1. Make This Pumpkin Pie
CHELSEA MAMEROW, ART DIRECTOR
I am mostly a pumpkin traditionalist. You won’t find me ordering pumpkin spice lattes or scenting my house with a pumpkin spice candle. I do, however, bake at least one pumpkin every year. I add it into oatmeal and pancakes. I roast the seeds and munch on them while assembling a pie. It’s not just any pumpkin pie, though. It is the best pumpkin pie (as reported by the rave reviews of every friend and family member I have served it to) and its crust elevates it above a traditional pie. I found the recipe online years ago and haven’t deviated since. The creamy pumpkin filling is housed in a rich brown butter graham cracker crust. I recommend cutting the sugar and adding a little extra salt.
2. Go to the Great Pumpkin Festival
ANN CHRISTENSON, SENIOR DINING EDITOR
Heading to the Great Pumpkin Festival in Whitefish Bay is a yearly ritual that I’m super psyched to continue this year (after, for me, a year’s hiatus). Scores of pumpkins – carved by a team of master carvers – are lighted each night (Oct. 27-31, 6-9 p.m.) at Old Schoolhouse Park (5240 N. Marlborough). And with the exception of Oct. 31, there are events going on each night: Lakefront Brewery will have a beer tent, and Jack Pandl’s, a food tent. There’s also live music. A great time for spooky strolling!
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3. Trick-or-Treat in East Tosa
CHRIS DROSNER, EXECUTIVE EDITOR
After a year on pause, the Tosa East Towne Neighborhood Association’s massive house party wrapped in a trick-or-treat costume is back this Saturday. The houses are lavishly decked out, the bonfire wood is stacked, the candy bowls are full, and the beer coolers are ready. All are welcome; registering is good form for some sweet-toothed support. After a few years partaking in the fun from afar, I moved into the neighborhood last spring, so I’m ready to share Snickers with the kids and stouts with the parents. Look for me on 70th Street; I’ll be the one in the costume.
4. Read Fables by Bill Willingham
ARCHER PARQUETTE, MANAGING EDITOR
In the mid-2000s Bill Willingham started this long-running comic book series about “legends in exile.” All the characters from classic fairy tales were run out of their homelands by an evil emperor and have taken up hiding in a block of modern-day New York City and started their own small community, Fabletown. The Big, Bad Wolf is the Sherrif. Snow White is deputy mayor. The Frog Prince is a janitor. The series takes this fantastic premise and delivers dozens of issues worth of interesting stories – murder mysteries, spy thrillers, epic quests, etc. It’s a lot of fun and breathes new life into the old tales you were told as a child.
5. Carve a Pumpkin
ALLISON GARCIA, DIGITAL EDITOR
Pumpkin carving is serious business in my household. We use stencils, we use carving kits and we make some beautiful, if not haunting, jack ‘o’ lanterns. This year, Milwaukee Magazine created a stencil that you can use to make the “Scream City” pumpkin from the cover of our October issue. We’re also running a contest to see who can create the best Milwaukee-themed design. For more details, go to our Instagram.
