Carving Pumpkins
Ingredients:
Sharp knife
vegetable oil
garlic salt
salt
big spoon
sharpie marker
big bowl
baking sheet
Going
to the pumpkin patch can be one of the most exciting adventures a child can
experience. Not only is carving a pumpkin a good way for a child to express
their creative side, it’s also very fun. The excitement and happiness that
children share while getting ready for pumpkin festivities is enjoyable for
most parents. Then, bam! Once that orange cap is off, there is highlighter
colored Orange gooey innards, guts and seeds all over! While the kids are having
a ball digging out the innards and squeezing the orange goop, the adults are
focused on the goopy orange mess left on the surface. The parents’ once enjoyment
of watching the child carving the pumpkin is over. If carving pumpkins is not
done right it can be messy, but not to worry if you follow this process, you
will surely get things done in a fun, organized and even delicious way.
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| The wonderful Pumpkin Patch |
All
kids know that great feeling of enjoyment they get while walking around their
sprawling neighborhoods on Hallows eve going trick or treating. Illuminated
Jack-O’-Lanterns often sit and watch, as dressed up children admire their
spooky faces, on their way to candy bowl. The tradition of the carving of the
jack- o’- lanterns extends back to 1700’s Ireland where the local Irishman had
a common folklore of a man named Stingy Jack. Stingy Jack made a deal with the
devil that he didn’t have to go down to hell, but when he died the doors of
Heaven would not let him in. So, he had to wander the Earth for all eternity
with only a candle. Thus, this tradition was started on by the locals and
brought on to America with the Irish immigrants. Carving pumpkins is a
wonderful past time and it’s an exciting tradition to uphold to the new
generations. There is nothing better than seeing the enjoyment of a little kids
face after completing his first jack-o’-lantern. So, learn how to complete and
keep a wonderful seasonal tradition alive by carving and utilizing the
wonderful seeds of the beautiful pumpkin this fall.
The
first step in carving a pumpkin is: getting the actual pumpkin! It is one of
the most exciting parts of the process. Look up a local pumpkin patch. Some pumpkin
patches have pre picked pumpkins for sale, and others give you the thrill of
physically going to pick out a pumpkin from the field. Once you have picked out
the perfect pumpkin and paid, you can load it into your car and head on home.
Once at home, put the pumpkin outside your house until you are ready to carve
it! In the meantime imagine the face or picture you want to see on your
pumpkin.
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| Bringing the pumpkins home |
When you are ready to begin the fun of carving
the pumpkin make sure you have all the materials needed. If your pumpkin has
been outdoors for a while, then let your pumpkin thaw out for 10 minutes at
room temperature just to make the carving process simpler. Carving the pumpkin
outdoors eliminates the mess that may stress some parents out, but carving the
pumpkins indoors is a commonality upon many. Wherever you are carving, make sure you have a
bowl for seeds, and a bucked for goop. This will eliminate the sorting process
later. The first step is analyzing the pumpkin and picking the side which will
make your creative face look the best! The next step, with a large knife,
preferable a special pumpkin carving large knife, cut a few inches around the
stem, leaving a circle at the top of the pumpkin. Leave the cap of the pumpkin
to the side. Next, use your hands, or a digging scoop to get all the goop. Put
goop into one bucket and any loose seeds you find on the way, put into the seed
bowl. Once the pumpkin inside is completely hollow and free of seeds, it’s time
to carve! Wash the outside any gooey threadlike ick on the outside of the
pumpkin off.
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| Paige Scooping the goop |
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| Jack Cutting the pumpkin |
After the pumpkin is dry, all you need is your imagination and a
marker! Think of what you want on your pumpkin. You can stick with the classic
Jack-O-Lantern face, like our example, or attempt to incorporate a more modern,
intricate design such as a spider web. After you have decided on your design, you
can map out and draw it on the dry surface of the pumpkin with a sharpie or
permanent marker. Once the super scary face is drawn in black on the pumpkin,
use the medium knife to carve out larger features like the mouth, and use a
smaller knife to carve out more detailed features like the eyes. Make sure to
pop out the pieces after carving each one and add it to the guy bucket. To
dispose of the guts of the pumpkin, you can add them to your compost pile, if
you have one, or you can throw them in the woods since they are decomposable. Once
the face is finished, there is one last step before perfection.
Finally,
you have successfully accomplished carving out your Jack-O-Lantern. To complete
your work and make it look even better, wipe off your pumpkin with a cloth to
remove any dirt or residue from the pumpkin. Illuminate your face and make it
stand out by placing a lit tea candle inside the hollow pumpkin on an even
surface. Lastly, display your decoration on your porch or driveway for others
to enjoy throughout the Halloween season!
After adding the finishing touch of a candle to your pumpkin,
it’s time for the delicious part. Rinse off the separated seeds in a colander
in cold water, making sure no bright orange pumpkin goop is remaining on the
seeds. Let the seeds dry out on a paper towel for about five minutes. While the
seeds are dehydrating, preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Depending on the size
and genetics of the pumpkin, seed amounts vary. To be safe, use one tablespoon
of vegetable oil per cup of seeds yielded. Dust a cookie sheet pan with
vegetable oil prior to laying the seeds down in a single layer fashion. Shake
the pan back and forth or use a spatula to turn over the seeds in effort to
coat each seed with a layer of vegetable oil. Next, shake about ½ teaspoon of
garlic salt and ½ teaspoon of table salt over the seeds on the baking sheet. At
this point, the seeds are now ready to be put in the oven. Set a timer for 45
minutes on your oven. On a separate timer, set an alarm to shake or turn the
seeds over every 7 or so minuets in order to prevent burning. Each time that
you check your seeds, look for the perfect golden brown hue in the shell of the
seed. Once the golden brown color is achieved, remove your seeds from the oven
and allow them to cool. Once your seeds are cooled off, you are almost ready to
munch! Just lay the seeds on a decorative plate and enjoy your Jack-o-lantern
masterpiece visually, as well as orally.
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| The Delicious part |
Carving pumpkins is such an amazing tradition that we should
cherish and share with the generations to come. Everybody can enjoy this
wonderful and relatively simple process each and every year. There is no better
sight then walking down the street and seeing all the houses lined with
decorations and the classic jack-o’-lanterns. This fun and festive activity is
a great way to spend time with young children while they learn to express
themselves and their artistic abilities. The joy and sense of accomplishment
can be seen on a child’s face when they view their bright pumpkin and munch on
their yummy seeds. Is truly an amazing and scrimptions activity that only takes
a few steps, but the memories you make is priceless.
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| Sharing Life Long Memories |
