Jack O' Lantern

We've visited Tougas Farm a number times over the last month. They have awesome apples, which is our primary reason for visiting, but they also have a pretty sweet pumpkin patch. On the left, you can see the only the pumpkin tree in existence on Earth. Just between you and me, it's a fake. We did scratch our heads a bit the first time we saw it though. Those tricksy farmers!

Kaylee had a great time picking out a pumpkin. There were so many choices! She had trouble choosing only one, and I'm fairly certain that her objective was to look, touch, and study every single pumpkin at least once before carefully making her selection. Apparently, pumpkin selection is serious business. Who knew?

We wound up with three pumpkins; large, medium, and small. One for each of us. Can you guess whose pumpkin is whose? Truth be told, they're actually all Kaylee's.

Although we hadn't exactly decided what we'd do with our three pumpkin family, I made the leap and decided to carve a Jack O'Lantern (with my pumpkin). Kaylee helped a bit, but she was a little miffed when she figured out that I'd be doing the actual carving. She ran over to her baby pumpkin, grabbed it, and said to me with all the seriousness a toddler can muster, "Kaylee wants to carve a Jack O'Lantern too." Complete with squinty eyes. Who taught her that anyway? Sorry sweetie pie, it's going to be a few years before I start letting you wield knives. I selected a howling wolf for my pumpkin carving adventure. Below you can see the result (photo courtesy of Nick).

While browsing the all-knowing Internet for some roasting pumpkin seed guidance, I found this interesting explanation of Jack O'Lantern lore that was just so cool I had to share it:

The story of the Jack o'Lantern comes from Irish folklore. Jack was a crafty farmer who tricked the Devil into climbing a tall tree. When the Devil reached the highest branch, Jack carved a large cross in the trunk, making it impossible for the Devil to climb down. In exchange for help getting out of the tree, the Devil promised never to tempt Jack with evil again. When Jack died, he was turned away from Heaven for his sins and turned away from Hell because of his trickery. Condemned to wander the Earth without rest, Jack carved out one of his turnips, took an ember from the devil, and used it for a lantern to light his way. He became known as "Jack of the Lantern."

In case you're interested, here's the link. Of course, Wikipedia also has an interesting Jack O'Lantern entry that addresses history and folklore.

Random side note. Hey Gram, I did get your comment about the blueberry bread pudding, and plan to post the recipe within the next few days. I didn't forget about you!


Anyone else out there like to carve pumpkins? If so, what do you like to carve? And is picking the perfect pumpkin an important part of your process?