Read: Pumpkin Revenge in Irish Country Living
Taking out the guts
If you have children, you’re also undoubtedly surrounded by pumpkins as they demand their yearly, personal jack o’lantern.
At the moment we have three in the cottage. One was carved by us together, Little Missy and the Small Girl taking it in turns to ghoulishly drag out the stringy “guts” with shrieks and squawks soundtracking the experience. The other two were done at Halloween camp and carefully hugged all the way home, only falling off a couple of times. At least they bounce.
Now they sit on the kitchen table, awaiting their nightly lighting so that we can eat dinner by jack o’lantern-light, accompanied by a vague smell of roasting pumpkin.
When you too get sick of the sight of these grinning orange heads, read my piece about pumpkin revenge on the Irish Country Living website, complete with a recipe for Smoky Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Soup.
Irish Country Living: Pumpkin revenge by Caroline Hennessy
Don’t forget that the seeds, when cleaned of their guts, make a great snack. Toss in olive oil and salt, roast in a hot oven (around 180C or whatever temperature your dinner is cooking at) for 7-10 minutes and eat while still warm.
Revenge can be salty, as well as sweet.
