Stephanie Kalinowski ‘19, Student Life Editor
As we head into this beautiful fall season, many of us like to carve pumpkins to get into the Halloween spirit. Here are some tips and safety precautions you should take into consideration before you get started on your carving this year.
- Start off with the right pumpkin. Make sure you do not find any bruises and check that your pumpkin has a flat bottom so that way the pumpkin will stay put while you carve. Junior Maddy Peters said, “I prefer to go to Kroger in order to find the right pumpkin.” She said they have the biggest pumpkins for cheap.
- Cut lid out on an angle. This is one of the most important steps because if you do it straight up and down, your lid will drop inside the pumpkin which is a pain to get out.
- Scoop out remaining gunk inside the pumpkin. You can use a special ‘claw’ that is made for this or a regular ice cream scoop works just fine. This is the messiest step, so make sure you have plenty of paper towels and a plate for the extra gunk. You will want to make the walls 1 inch and 1/4 thick so carving the ‘face’ will be fairly easy to cut out.
- Time for the creativity to flow in! Do not forget your extra scraps can be used for a nose or a tongue by nailing them on to make your pumpkin look more creative.
Safety Tips so your Pumpkin carving experience can be injury free:
- Instead of using knives in your kitchen, a safer choice would be to use pumpkin carving kits at your local convenience stores. These tools come in smaller sizes and make it easier to navigate.
- Keep things clean, dry and well lit to avoid any chance of injury.
- Children under the age of 14 should not be allowed to do any of the cutting. An alternative could be drawing on the pumpkins or have them scoop out the seeds.
- Always have a first aid kit present in case of an emergency.
Did you think I would forget the best part of pumpkin carving? Eating pumpkin seeds!
This process can be very messy but very worth it. Make sure you separate the seeds from the pumpkin guts. After you have them separated, preheat your oven to 300 degrees fahrenheit (150 degrees celsius). Lastly, spread butter and salt on your seeds then bake for 45 minutes or until the seeds are golden brown. Enjoy!
Junior Ava Krygier said, “Making pumpkin seeds is one of my favorite things to do in the fall!” Pumpkin carving is one of the most common things to do to get into that fall spirit, so it is good to know all the safety precautions and tips before you get started!
Photo courtesy of Good House Keeping
Lyon Life 