Dinner in a Pumpkin and the WORST Homemade Root Beer EVER!

We have our traditions that we pull out as a family every year, and Halloween is no exception. We try to have "Dinner in a Pumpkin" on or near Halloween every year, and every year I wonder why we don't have it more during the fall. It really is one of the easiest dinners to throw together. Here's our recipe:

Dinner in a Pumpkin

1 or 2 pie pumpkins, seeds and strings removed (these are smaller and the flesh is less stringy than the jack-o-lantern type pumpkins)---You can also use any type of winter squash, such as acorn, butternut, or hubbard.

1 lb lean ground beef

1 onion, chopped

4 ribs of celery, chopped

1-8 oz package of sliced mushrooms

2 cups cooked rice

3-4 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 can cream of mushroom soup

Black pepper to taste

Brown ground beef with chopped onion, drain away any fat that may be present. Add celery and mushrooms, cook and stir until vegetables are tender but not overcooked. Add rice, soy sauce, brown sugar, soup, and pepper to taste. Scoop into pumpkins and replace top. Bake in 350 degree oven until pumpkins are soft, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Scoop out cooked pumpkin/squash to eat with casserole.

If you are lucky you will find some dressed up kids to eat it with:

We wanted to serve it with Witch's Brew (aka Homemade Root Beer). It's especially great because when the dry ice is added to the brew, it makes a really great fog effect coming out of the cooler. It's really easy too--Mix 4 gallons of water, 4 lbs of sugar, and one 2 ounce bottle of root beer concentrate in a large drink cooler until all is dissolved. Add 4-5 lbs of dry ice to cooler, making sure not to touch with bare hands. Place lid loosely on container to allow gas to escape and watch the fog show. When it has stopped, the root beer is ready.

A quick note on root beer concentrate: Now is not the time to skimp, as it will only be as good as the concentrate you use. When I have made this in the past I usually use the McCormick brand of root beer concentrate because it has been the easiest to find, and it makes a great root beer. This year, however, our Wal-Mart decided to only stock their own brand of flavorings and extracts and have discontinued stocking all of the McCormick extracts. I picked up 2 bottles of Great Value brand root beer concentrate for this year, thinking I could use one now, and then use another later. After adding one bottle I knew something was wrong, as it was thin and watery instead of thick and syrupy as McCormick's. It turned the mixture a light amber, so I added the second bottle to see if it would darken. It didn't. We ended up with a pale drink that sort of tasted like root beer mixed with wintergreen. The kids politely sipped some of their root beer and then asked for water. Such a waste--we ended up dumping the whole thing out. Lesson learned! Hope everyone had a great Halloween!