Uncialle's Ten Best Jack 0' Lantern Tips and Tricks
1. Always place Jack's votive candle in a small paper Dixie cup before placing inside the pumpkin--no more wax spills, much longer candle life, and candle blow-out becomes a rarity.
2. Pumpkins without fire are not Jack o' Lanterns. If you must have them, use pumpkins with painted and stick-on faces for fall decorating, not for Halloween. You can be safe with knives and candles if you are careful. Don't deprive yourself and your children of Halloween magic just to avoid the time and mess of carving a Jack o' Lantern. If the children are too small to carve, do that yourself. Even little children can scoop. Make some memories!
3. Uncialle is not a fan of pumpkin-carving patterns for all your pumpkins. Pumpkins without faces are lanterns, not Jack o' Lanterns. Look at each pumpkin carefully. Then, using a thin, sharp knife or mini-saw and simple geometric shapes (triangles, squares, circles, ovals, rectangles), release the face waiting inside each pumpkin, much like a sculptor releases the statue waiting inside the stone, that only he can see. Cut generous openings--let the candlelight out. Spontaneous, lopsided faces have spirit! Leave a little bump of pumpkin flesh in each eye (see examples on this page)--these form the "pupils" of Jack's eyes, and help bring him to life.
3a. If you are doing several Jack o' Lanterns, cut all the lid openings first. Then hollow out each one with a plastic pumpkin scooper (much easier than with a spoon). Then wash and dry your hands and knife, and do all the faces. This is the safe way to cut them, and you will have precise control of the knife as you do the faces. It's faster, too!
4. As you cut the lid, bevel the cut so the lid will stay on, and cut one or two holes in it to allow the candle smoke to rise straight up. This will keep the inside of the pumpkin from being prematurely discolored by smoke.
5. As soon as you have finished the face, spray or rub the inside of the pumpkin and all cut surfaces with diluted lemon juice to retard mold. This will keep the inside of the pumpkin bright orange for a couple of days longer than untreated pumpkins.
6. Using heavy fishing monofilament line (40--60-pound test), hang some Jack o' Lanterns. Punch holes through the pumpkin in four places, top to bottom, and thread the line through, knotting it on the bottom outside the pumpkin--on the bottom, you may want to tie the monofilament to a short stick so the knots won't tear back into the pumpkin. Tie the four lines together at the top in a way that works for you and make a loop for hanging--this isn't rocket science! If you ever made macrame planters, you're set to do some elegant work, but commonsense knots work well, too. Uncialle hangs Jack o' Lanterns from the "shepherd's-crook" poles that usually hold the Stronghold's bird feeders, from the apple trees, and from the end beams of the garden walk and the garden lattice house. If you hang Jack o' Lanterns from trees, use small pumpkins and stout branches, and hollow the pumpkins out to be quite thin, so their weight won't damage the tree branches. Also, slip a length of clear plastic aquarium tubing (or a thick piece of folded fabric) around the monofilament where it comes in contact with the branch, so the tree won't be scarred. Hanging them low works best--even 3 or 4 feet off the ground is a great effect. Don't hang them over a walkway where someone could be hurt if one fell, or high in a pine tree where the candle wouldn't be controllable. When Jack o' Lanterns sway in the night air, the effect is eerily spectacular.
7. New this year from several companies, L. L. Bean among them, is a small rotating stand to place Jack upon, so he seems to be peering around. Uncialle tried one, and it worked beautifully.
8. Don't forget the pumpkin seeds. Uncialle puts hers out for the quail, but you can feast upon them, too. Clean the seeds well of pumpkin "strings," a messy job! Stir in a very small amount of cooking oil. Toast them on a cookie sheet in the oven (about 350 degrees for 30--40 minutes), and eat them plain or salted. Crunchy!
9. The best time to photograph and videotape Jack o' Lanterns is early twilight. You can still see the form and orange color of the pumpkins, but light can be seen glowing from the faces, rich and yellow.
10. If there is one single thing that makes Halloween Halloween, it's Jack, so do as many as you can! Uncialle and J typically do 55 to 70 on the Night of Nights. In the Stronghold, Halloween shines brightly from their gleeful faces!
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