Halloween Pumpkins
Halloween Pumpkin Lantern
I’d never bought a pumpkin for Halloween and when Co-op were selling them for just £1.50, I thought I’d have a bash at celebrating Halloween the American way.
Carving a pumpkin isn’t all that hard – just cut a circle around the stem and it lifts off easily owing to the hollow centre where the seeds are. You then just scrape out some of the flesh and cut out the eyes, nose and mouth at the front (it’s helpful to draw the lines on first). A tealight inside finishes off the Halloween lantern and you have a spooky Halloween centrepiece for just £1.50. This is definitely a great activity to do with kids.
The problem came, however, when I tried to make pumpkin soup and toasted pumpkin seeds. Following recipes I had found on the internet, I fried up the seeds and served them with salt, pepper and parika. They were tasteless and chewy. I then moved onto the soup. I fried an onion, added water, potatoes and pumpkin flesh to simmer for 20 minutes. I then blended the soup and added a splash of cream and a sprinkling of fresh sage. It tasted like sagey cream with crunchy bits in.
I’m fairly convinced that the pumpkins sold for lantern making in the UK are not the pumpkins used for cooking in the USA. I’m glad I hadn’t tried to make the pumpkin pie recipe with expensive spices like ground cloves and cinnamon. My advice – just use them for lanterns and eat pumpkin pie in America.
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