ton of events we didn't get to.  Other musicians, shows, and even glow in the dark hula hoops.  So if none of the events I wrote about appeal to you, maybe one of the others will!

Know Before You Go:

• Hours: Weekends in October, 5-9pm.
• Admission: Included with the price of zoo admission for adults ($56).  Since the zoo participates in "Kids Free in October" this event is free for kids.
• Membership: Packages vary.  An annual pass is $174 for 2 adults and includes access to the zoo, Safari park, and special events at both locations. 
• See Plan Your Visit on the San Diego Zoo Website for more information

Since Halloween is now over, I'm sharing my favorite "Halloween" recipes that are really great for the whole fall.  Like pumpkin macaroni and cheese.  Fall is my favorite time of year for comfort foods like this.  Comfort foods involving pumpkin.  Really, there's nothing better.  And while savory pumpkin dishes can be hit or miss, this macaroni and cheese hits all the right notes.  It's not overwhelmingly pumpkin spice, instead the pumpkin helps to make the sauce creamy and thick.  And with all the cheese in it, its a surefire winner with small kids.  I didn't even mention the pumpkin addition to mine and my kids devoured it.

Pumpkin Macaroni and Cheese

1lb macaroni or other pasta (I used the pumpkin shapes from Trader Joes)

3 Tbsp butter

3 Tbsp flour

2 cups milk

1 cup pureed pumpkin

1 tsp dijon mustard

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp onion powder

1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

1/2 cup mozzarella

1/4 cup parmsean

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.  Drain and set aside.
2. In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter.
3. Add in the flour and stir until it becomes a paste.  Cook for another minute or two until the paste starts to bubble.
4. Slowly stir in the milk, and continue stirring until smooth.  Cook for 3-5 minutes until the mixture starts to thicken.
5. Reduce heat to low and stir in pumpkin, mustard, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt and pepper to taste.
6. Remove from heat and stir in cheese.  Continue stirring until all the cheese is melted and incorporated.
7. Stir in the pasta and serve.

Summercamp: Camping Macaroni and Cheese

I think we have finally figured out this camping with young kids thing.  Really, we figured it out last year, but after doing it twice, I know that it wasn't a fluke.

First, location!  When we've tried to do the kind of camping trips that Thatboy and I used to do before kids we found that being in the middle of nowhere with just wilderness wasn't going to work anymore.  The kids just got too bored.  So now we go to a place with trails right off the campsite.  Near a town for exploration. 

Thatdog is not a morning dog apparently.  Too cold.  But he definitely keeps an eye out anytime one of his pack needs to leave the tent and go to bathroom.

The boys love being in their sleeping bags, and it makes for sweet morning cuddles.

Pro tip #2?  Bring a ton of activities.  When we've had absolute fails of camping trips its because I let Thatboy talk me into the "the kids should just sit and enjoy nature" school of thought.  My kids are too young to just sit and enjoy nature.  So instead or success depends on me bringing a bag of fun stuff for the kids to do.  Slime kits for while we set up the site (bonus since I don't allow them to have slime in our house - it gets everywhere), beads to make necklaces, journals to write or color, and foam dart arrows to keep them occupied in the morning.

We also make use of activities in town, instead of just hanging out at the campsite.  This trip we went to explore an honest to goodness goldmine dating back to the 1870s!

Thatbaby was a little nervous about going in.  I don't blame him, the idea of going down into a mine brought out a little of my claustrophobia.  I convinced him to take a couple steps into the entrance and once he saw it wasn't dark, he was okay with venturing all the way in.

They also got to try their hand at goldmining.  Even though they didn't get to take home the gold they found, they really enjoyed the actually mining process and seeing the gold in their pans.

They much preferred their gem mining experience though.  So much so that this was a repeat from last year.

Their favorite campsite activity is making their walking sticks.  I bring a bunch of washi tape and they wrap it around the walking sticks they find.  This also helps with splinters and cuts from sharp pieces of stick.

Then we use those sticks, along with a scavanger hunt I print out, when we go for family hikes,

The trail we picked this time was so cool and shady.  We got into a big fight with the boys when we suggested a 1 mile hike and they wanted to do a 3 mile hike.  I knew my kids would not make it on a 3 mile hike, and Thatbaby was complaining towards the end of this hike, so I know we made the right choice.

I picked up some color firewood packets to place in our fine.  It made for a really pretty fire at nights.

The most important tip I found to keep kids happy when camping is the food.  It needs to be made quickly.  Gone are the days of slowly cooking food over the open flame, or throwing packets in to be cooked and eaten later.  Of course, they always have patience for s'mores.

But everything else is precooked.  I make ham and cheese croissant sandwiches, freeze them, and then reheat them on our camp stove while I heat up water for hot chocolate.

Same with foil packet dinners.  They're made with cooked chicken, frozen, and then just reheated, which takes less time than cooking the chicken.

And the new trick from this trip was making macaroni and cheese.  If you bring the noodles with you, precooked, then it doesn't take long at all to make the sauce.  I use evaporated milk instead of regular milk because it comes in a can for easy packing, and you don't need to worry about refrigeration.  I also prepackage all the dry ingredients together in a little ziplock or tupperwear so they can just be poured in together.

My family likes breadcrumbs on their macaroni and cheese - I love the little crunch it gives, but since you're not baking it, your best bet is to toast it and bring it, stirring it in at the very end.

Camping Macaroni and Cheese

1 can evaporated milk

3 Tbsp flour

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp dry mustard

1/2 lb macaroni, cooked

1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

toasted panko breadcrumbs

1. Combine flour, milk, salt and mustard over low heat, stirring.
2. Stir in the macaroni.
3. Stir in the cheddar cheese and continue stirring until the cheese is melted.
4. Spoon into bowls and sprinkle with panko.

Mother's Little Helper: Macaroni and Mushrooms and Cheese

Growing up, Thatdad did a lot of the cooking in my family.  Thatmom was off being Wonder Woman - working, teaching, going to school, and being a mom, and that meant her time was usually far more stretched than Thatdad.  And Thatdad grew up as a latchkey kid of a single working mother, so he was no stranger to the kitchen.  In fact, he taught Home Economics for a period, back when high schools still taught that sort of thing (ahhh the memories.  I was just talking to a bank teller about how I learned to balance a checkbook in school)

Which is not to say Thatmom didn't cook - because she did.  And there are certain foods that I will always associate with her.  Like one of my all time favorites- chili!  Or macaroni and cheese.  Thatdad didn't make macaroni and cheese.  He heated up a mean Stouffers (and I will always have a soft spot for that gooey, unevenly heated dish) but it was Thatmom's baked macaroni which set the standard for me. 

When I'm looking for a meal I can make and then reheat, like I've been doing the past week, macaroni and cheese rises to the surface.  It's a no brainer.  Especially with my new "no boil" method. 

Macaroni and Mushrooms and Cheese 

1/2 cup butter, divided
1/4 cup flour
3 cups milk
1 Tbsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper 

1 pound shells 

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan

2 cups shredded fontina

2 Tbsp olive oil

8 oz mushrooms, sliced

1 sprig thyme (leaves)

1 sprig rosemary (leaves)

3 Tbsp fresh basil, chiffonade

4 garlic cloves, chopped

1 cup panko

1.     Preheat oven to 400. Melt 1/4 cup butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.
2.     Whisk in the flour, whisking constantly, for 1 minute, until a bubbly paste forms.
3.     Whisk in milk and 3 cups water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook, whisking often, until a very thin, glossy sauce forms, about 10 minutes.
4.     Stir in salt and pepper. Remove sauce from heat.

5.     In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat.  Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring often, until golden, about 5-8 minutes.  

6.    Add the thyme, rosemary, basil,  and half of the garlic.  Cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
7.    Toss pasta mushroom mix and parmesean, and 1 cup fontina in a large baking dish. Pour sauce over, submerging pasta.  Cover and bake about 20 minutes.
8.    Melt remaining 1/4 cup butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add  remaining garlic and panko, toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper.
9.    Uncover the pasta and sprinkle with the remaining cheese and panko mixture.  Bake about 10 minutes longer, until top is golden brown.    

They grow so fast!

It's hard to believe only 9 months ago this terrible twosome were teeny tiny things.  Little LO was able to hold his head up, but Thatbaby wasn't even that advanced.   They stayed where you put them, unable to get anywhere on their own.

Now you can't stop the two of them!  Here's a rare moment of stillness from Little LO's birthday party this weekend.  A big boy now, Little LO doesn't just walk, he runs.  His toddling little feet seeming to move faster than his body can keep up with.  And Thatbaby, crawls, ant-like in his swiftness and determination.  We are in for so much trouble.

But if you ask anyone who knows me, they'll tell you I must love trouble.  My parents used to tell me that instead of looking for doors, I always try to climb over walls  (metaphorically of course, I'm not nearly agile enough to be scaling walls, plus I'm afraid of heights.)

It's evident in the kitchen too.  Instead of instant mac and cheese, you're much more likely to find me stirring a cheese sauce over the stove and pouring it over cooked pasta.  Why go for the easy way out, right?  Plus, if you make it yourself you can tweak it to create a whole host of flavors.  Like this one I made during my "I love pepper jack" phase.  It was a time I was using it for just about everything.  For a while you could be certain to find it in our cheese drawer.  That and some leftover chipotles in adobo combined gave this a spicy, smokey, heat, tempered by the non-spicy cheeses.  It's worth all the trouble.

Spicy Mac and Cheese

1/2 box elbow macaroni

3 Tbsp unsalted butter

3 Tbsp flour

1/4 tsp garlic salt

1/8 tsp onion powder

1 3/4 cup warm milk

1 chipotle in adobo, chopped + 1 tsp adobo sauce

4 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded

2 oz pepper jack cheese, shredded

2 oz cheddar cheese, shredded

1. Preheat oven to 350.  Cook macaroni according to package directions.
2. Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat.  
3. Stir in the flour and cook until a paste forms.  Continue cooking for 1-2 minutes, until smooth and thick.
4. Stir in garlic salt and onion powder.
5. Pour milk in a smooth, steady stream, whisking consistently.
6. Add chipotle and sauce.  Continue to cook and stir until mixture gets thick, and then cook for an additional minute or two.
7. Stir in the cheeses and stir until the cheeses have all melted into the sauce.
8. Stir the cooked pasta into the cheese sauce and pour the whole thing into a greased baking dish.
9. Bake for 20 minutes and serve.

A House Divided

Battle lines have been drawn and families have been divided over one particular food. You would think that something as innocuous as noodles would never inspire such passion.

I recently discovered the original introduction to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, which was discarded on the cutting room floor for the version you are more familiar with.

Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
Sprang forth a grudge, a cry of mutiny,
Twixt parents, leaving lovers in between.
One house preferred their macaroni cooked
Atop a stove, and mixed with powdered cheese.
The other house used methods overlooked,
Real cheese and noodles baked with oven ease.
A feud beginning with protestation,
In which common sense never recovers,
This division over preparation
Served to separate two star-crossed lovers;
Th which, if you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.

If you're familiar with the published version, you'll not that Shakespeare decided to forgo describing the reason for the "ancient grudge." But rest assured, it definitely involved macaroni and cheese.

You cannot hope to bring up the topic of macaroni and cheese without releasing a diatribe over which version is "the best." Our household is no different than most. You see, Thatboy grew up with "the blue box," Kraft macaroni and cheese. I can't remember ever having it in the house. Macaroni and cheese meant one of two dishes when I was growing up. My mom's homemade version was a casserole of cheese and noodles baked in a pyrex dish and cut into thick, dense, cheesy squares. If we were going for speed and ease, we would get the froze Stouffer's mac and cheese, which is today definitely one of the first foods I think of when I think "comfort food." (Even though I don't think I've had it since elementary school.)

So when I make macaroni and cheese at home, my go-to method involves what I'm familiar with, baking noodles and cheese in the oven. And don't get me wrong, Thatboy has never turned down macaroni and cheese in any form. But earlier this year, when I was going out of town for a few days, I asked Thatboy if he wanted me to pick up anything at the supermarket for his dinner while I was away. "Will you please buy me some Kraft Macaroni and Cheese?" And the poor boy put on such a pitiful look, how on earth could I say no?

Unfortunately for Thatboy, he can enjoy his Kraft only when I am out of town, since there's just something about neon orange powder that seems wrong to me. In the spirit of compromise, however, I decided to see if I couldn't reach a happy medium. (Think about what this could have done for the ill fated Romeo and Juliet) Macaroni and cheese started on the stovetop and finished in the oven. And I added some kick. Because if you want something to be better, you have two choices - bacon or spice. This macaroni and cheese would have been equally as delicious with the addition of bacon, but this time around I wanted to add a little fire instead. And instead of a double suicide, our story has a happy ending!

Spicy Stovetop Macaroni and Cheese
2 cups macaroni
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups shredded pepper jack cheese
1 can evaporated milk
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
tortilla chips

1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray a pyrex dish with baking spray. Cook macaroni and drain, returning to saucepan.
2. Add cheddar cheese, half of the pepper jack cheese, evaporated milk, black pepper, and crushed red pepper. Stir until combined and pour into pyrex dish.
3. Sprinkle top with remaining pepper jack cheese and crumbled tortilla chips. Cover with foil and bake 20 minutes.
4. Uncover and bake 10 more minutes.