Pumpkins…

Cat Got Your Tongue?

With Halloween upon us it is time to do a bit of carving. When I was a child we used to carve pumpkins with a knife and the results were decidedly random.

Nowadays I use a much more professional method which uses templates, bradawls and saw blades!

The first stage is to open up the top of the pumpkin and remove the seeds. Once the seeds are removed you can put them to one side as we will be roasting them later.

Stage 2 involves sticking your template to the pumpkin with tape and transferring the outline to the pumpkin by using a bradawl or pin.

The fun part now begins – using a saw blade carefully cut along the dotted lines and remove the waste. A tip that I have discovered through trial and error is to cut the fine detail first. A pair of tweezers comes in handy to remove waste in the finer areas.

You should now have a finished carved pumpkin ready to illuminate your house, so it’s time to make a tasty snack from the seeds:

Ingredients

Method

Preheat your oven to 130°C, and line a baking tin with baking parchment.

Put all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Transfer to the baking tin and roast in the oven for 20 to 40 minutes, stirring them around every 15 minutes or so.

When they have turned a golden brown remove from the oven and allow to cool. Delicious!

Pumpkin carving tools

Pumpkin carving tools

Getting inside...

Getting inside...

Hollow pumpkin

Hollow pumpkin

Cutting pattern applied

Cutting pattern applied

Pattern transfer...

Pattern transfer...

Pattern transferred

Pattern transferred

Seeds ready to roast

Seeds ready to roast

Roasted pumpkin seeds

Roasted pumpkin seeds