First Halloween

Halloween is our last 'first holiday together.'

One year ago exactly on Halloween morning I hopped a plane in Salt Lake City and ended up late that night in Atlanta.  So our anniversary celebration was to sit down together, mostly, and carve jack-o-lanterns this afternoon.

Here's the two pumpkins we picked out at the Pumpkin Patch at Due West United Methodist Church on Monday all perched on the table and ready to have us start cutting away.  First we cut out the top so that it will lift up for a candle to go inside.

And then we tackled the guts!  Pumpkin guts, oh my...

Derek used the little plastic paddle scraper from the carving kit and I just dug in with my bare hands and got messed up with pumpkin guts clear to my elbows.  I'm a messy messy girl...  well that, and I wanted to save the seeds to roast for a tasty snack.

Here they are, all washed clean and spread out to dry on some paper towels.

A couple of them had already sprouted.  I was thinking about saving a few to plant in the yard next spring.  We might have ended up with some sort of weird 'franken-fruit' if I'd remembered to put a handful aside when I was going all crazy dressing them with oil and spices and then setting in the oven to toast a bit.

Currently one of the dogs' favorite things is pumpkin puree.  And since the flesh on these was so thick there were several good sized pieces from where we cut our designs so I gathered them up in a baking dish and will let them cook low and slow until soft.  Once it all cools down, we'll see how the boys like fresh pumpkin.

And here's how the jack-o-lanterns turned out.

Derek used one of the templates in the carving kit to make this cool bat design.  When I can get candles or a glow stick or something inside to light it, I'll have to take a photo in the dark, too.

On mine, the flesh was so thick - thicker than the carving tools in some spots - that I decided I wouldn't be able to get the little pieces from any of the templates out of the pumpkin so I went with a traditional jack-o-lantern that I could cut in relative safety with a kitchen knife.  Safety is relative with me... I did end up with a tiny cut on my one finger.  But for me that's not too bad of a record!

Have a spooktacular Halloween everyone!!