So here is a pumpkin carving idea for cat lovers. This jack o' lantern has a cat face carved onto the front and then some black furry fabric has been cut and hot glued into a shape of a cat body and then place around the pumpkin. This is a great idea for a contest or party. It certainly is original.
Here are some helpful hints for pumpkin carving:
If you just score the skin of the pumpkin and not cut all the way through, you will have a nice illuminated area when you place the lighting inside. This is a fun easy way to decorate a Halloween pumpkin.
The words "Trick or Treat" on the bottom of this one have been scored. You can see how easy it is to see it when the jack o lantern is lit.
Here is a picture of it without light:
The trick is this: make sure you scoop away extra pumpkin from the inside behind these letters making the side thinner. This way the light has less material to shine through and it will be brighter.
As you can see, I used gourds and small pumpkins to embellish this design which happens to be an owl in case you could not figure that out. Toothpicks work great to attach these pieces to the main part.
Special pumpkin carving tools are helpful to achieve a nice finished product. Williams and Sonoma has a wonderful set and there are other online merchants as well that offer sets.
Also check out our sister site: pumpkinspumpkins.com
It is time to start thinking about fall and with that comes some holidays that involve pumpkin like Halloween and Thanksgiving. Whether you are looking for pumpkin carving ideas, recipes, or decorating tips, you may want to check out pumpkinspumpkins.com where you will find a wealth of information.
It is always sad to see summer come to an end, but it helps to look forward to the good things in store with the change of seasons.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
5 leeks chopped
1/4 cup flour
12 ears of corn with the kernels cut
2 cups cooked pumpkin (for instructions on how to prepare fresh pumpkin click on pumpkin recipes under blogroll)
1 quart cream (light)
1 cup Sherry (dry)
1 cup chicken broth
2 1/2 cups Chablis Pepper (dash) Allspice (dash)
1/2 lb bacon Chedder cheese
In a stock pot or dutch oven melt the butter and add the next 10 ingredients through the allspice. Simmer for 15 minutes. Fry the bacon and drain off the fat. Chop the bacon into small pieces and set aside. Take out one blender full of the chowder and blend until smooth. Pour this puree back into the chowder and add the bacon. Simmer for 35 minutes. Pour the chowder into oven-proof bowls and top with chedder cheese. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes. Serves 6 to 8.
This pumpkin gingerbread would be a great addition to a Holiday brunch table or a nice treat to have on Thanksgiving Day. In fact, it would be great any time.
3 Cups sugar
1 cup oil
4 eggs Mix the above ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 1/2 tsp ginger
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp cloves
Sift together the above dry ingredients in a separate bowl. 2/3 cups water 1 16oz can of pumpkin Mix the water and the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture alternately and then add the pumpkin. Pour the batter into loaf pans and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 1 hour. When a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean they are done. Enjoy!! For more great pumpkin recipes and information click on pumpkins under blogroll.
Making pie crust can be a chore that makes some us cringe and fret. Thoughts of flour everywhere and pie crusts thrown in the garbage after all that hard work because the recipe just did not turn out. Or you bake the pie and the crust is hard and horrible.
Well, if you like easy foolproof recipes, then you really need to check out this great recipe for holdiay pie crust that my mom handed down to me. It has some crazy ingredients like vinegar, but it is really good. This pie crust is great for Thanksgiving pumpkin pie, Christmas pecan pie, apple pie, or any other holiday pie recipe that you may have.
The recipe and instructions are available by clicking "pie crust recipe" under blogroll. You will find all kinds of information about pumpkins and pumpkin recipes by clicking on "pumpkins" under blogroll.
Happy Holidays
Sara
There are many great recipes that begin with pumpkin as the main ingredient. Pumpkin is yummy but did you know that it provides following nutrients.
One cup of pumpkin provides approximately the following:
Calories: 49
Protein: 1 gram
Carbs: 12 grams
Fiber: 2 grams
Beta Carotene: 2650 IU
Niacin: 1 gram
Pantothenic acid: 1 mg
Vitamin C: 11 mg
Calcium: 37 mg
Iron: 1.4 mg
Magnesium: 22 mg
Phosophorous: 74 mg
Potassium: 564 mg
Fat: less than 1 gram
Cholesterol: zero
Using pumpkin in your cooking and baking provides many nutrients while it is very low in fat. It is low in calories and has fiber to boot. It is high in beta carotene which is an important antioxidant.
Sara
Select your pumpkins carefully for cooking as maximum flavor and nutrients is desired. Choose pumpkins that are firm and heavy for their size. Look for pumpkins that are free of cracks and signs of decomposition. Small to medium size are best for cooking as well.
Varieties such as New England Pie, Baby Pam, Small Sugar, and Boston Pie are good choices. These varieties are known for their flavor and stringless texture and they are easier to peel and prepare.
Sizes of pumpkins should range in weight from 2 to 8 pounds. A good flesh-to-cavity ratio is desired so choose pumpkins that feel heavy for their size as mentioned above.
Choosing pumpkins for carving is a little different. Pumpkins for Jack O' Lanterns should have tough skins and be difficult to peel. The flesh is generally tasteless in these varieties. A good compromise if you are looking for ornamental pumpkins as well as pumpkins that have some flavor for cooking try these varieties: Fairytale, Jarradale, and Lumina.
For more information on how to cook the pumpkin go to the right under blogroll and click on "pumpkins." Navigate down the page to a link to a pumpkin soup recipe and within that recipe there are instructions on how to cook the pumpkin for recipes. Also if you are looking for a recipe for pumpkin seeds, you will also see a link for that on the main page of pumpkinspumpkins.com
Sara
A haunted house pumpkin is very cool. Use different sizes and shapes of pumpkins to make different houses. Cut out a door and use toothpicks to hinge the door and have it open slightly. Cut out windows or you can score the skin of the pumpkins making window shapes. When you score the skin, scoop out extra pumpkin behind the area that you scored. This way more light will shine through from the lighting inside the pumpkin. Make some ghosts out of white fabric and prop them up on top of the pumpkins. Cut a square of white fabric and place a ball of whatever in the center and place a rubber band around to make the neck of the ghost. Make sure to watch the ghosts if you are using candles for lighting as not to catch them on fire. You can also purchase little Halloween figures from the craft store to place on the haunted house pumpkins.
Beta-carotene is one of the most well known of the carotenoids and is converted into Vitamin A in the liver. It is also an antioxidant which has been shown to prevent cancer by neutralizing free radicals. There are many more carotenoids that have not been discovered yet. Taking supplements of beta-carotene is not as beneficial as getting it through the diet because eating foods like pumpkin that have combinations of the carotenoids present, work together in the body in ways we don't even know about yet.
People who have diabetes or hypothyroidism may not be able to convert the beta-carotene into vitamin A. This is something to be aware of if you have one of these disorders. Cosuming huge quantites of beta-carotene could put undo stress on your liver.