We've also learned a trick about the pumpkins- if we wait until the day before (or even the day of in last year's case) Halloween, the pumpkins go on clearance for $1-$2 each at the little farmer's market that we pass on our way home from church. Last year we picked them up for $2, and this year they were just $1 each for any pumpkins they had left, including these beautiful (and huge!) white ones.
They smelled sooooo good when they were cut open- much better than just the standard orange variety we usually get. And mine had a surprise in it- one of the seeds had apparently started to sprout while still inside the pumpkin!
Speaking of cutting pumpkins open, here's the master cutter-opener himself at work. He slices the stops, I scrape out the guts.
I picked what I thought would be an easy Dalek pattern (found here on Twitter) to carve onto mine- a decision I would later regret. I mean, it got carved and all, but it was not easy.
Darren went with a cool Sonic the Hedgehog design.
This is as far as I got on my pumpkin on Sunday night. You see, it turned out that the white pumpkins were waaaay thicker than I'm used to cutting, and even after scraping the sides to thin them out, it was still hard to cut all the way through.
Also, note the uneven lines- award winning pumpkin carver I am not. Actually, I did once win an award for pumpkin carving as a kid- I carved a soccer ball into one- but apparently that skill didn't follow me into adulthood.
So the next day after work we both picked up on carving again and got the pumpkins finished.
Not the prettiest job I've ever done on one, but pumpkins are a forgiving medium- a lot of the crummy technique is hidden by the candlelight. :)
Speaking of candlelight, here they are all lit up!
