Flaming Pumpkins 2009

Here is a picture of how my jack-o-lantern appeared last night:

Inside are two kerosene soaked rolls of toilet paper. One stacked on top of the other.

We actually had two flaming pumpkins last night.

I love how the flame shoots out of the eyes!

And my favorite pic of the pumpkin was taken by my friend Bethie:

Hope your Halloween was fun and memorable. I know ours was!

* Please use caution when lighting your own jack-o-lanterns. Always supervise the blaze and have a hose at the ready to put it out. Do not light it on top of dry, flammable materials. It is not a good idea to be the pyrotechnician if you have been enjoying adult beverages. Just sayin'!

How to Carve a Pumpkin Simply

I love holiday crafts. Especially ones that have anything to do with food. One of my favorites is pumpkin carving. Ever since I was a small child, pumpkin carving has been a big deal. This year, I carved a BIG pumpkin. Here are a few tips on carving a simple jack-o-lantern.

Cut the top of your pumpkin off, angling your knife like mine is above so that when you put your top on again it won't fall all the way through. I am using a big knife because the walls of this pumpkin were thick, however, usually a safety knife from a pumpkin carving kit (like the one below) is what I use.

These are perfect, especially if you are carving with your children.

Next scrape down the insides with a plastic ice cream scoop (like the orange one on the table in the picture above) and then reach in and remove all the pumpkin goop. At this point, you can separate out the seeds to bake if you want.

Don't forget to take a second and sketch an idea of what you want your pumpkin to look like. (Or, if you don't draw, find a picture of one you want to copy.)

This year we added a new tool to our pumpkin carving kit. The wet erase pen:

Draw your face on your pumpkin. If you make a mistake, wipe it off and start again. You may want to shade the area you are removing (especially for more delicate designs).

Use your safety knife to cut into the pumpkin in the middle of one of the shaded areas. You can use this knife for your whole pumpkin, but I find it really only works best on strait edges like those I've cut below.

If you want to do curvy lines easily and quickly, you will want to buy one of these little gems:

Battery powered pumpkin saw. Gotta love power tools! :)

You see I am using it on the edges where I have a wavy line. Take it slow, and do not push or bend your saw blade. Always make a hole to stick the blade in. Do not attempt to make the initial cut with that delicate blade.

And that is it. Remove the pieces as you cut them out, and clean up the inside edges of the cut by running your blade over that section again.

Soon you will be taking pictures with your own jack-o-lantern. Here my Dad and I are posing with ours:

Me on the porch with them lit:
Spooky, eh?
Happy Halloween!!!

October Onigiri

Bento #20 features a jack-o-lantern onigiri coated in soy sauce with a nori grin. It is surrounded by fried rice and tomatoes. Simple but delicious, here it is: