Carving Up Pie Pumpkins

Mom guilt.

This year I wasn’t going to carve pumpkins. Let’s be real: I end up doing 95% of the work and the last week or so hasn’t even had nice weather to tempt me.

Then it occurred to me today: a smaller pumpkin would be a LOT less work. Pie pumpkins are super easy to cut, small and very inexpensive. For $1.25 each, pie pumpkins offered the perfect solution. The kids loved that they were just the right size for them.

We carved up our pumpkins just like normal. I sketched out some face ideas to help the kids narrow down what they wanted. I learned a long time ago that using a sharp knife is really the key to easy carving, so I sharpened mine before even starting. Kaleb was pretty weirded out by how slimy the pumpkin was.

We saved the seeds and tomorrow I think I will make roasted pumpkin seeds with them.

The kids love cooking and will be happy just to stand on stools and stir in the spices. Stay tuned for the recipe.

Have you tried using a pie pumpkin for a Jack O’Lantern? I might just keep this up every year until they are old enough to do a lot more of the work…

And this tumbler from Five Wild Hearts really just says it all. If you need your own, use MIDKIDCREW15 as a promo code to save at checkout.