- Pumpkins – does anyone eat them?
It is that time of year again – halloween. And now is the time to get your pumpkin. There is no shortage of them. You see them in huge piles outside supermarkets, grocery stores and even the local high school is selling them off as a fund raiser.
So why do you need one? You aren’t going to eat it are you? Not likely. These mothers are big, stringy and not very tasty. Your task is to find ones that will make a great Jack-o-lantern for your halloween displays. Yes – plural. There is the one outside your house. This signals to the neighbours that you are up for the whole trick or treat thing. And inside you will want to go with the whole orange and black decorating theme that we all expect.
You will need ones that fit your design for the lantern. Big and even, without odd dents and ideally with a flat base will probably be best. Your toothy or toothless design should fit.
It strikes me as odd that there is a whole industry geared up to grow huge squashes that no one will eat. In fact we buy them, and then throw them away in two stages. Firstly we remove the insides and chuck that out. Then a few weeks later we chuck out the Jack-o-lantern itself. At no time will we eat the pumpkin flesh itself.
Correction. We might eat it but only if someone else has prepared it for us. Pumpkin pie tastes of spice and sugar. For all I know there is not any actual pumpkin in these things. But who cares, it’s halloween. The kids will be on a sugar high from all the trick or treat candy and we might as well join them with a slice or two of pie.