I’m JACK, the Pumpkin King!

Here is a list of things that get me high on Halloween:

1. Costumes. Duh. Homemade ones are the best, like when my mom made that cranberry-colored velvet dress and pink faux fur stole so I could be a Rich Lady in first grade. High five, Mom! What’s your fave costume, now or gone?
2. Candy pumpkins. I like to pretend I’m the giant from The Brave Little Tailor, who picks up a horsecart-ful of pumpkins and dumps them in his mouth. Remember that?
3. Thriller. Word, MJ. I will dance like that herd of zombies, maybe in my next life.
4. It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. The wisdom of The Brown: “Never jump into a pile of leaves with a wet sucker.”
5. Jack-o’-lanterns. For more, see Figs. 1 & 2.

Despite the non-Smallishness of buying a farm-fed squash raised especially for slicing, Mr. LS and I hosted a carving festival with a few friends, some butternut squash & pear soup + hand-twisted soft pretzels (yes, I married an incredible man-chef), and some pumpkin cookies from my friend Jill.

But, in the spirit of Small living, both the man-chef and I tried to recycle pieces of our pumpkins as artistic additions to our jackies.

Fig. 1: Mister’s Devil.

Fig. 2: My Dead Prom Queen.

In both cases, we reused the mouth cutouts as embellishments, affixed with toothpicks: Mister chopped his in half for horns; I flipped and fastened mine for a clever little crown.

Tell me about your Great Pumpkins. Classic? Unconventional? Kooky?