Halloween pumpkin - need help!

[fredo]

Seems to me this is surely nothing but a Off Topic thread.

Since it's some years that in Italy too has grown "that Halloween feeling", yesterday my younger kid has come home with a big fat orange pumpkin, and it's supposed I'm going to turn it into a special Halloween flaming head.

Now I've got a few problems, so I hope there's someone out there in the U.S. to help me.
When should I begin to abrade the internal pulp ?
Which kind of brush/spoon/knife is better for this purpose ?
How much time have I to wait for before beginnig to carve its shell ?
In how many days will the pumpkin head putrefy after abrading and carving ?
Will the empty pumpkin burn because of the candle I'm going to set inside it ?

er ... does anybody know what's inside the pumpkin ? will squirt off some disgusting mush or something ?
You know, I'm used to buy, prepare - and of course, to eat - melon, watermelons and other fruit & vegetables ... but it's my first pumpkin !

[Dave]

Hi fredo,

This website has some good information. A pumpkin is a variety of winter squash so the insides are "squashy" with lots of pulp, seeds, liquid. It doesn't squirt but you need to do it outside to avoid getting a mess all over the house.

[penny3333]

You can also roast the seeds, they're really yummy!

[f-mattox]

It won't burn, especially if you do it just a few days before Halloween.

You can let it disolve in a planter or at the base of a tree or shrub; it makes good fertilizer.

And by all means slow-roast the seeds.

[MiketheKid]

I was about to give a tip, but noticed that the article Dave posted already had it. It's a good one, so it's worth repeating.

After you cut off the top (lid), make a little notch that goes into the lid and pumpkin itself. That way, you know how the lid will fit back onto the pumpkin when you are ready to close it up. It can be pretty frustrating to fumble with the lid, trying to get it to fit back on the pumpkin properly.

Def. roast the seeds. I think alot of people remove the shell before eating (like sunflower seeds), but i just pop them in my mouth whole - extra flavor.

And if you want to see what some very skilled pumpkin carvers can do, check out http://www.extremepumpkins.com/. Some of the designs are def. meant to be "scarier", but it's all in good halloween fun.

[drlivingston]

Just don't shake the pumpking before you carve it... they tend to get a little queasy.

[f-mattox]

Now that's creative!

[susanmaz]

Fredo - - it's finally Halloween here. . . How did your pumpkin carving adventure go? Do we get to see pictures?

[fredo]

Thank you all !
Everything's gone very well.

The pumpkin we bought was quite empty on its own, so it's been rather easy to clean it. We didn't find many seeds, so we keep on buying them already toasted and salted.
I love them since I was four or five.
On winter Sundays outside the church there was an old man with a fire, he wrapped the seeds in a (news)paper bag ... today my wife should horrify thinking of all that ink and how many hands did touch the paper.

Back to the pumpkin: carving, after your tips, was easy and fast.

My kid went around the streets with his flaming head since October 30. I don't know how many IKEA candles he used up to light "Jack".
It's some weeks he's got a real addiction to "NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS": he watches and re-watches the movie, listens to the soundtrack, wears NBC T-shirts ... hope it will pass

Jack the pumpkin was an attraction in the 2-3 parties he went: surely far superior to the pre-carved-supermarket-items carried by others.
Some same old stupid (there's one in every crowd) told him "where do you think you are, you American" ...

Because of the countless opening/closing and continuous handling, on the other side, Jack lost some teeth and got the upper cover broken; but that's it.

Its glorious days ended spiked out in the garden, as a "warden". Seems it's quite gone limp ...

And yes, we took tons of photos. Just trying to learn how to post them ...

[penny3333]

Glad to hear your pumpkin was a smash It sounds like your son had a ball and that kid with the snyde remark was jealous. Have a great weekend!