When carving a Jack-O-Lantern, possibly the most popular Halloween pumpkin tradition, the best pumpkin for the job will depend on the design the carver has chosen. It's a good idea to choose a carving design before going to select a pumpkin, but sometimes an oddly-shaped gourd will jump out at the carver just begging to be turned into a witch (knobby stem as the warty nose) or a goblin (lots of knots and bumps.)
Carvers can go with the more 'traditional' toothy-grinned Jack-O-Lantern, but there are now hundreds of free patterns to choose from on the Internet, from pop culture icons' faces to cartoon characters, animals and school mascots. Some of these patterns are three-dimensional and require peeling as well as cutting the pumpkin.
Once the perfect pumpkin is chosen, be sure to wash off any dirt that may have accumulated on it. Then, assemble the necessary tools: a sharp, serrated knife, a big scooping spoon, and if the carver is more creatively inclined, perhaps an Xacto knife or another art tool. Many party and grocery stores sell kid-safe pumpkin carving kits as well.
Begin by cutting a hole in the top of the pumpkin, around the stem, making sure to cut the hole big enough for a hand to fit inside so a candle can be inserted later.
Take the big scooping spoon and toss the stringy insides in a compost heap if available. Separate the seeds into a bowl for later use. Then, once the inside is relatively clean, draw or stencil a design on the pumpkin and carve away. For a festive-smelling Jack-O-Lantern, sprinkle some ground cinnamon or cloves on the underside of the 'lid' before you put it on over the candle.
Roast Pumpkin Seeds
Rinse off the seeds from a recently-gutted pumpkin and pat them dry. For salty seeds, preheat the oven to 400 degrees and boil one cup of seeds in two cups of water, with about a tablespoon of salt (add more or less to taste.) After boiling, simmer for about ten minutes, then drain, pat dry again and bake in one layer on a cookie sheet or cake pan with about a tablespoon of olive oil on the bottom. Bake for about ten minutes.
For sweet seeds, preheat the oven to 300 degrees, mix one cup of seeds with one tablespoon butter or vegetable oil, one tablespoon sugar, one teaspoon cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon allspice or cloves. Bake in one layer for 45-55 minutes.
Baking With Fresh Pumpkin
There doesn't seem to be a good way to use the meat of the pumpkin while keeping the circular shape, so it may not be possible to make both a Jack-O-Lantern and a loaf of bread from the same pumpkin. The carver can create a very thin-walled Jack-O-Lantern by cutting out as much of the meat from the inside as possible and using this to make a pumpkin puree, but this will not yield as much meat as using a whole pumpkin.
Choosing a pumpkin for baking is a little different than choosing one for carving. For baking, choose a small pumpkin that feels dense, and don't worry if the color seems dull - this isn't necessarily a reflection on what's inside.
Once a pumpkin is chosen, boiling can be a quick way to turn its meat into a puree right for baking it into a pastry or bread. Cut the pumpkin in half, again discarding the stringy insides and separating out the seeds for roasting. Peel it and cut it into chunks to boil until tender. After the chunks have cooled, use a food processor or other pureeing method of choice, and incorporate into any recipe calling for pumpkin.
Pumpkin Crafts
- Seed Mosaic: Instead of roasting, pumpkin seeds can be used to make a colorful mosaic. Rinse seeds and pat dry, then cover in tempera paint. While the seeds are drying, draw the picture to be turned into a mosaic, or simply freehand a design with the seeds once dry. Just stick the seeds to a thick paper with glue and create a festive picture.
- Pumpkin Vase: Make a natural vase for Autumn flowers by adding soil and seeds or water and fresh-cut flowers to a hollowed-out pumpkin, instead of carving it.
- Pumpkin Soup Bowl: Use a smaller pumpkin to serve pumpkin soup at a party or Thanksgiving dinner. Use the same gutting technique as with the Jack-O-Lantern or vase. Keep the 'lid' with the stem to keep the soup warm.
- Plant Pumpkins: When the pumpkin begins to decompose, toss it in a compost pile or throw a few of the seeds in the dirt and next year, cultivate pumpkins at home instead of picking one from a patch.
There are so many more things to do with a pumpkin than just turn it into a frightening porch ornament. Eat it, paint it, use the seeds, make a vase, or use as a decorative serving bowl. Find more craft ideas for children at kinderart.com and recipes at allrecipes.com.
Kaitlin Ugolik - Kaitlin graduated from Elon University in Elon, N.C. in May 2009 with a BA in Journalism. She has always loved writing, whether it be news ...
