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Our Friend, The Pumpkin
The First Jack-O'-Lantern
According to Irish legend, a long time ago there lived a miser named
Stingy Jack. One Halloween, Jack invited the Devil to have a drink with
him. He also persuaded the Devil to change himself into a gold coin to
pay the innkeeper. But, as soon as the Devil did so Jack popped the
coin into his pocket. Because Jack had a silver cross in the same
pocket, the Devil could not change himself back, since the cross robbed
him of his evil powers. Jack made the Devil promise never to claim his
soul before he finally let him go.
After a long and sinful life, Jack died. He was turned back from the
gates of Heaven, and made his way to Hell. But he couldn't enter hell
either because of the Devil's promise to him. The Devil angrily threw a
glowing coal at Jack, who quickly hollowed out a turnip and put the
coal inside to light his way. Jack has been wandering through the
darkness as a lost soul ever since, holding his lantern before him.
The legend of Stingy Jack spread to England and Scotland, where people
believed that a lit jack-o'-lantern protected them from Jack and the
other restless spirits that roamed the earth on Halloween. Grotesque
faces were carved on the hollow turnips to frighten the spirits away,
and each house had its glowing jack-o'-lantern by the front door on
Halloween night.
When Irish and Scotch immigrants came to America in the 1800s, they
brought the traditions of Halloween with them. They discovered that
pumpkins made perfect jack-o'-lanterns, and began to use them instead
of turnips. The tradition spread throughout the country and has lasted
to this day. |
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The fine art of pumpkin carving.
As a child I remember how important pumpkin carving was to me. I
know that it is safer to use the new foam imitation pumpkins (and I own
quite a few myself) but there is nothing like the smell of a real
pumpkin or the way it feels when you dig your hand into its gloppy
innards. First and foremost, before all else we all know that children
should not be handling knives. There are some excellent childsafe
cutters out there. I use one of the small pumpkin saws and enjoy it
quite a bit. You could also let your children paint on there pumpkin.
These can be very cool and has the added benefit of not turning into a
mushy pile in a few weeks.But, I digress... I am here to give you my
method of carving. First, you will need the following items.
Pumpkin (no duh)
Washable marker
Newspapers
Big spoon, metal if you got it
Knife or pumpkin saw
Bowl
 1. And this can be the hardest part.
Find the ultimate pumpkin. Either go to your local grocer or if you are
really lucky, you have grown your own or you have a local pumpkin
patch. When I was growing up it was a place called Vaccas.. I loved
that place. Your pumpkin must have personality..it must shout out to
you..you are my destiny..I must be on your porch. Once you have found
this specific one, take it home. (well, you didn’t think you were
gonna carve it here did you?)
2. Spread out the newspaper. Pumpkins have a way of getting really
gucky.. One of my favorite scenes of all time is in the holiday cartoon
"its the great pumpkin Charlie brown" when Lucy attacks her pumpkin and
begins ripping out the insides while Linus looks on in horror. Place
your pumpkin in the center and look at it, admire it, make your plan of
attack!
 3. Pick up your pen and draw a
circle at the top around the stem. You can also make a star or any
other shape you would like.. remember, this is your pumpkin
4. When you have this the way you like it, pick up the
knife..carefully! Cut along the line you have drawn but make sure you
cut at a slant so later when you place it back on it doesn't fall in..
that would be bad. After you remove this lid, cut off the stuff that is
hanging off to make it smooth. Place this aside until later. Put down
the knife!
 5. Using your hand.. don’t
worry..that stuff wont kill ya, (even though my daughter is sure it
will) take out the largest amount of the guck, separating the seeds and
placing them in a bowl for later. When you get to a point where you can
no longer pull anything out by hand, use your spoon to scrape along the
inside of your pumpkin, taking off about a half of an inch of the
inside. This will get rid of most of those annoying strings. Once this
is finished you are ready to go to the artsy part.
6. Once again look at your squashy friend. Now is the time for you to
decide just how he is feeling right now. Do you think he needs a mad
face? a sad face?? Is he scary looking cause you just pulled out his
brain?? just kidding. Using your pen, draw the face you think he/she
needs. Make it as simple or as fancy as you like.
 7. Carefully pick up the knife and
cut along the lines you have just drawn. When you have finished each
section, reach inside and push the piece out. You may need to clean out
some areas but this is an ongoing process.. Hey, it aint brain
surgery..or is it? Pumpkin humor there...don’t mind me. Put down
the knife!
 8. Place the lid on.. doesn’t
he look cool? Have a parent light a candle and drip a pool of wax on
the inside of the pumpkin, then place you candle in that pool. If you
can find a small pie plate or saucer to place inside him for your
candle.. that will work even better. Votive candles are what I use but
potpourri candles work good to. The safest thing you can do is put a
small flashlight inside but I absolutely love the flicker of a candle.
Make sure that mom or dad light the darn thing though and keep it away
from curtains and such.
 9. Some other things you might want
to try. I always cut thin slices on the inside of my lids and sprinkle
cinnamon on it. As the candle burns the lid (and it always seems to) it
will smell like pumpkin pie. Also, if using a flashlight, you can use
different colors of plastic wrap over the light... looks cool. Another
thing you might want to try is instead of cutting off the top of your
pumpkin, cut off the bottom.. then all you need to do is lift the whole
pumpkin off and light the candle. You can always decorate it with bits
of fabric and paint if you don’t plan to cut it.
I hope I have been of some help and maybe you have gotten some ideas.. have fun and play nice! |
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