Thursday, October 1, 2009

Carving hopes will NOT be squashed this year!

Bah. Humbug. And it's not even Christmas yet.

But it's October, the Halloween season and I got no pumpkins.

I'm bitter because I REALLY wanted to grow my own pumpkins this year for pie, for seeds and most of all to make JACK-O-LANTERNS, but the squash borers decided to sink those plans, grrr.

Pumpkins can get expensive, especially the really big ones I can extravagant on and though I noted some moderately good size ones for $4/apiece I had been so intent from the start of spring/early summer to have grown my own pumpkins, even wishing to get some of those GINORMOUS pumpkin seeds and attempt to make myself a little pumpkin house in the backyard.

Husband wasn't too keen on that one.

Two years ago I bought pumpkins and I was quite pleased with my efforts:


Last year, due to finances, I skipped out on the pumpkins and made crummy brown paper bag lantern cutouts with tea candles illuminating them and they were BLAH as well as wonderfully dangerous I found.

(I realized midway that the cheap polyester costumes that kids get nowadays and in addition to clumsiness on everyone's part were not a good combo. I would like to assure everyone reading that NO ONE caught on fire that night!)

So... I want to do pumpkins again.

Granted I saw these "craft pumpkin" things on sale at craft stores, where it appears you can cut and shape and save for every year, and though I am sure it is cost effective in the long run, I like the whole Native American feeling of using the whole thing when I have a real pumpkin.

Because with a "faux-kin" I'd be constantly channeling my Jack Sparrow and thinking, "But, where's the pumpkin pie?!" (don't you dare tell me to use the stuff in the can!)

Plus there's nothing like cumin and sea salt dusted roasted pumpkin seeds, mmmm, that's autumn for ya.