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How
to make a jack-o'-lantern
Eating the leftovers
How to choose a tasty pumpkin
How to preserve your pumpkin
The
challenge: can you do better?
About Lindsay Jordan
You
need:
1 short, sharp knife
1 dessert spoon
1 teaspoon
1 candle or tea-light
Plenty of newspaper to protect work surface
Large bowl for pumpkin seeds and flesh |
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Step
One:
Cut a circular hole around the stalk. |
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Tilt
the point of the knife into the centre of the pumpkin.
This will stop the lid from falling in. |
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| Step
Two: Scoop out the seeds and any loose flesh using the dessertspoon
and the knife if needed. |
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| Step
Three: Sketch the face onto your pumpkin. Use a biro so
any mistakes can be scrubbed off with a scouring pad or fingernail.
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| Step
Four: Carefully cut out the features. Take small cuts and
use a puncturing motion rather than a slicing one. |
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Five: Gently scrape away the flesh on the inside of the
face until it is only 1cm thick. |
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Six: Using the knife, mark a circle the size of your candle
or tea-light in the centre of the base. |
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Seven: Carefully hollow out the marked area with the teaspoon. |
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Eight: Place your candle in the hollow, light it and replace
the lid of your jack-o'-lantern. |
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Eating
the leftovers: The spare pumpkin flesh and seeds can be saved
and cooked. The
seeds can be roasted as a snack.
The
best varieties for eating are 'sweet pumpkin' and 'pie pumpkin'.
They are smaller than the usual jack-o'-lantern pumpkins sold in
the UK in October - but they are much tastier!
How
to choose a tasty pumpkin: It should be heavy and have at least
two inches of stem. (Less stem means it will decay faster.) Look
for a pumpkin with no blemishes or soft spots.
For
recipes, check out our links on the left-hand side.
Preserving
your pumpkin: A shrivelled manky pumpkin isn't going to impress
anyone.
One
tip I've heard is to put petroleum jelly around the carved edges
- but that seems a bit too keen. As is putting it in a bucket of
cold water with a hint of bleach.
If
you need to preserve your creation, put it in the fridge. Maybe
wrapped in clear food wrap, if you can be bothered.
The
challenge: Can you do better? Email
us a photo of you with your Halloween pumpkin (please include
your name and address).
We'll
put your photo in the
gallery for the world to marvel at your creative genius!
View
the Pumpkin Gallery »
Feature
and photographs by Lindsay Jordan
Comments
Sorry
I havent got a photo to send in just an idea to add re pumpkin
carving what we do is to run some food colouring into the
pumpkin after weve carved the flesh out nothing like
a vivid green glow combined with orange to make it stand out and
to make it a little more gruesome! Kevin W.
*****
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Lindsay
Jordan
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About
Lindsay Jordan: Lindsay has lived in Ulverston for four years
and has been carving pumpkins since she was old enough to use a
knife without being a danger to society.
Lindsay
is a trained secondary school science teacher and a published author
of several educational books. She is heading for the sort of status
in Ulverston currently only enjoyed by Mr Ralph Spours.
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