For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for November 02, 2012

Who makes pie out of a stale jack-o-lantern?

Elly could have said, “Please” and taught by example.

How can you make pie out of a carved pumpkin? Don’t you have to gut it before you carve it?

It won’t taste as good as a ‘field pumpkin’ which has a lighter skin but the flesh is darker and more flavorful.

@trekman58: not bad for a guy with a ship full of food replicators. Sail on!

Lynn’s Notes:

Like so many, I would rather buy a can of pumpkin filling or purchase a whole darned ready-made pie, than go to the trouble of making one myself. In reality, I have only once cooked and eaten a pumpkin. In this one true-to-life case, I did cook our Halloween pumpkin and learned a valuable lesson: Never cook a pumpkin you’ve used as a Jack-o-lantern…it tastes like *#$%!!!

Maybe it’s a Canadian thing, recycling your porch jack o’lantern into pie. Or maybe a depression era thing. “The poor today, bah! When I was a kid we ate the jack o’lantern the day after Halloween!”

It’s okay, Lizzie, he doesn’t have ears! ;-)

That sounds better than what WE did with our jack-o-lanterns!! We usually would leave them sitting in our porch until about November 16th…by then, the pooy guy is frowning, begging to be put out of his misery!!!!

frugalnotcheap: If he can pass his physical, why not? Other than eyes, they never do that for driver’s licenses.

pumpkins used for jack-o-lanterns usually don’t taste very good. For pumpkin pie there are smaller, flatter pie pumpkins.

Susan, since he’s a “Jack-o-lantern”, most people refer to the pumpkin as a “he” or “him”.

No one really cares about your comments.

ewwww yuck! Would never cook a pumpkin that’s been cut open and sitting around for several days, so starting to rot, with a candle burning inside it. (so now contaminated with all the candle smoke) that’s just plain disgusting.

Next step in the “Circle of Life”…

At the age of, what? Three? I’m pretty surprised that Lizzie didn’t get upset about that too!

Yes and even the small sweet pumpkins used for pie and soup are grainy and I find difficult to puree the way I enjoy!!