How to Carve a Pumpkin and Make Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

It was not a contest, but I think that Paul might have to be declared the winner if it were because it was his first time carving a pumpkin. We all had a good time, though, and the Jack O’Lanterns turned out very well. Halloween season has commenced. I love this holiday!

On Sunday, October 07, 2012, we passed pumpkins for sale at a local church and made a spur of the moment decision to invite our friends Paul and Rebecca over to carve pumpkins. Paul is from Chile, so this was his first experience with carving although he did celebrate Halloween last year.

The best way to carve a pumpkin is to start at the top. Cut a hole around the stem with the knife at an angle, so that piece can later be used as a lid. If you cut straight down, the lid will fall into the pumpkin. It also helps to make a jagged cut.

Next, you have to empty the “guts” of the pumpkin. If you are going to roast the pumpkin seeds, something that I highly recommend, it is good to separate the seeds at this point. Have two bowls ready, one for the guts and the other for the seeds. Spoons are good utensils for scraping the inside of the pumpkins.

Once all of the stringy insides are out, you can decide how you are going to carve your pumpkin. There are three methods for this step. The first is to wield the knife with only a vision in your head of how you want it to look. The second is to draw a face on the pumpkin with a marker before you start cutting. These lines are more permanent. Lastly, you can draw with a pencil which will be less obvious should you make a mistake. The good thing is that there really are no mistakes in pumpkin carving because Jack O’Lanterns are supposed to look bizarre.

It is good to use a sharp knife to cut the pumpkin. Despite what you may think, a dull knife is actually more dangerous. Of course, small children should not be allowed to actually carve the pumpkin. They can draw the face and have an adult make the cuts for them. This is where most of the errors occur. However, as I said before, there are no real mistakes in this activity.

As you can see, Crème paid close attention to make sure that no mistakes were made on our Jack O’Lanterns. This will be her first Halloween, but I think that she already understands that she will be the star that day since she is a Black Cat. She was obsessed by the activities.

While Douglas and Paul were carving the pumpkins, I roasted the pumpkins seeds. This is one of my favorite snacks. I roast all kinds of seeds, pumpkin or squash. It is really easy. First, you need a pan and oil. I use olive oil and spread it around the pan with my hand.

Distribute the seeds on the pan. You want them to be spread thinly. I used two pans since there were two pumpkins and therefore many seeds. Next, sprinkle the seeds with whatever spices you would like. I use freshly ground sea salt and pepper, cayenne and curry.

Roast the seeds in the oven heated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit until they are golden brown. It is good to stir them around a bit when they first start to brown. Serve hot or cold. They are delicious.

Both the seeds and the pumpkins turned out well. The Jack O’Lanterns are now sitting on the front steps lit up for the holiday. The seeds are almost all gone. Things are good.

I will be back in the next couple of weeks with more Halloween decorations. If you have any good ideas, let me know. I am always looking for inspiration.

Happy Homemaking!