The Practice Pumpkin Revisited

I wanted to jump on here real quick to let all you parents know about a serendipitous discovery that came about as a result of initiating the "Practice Pumpkin" tradition last week.  If you pre-empty a pumpkin and let it sit in the fridge hollow for a couple days, it softens up real nice. For those of you with young kids, this will make the carving process a lot easier. Even with kid-friendly tools, carving a fresh pumpkin requires the exertion of a lot of force at very unstable angles. By dry aging your pumpkin first, nobody loses an eye except for ol' Jack.

How soft, how squishy, how Dahmer-esque...

Comments

[MommyCosm]

Thanks for the tip! Our annual pumpkin carving party is this weekend. We should have about 75 people over to carve/eat/drink. I might stick my pumpkins in the fridge first!
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[BusyDad] Cool! Sounds like fun. Be sure to empty them out before you stick em in there. I think they technically have to be dead before they start softening up. I'm not sure what the vital signs of a pumpkin are, but if you gut it, that's a safe bet.

[terancedubya]

Hell yes sir. I just acquired a nice sized pumpkin that will be gutted for use in a pumpkin/spice soup (I'll put the recipe on my site in a few days) and I'll post the results of the upcoming pumpkin-carving gore-fest as well.
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[BusyDad] Looking forward to it! I know I'll have more pumpkin flesh than I know what to do with.

[Joe]

I disagree, I think you need to man that boy up with some power tools to get that thing done. Soften it up with the fridge? Wtf! I mean, are you tunring him into geriatric carver? Hit him up with a saws-all and let loose a little.

Just playing obvioulsy. You use the punch a hole technique before? Like connecting the dots and what not. Kinda makes it easier. Meaning not at all. Still, it does seem to cheat the spirit a little throwing McUmpkin in the rator. Peace!
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[BusyDad] :) I got a Stihl with a ribbon on it for his Xmas present. Baby steps my man, baby steps...
Ah - so that's what that pokey thing was in the kit! I was thinking, why would anyone want to just poke a hole in a pumpkin? Thanks for the tip. Goes to show what we dads can accomplish when we combine our powers.

[Tot's Mom]

This seems like fun especially for a kid but carving out pumpkins is not done here in Asia. What you will find though, are those plastic pumpkins that you can get from Toys R Us!

[Dorky Dad]

But dad's annual trip to the emergency room is half the fun of carving a pumpkin!

[Jenny from Mommin' It Up!]

Great tip! My hubby is out of town this week and I've got to get those pumpkins carved. This will be a big help!