An Unhealthy Addiction

In the Dead of the Night

I lifted the knife and plunged it straight into the slightly bumpy flesh.  It took a bit of pressure but after only a few moments the decapitation was complete and the innards were exposed.  Now came the part that most people disliked the most – ripping out the slimy, stringy insides. However, this was all part of the process to me.  Only after it is done can the real fun begin.

My addiction to pumpkin carving is a relatively new one.  Sure I had grown up in a country where pumpkin patches and hay-rides went together with autumn as well as milk goes together with cookies but I never remember being a real dedicated carver.

So, the happiness I felt when I created a ghost like figure on the smallish pumpkin that I had traipsed all over Rotterdam to find in 2009 surprised me.

The 2009 Ghost That Started Everything

Pumpkins are not king of the crop in the Netherlands.  They tend to be small and a tad on the expensive side but that is starting to change, especially as the tradition of Halloween tightens it grip a little more each year on the country.

Although it wasn’t the Netherlands that provided me with a pumpkin for 2010.  Instead, it was a farm in the UK where I found the perfect pumpkin.  Luckily I had brought my car with me from the Netherlands so I didn’t have to endure the embarrassing situation of putting a rather large pumpkin through airport security.  I was upping the stakes that year.  No more basic ghosts with wavy arms and open mouths for me, I was moving onto the big stuff – a newt held over a bubbling cauldron by an evil looking witch.

It wasn’t all smooth sailing.  By the time I had held my breath while delicately pushing out a small piece of the design, for the third time, I was starting to doubt my choice.  But the success of the carve only fuelled my addiction more.

Upping the Stakes - 2010's Design

This year I decided I was upping the stakes once again.  I was going to have not one but two pumpkins for carving.  I headed back to the farm excited to get my hands on some orange happiness in extra large form.  In reality, I came back with four pumpkins and I openly admit that I considered adding two more to the selection before finally driving away.

On a Spooky Night...

When I got home I anxiously awaited the Friday before Halloween.  I covered the table in old newspapers, lined up my carving tools with the precision of a surgeon, channelled my inner pumpkin carver and then I picked up the knife.

It took me just under four hours to clean, gut and carve four pumpkins.  As I finished each one I grabbed a quick snapshot with my phone to record my process.

Once they were all lit and shining around the room, the pumpkin seeds were soaking and the pumpkin goo had all been tidied away, I sat down on the sofa and realised one thing…I wanted another pumpkin.

2011 Pumpkin Carving

Why had I stopped at four?  Why hadn’t I filled the whole car with pumpkins?

In an attempt to fill the void I ordered a new pumpkin carving knife and sketched out a design of the car to figure out the most efficient way of transporting back as many pumpkins as I could.

I think it is obvious, I am well and truly addicted.  Soon no vegetable or fruit will be safe from a hit and run carving.

I have already started counting down the days to Halloween 2012 but in the meantime, has anyone got a spare pumpkin hanging about?  Uncarved, of course.

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