Halloween Tips & Tricks: What to Do with Pumpkin Guts

Tis the season, not for carols and snowflakes, but for pumpkin carving! Many families stock up on pumpkins at local orchards, grocery stores, and events. Everywhere you go, you see pumpkins ready and waiting to be cut up and made into a cute round smiling Jack-o-Lanterns. Which means, you'll have to get your hands dirty! If you're family is like mine, you won't be carving just one pumpkin this Halloween season. You may have a family of pumpkins or even an entire town! And that means mounds of pumpkin guts.

What are pumpkin guts? For those of you who have another term or are completely clueless as to what I'm talking about, pumpkin guts are the gooey insides of the pumpkin that must be dug out and disposed of before any pumpkin carving can take place. Not only are these long wet strings fire hazards in a candle lit Jack-o-Lantern, but they are also unattractive and slimy. But, I just hate to throw things away, especially things that can be made into something delicious!

If you aren't into trying to be Betty Crocker and you have kids who love disgusting things, use the pumpkin guts to decorate your pumpkin. Make it look like it's throwing up or use the stringy pieces to form hair. There are many crafts, like Pumpkin Seed Gift Soap or Pumpkin Seed Jewelery, that can be made from the goop you find inside a pumpkin.

A classic favorite though is roasted pumpkin seeds, which is a simple recipe you can make in your own oven. First, get all your pumpkin guts and start sorting through them. Put pumpkin seeds on one pile and the guts in another. By guts, I mean the stringy bright orange mushy pieces of the pumpkin that smell like pumpkin pie! Don't worry about mixing them up. If you get a little pumpkin guts in your seeds or vice versa, it actually adds flavor and vitamins. Just make sure that your seed pile is mostly seeds and separated from any big chunks or strings.