Jack-O-Lanterns: Gadgets and Ideas
October 20, 2007 by Tracey Thompson
Filed under Recipes
As the nights start to cool down a little…we are dropping down to 70 in Florida…and the leaves on the trees begin changing their colors, you know that one of the funnest times of years is fast approaching, Halloween.
I love Halloween. It rates right up there with Christmas in my book. I think that is because not only is it a great time of year for food and Autumn is just plain wonderful, but because Halloween is fun. You get to dress-up, eat food that is bad for you and be like a kid. One of my favorite things to do is go buy pumpkins and make Jack-O-Lanterns.
Jack-O-Lanterns actually come to us from our Celtic friends. In Ireland they use to make Jack-O-Lanterns out of turnips to protect them from the evil spirits that came about during Halloween. In the 1800’s when so many Irish immigrants came to the United States they couldn’t get their hands on turnips, but discovered the pumpkins of North America and the rest, as they say, was history.
Today, pumpkin carving has become way more than just a face with a candle. They ideas are endless. Martha Stewart even has her own pumpkin carving kit for sale at Macy’s. It is priced around $30, but it has a lot of great tools that you don’t get in those cheaper ones and the kit comes along with templates and an idea booklet. It looks like it is currently being sold for 50% off.
HGTV also has a video on some great Jack-o-Lantern ideas including a Pirate Pumpkin or a Witch with dry ice. You can also download the information from the site.
Oh, and a great tip: To get your pumpkin to survive the elements and time, spray it daily with a solution of 5% chlorine and the rest water.
Wow, thanks for the history lesson. I had no idea. I’ll have to show Cedar a turnip at the store and that story. He’ll like it.
I thought that was pretty interesting. I love learning about all that sort of stuff.