Pumpkin Tips

[kirra]

Pumpkin Tips

Halloween Ideas

Donata Maggipinto's book Halloween Treats - Recipes and Crafts for the Whole Family is a great resource. One great idea from Donata Maggipinto's book is using bat and other Halloween cookie cutters to create cute little flying, edible creatures. Place the cookie cutters on a baking sheet. Fill them with Jolly Ranchers or Lifesavers and bake until melted. Make hole in top for hanging, let cool and bingo, scary candy! The process involves a bit more than this, but you get the idea. So get the book! Clever spider web icing design, too.

Using Ordinary Kitchen Tools to Carve the Pumpkin

Chances are you have some kitchen tools other than the paring knife that will help you carve the Halloween pumpkin. . Your resident ice cream scoop, especially the old-fashioned metal kind, will do a terrific job of scraping out the seeds and strings. A grapefruit knife (the double-edged serrated type) is helpful for carving out large areas. After you've cut the big chunk out with the grapefruit knife, smooth out the edges with a sharp, thin blade. An apple corer makes a clean and perfect circle. A simple vegetable peeler, if inserted into the pumpkin flesh and rotated, carves the perfect nostril. Have fun and be careful!

Using a Carpentry Tool to Carve the Pumpkin

After you have scooped out your pumpkin, thin the wall down as much as is practical. Take a coping saw blade (an old worn-out one will do) and wrap about half its length in heavy tape to create a handle. Wrap it tight so the blade doesn't slip inside the tape. If your blade has a small pin through the end (for mounting in the saw), cut or break off about a half inch to eliminate the pin. Push the end of the blade through the pumpkin wall and start cutting. The blade is thin enough to turn sharp corners, allowing you to get some incredible detail. I find it helpful to sketch the design on the pumpkin first using a dry marker or ball point pen. Make sure you don't use a jeweler's saw blade. They're too thin and will just bend.

Make sure the blade teeth are pointed toward you so the blade cuts on the pull stroke (rather then the push stroke). Much better for control. Obviously, this also affects the way you wrap your tape handle. My favorite reason for coping saw blades vs. knife blades? It's almost impossible to sustain a life threatening injury while wielding a coping saw blade. Not true of knives and I have the scars to prove it. Happy carving!

For 99 cents and with some luck, you'll find the "Creative Pumpkin Carver" (Made in China) at your local supermarket or dime store's kitchy Halloween display. It is essentially a coping saw mounted in a bright orange, pumpkin-patterned handle. "Create Thousands of Designs!" it says. "Créez une multitude de motifs!" it says in French.

Advanced Tip on Carving Pumpkins

For the serious carver: Hollow out the pumpkins and then let them sit around for a few days to soften them up. Stagger this process in the several days before Halloween - start with the biggest pumpkin first as it will have the thickest walls. Be careful - if you thin the walls too much, or if the gutted pumpkin gets too warm and rots, the walls may collapse.

Cooking Pumpkin for Pies

Cut off the top of the pumpkin and scrape out all the seeds and strings (an old-fashioned ice cream scoop works great). Cut it into sections and with a paring knife, cut the skin off the flesh. Steam the flesh until tender and puree. (Do NOT immerse the pumpkin meat in water and boil - it will soak up the water and make a watery pie.)

How to Pick a Pumpkin

There are two types of pumpkin available commercially. Sugar pumpkins are usually the smaller, deep orange variety. Field pumpkins - also known as jack o' lanterns - are larger, a brighter shade of orange, and more suitable for carving. Although both varieties are edible, sugar pumpkins have a sweeter flesh and are better for cooking.

Pie bakers should be on the look out for a variety called "cheese pumpkins." They're on the flattish side, are somewhat rust-colored (as opposed to bright orange) and extremely dense, meaty and sweet. Do NOT use them for jack o' lanterns; they'll just make you weep.