Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Pumpkin Carving in Africa??

One of our most consistent fall traditions has always been carving pumpkins (and eating the roasted pumpkin seeds).  So this fall we were growing a bit sad to imagine a fall without this event.

 

However, our grief was in vain! 

 

Through our chandler (yes, yet another profession I have never heard before living on a ship - along with a steward, a bosun, and a purser!) we acquired a locally grown “pumpkin.” 

 

It’s a bit different than our October pumpkins back home.

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Green in flesh.  VERY firm and hard to cut.

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Bright on the insides though.

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The girls were prepared for the stink- Kylie, especially, HATES the smell of slimy pumpkin innards, but this was a pleasant surprise.

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It smelled a bit like a cross between honeydew (musk melon) and pumpkin.  Quite nice.

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The insides weren’t as slimy as usual – dryer and easier to separate from the seeds.

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With out handy dandy knife and spoon we were able to rather easily clean it out.

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Savannah was enjoying taking pictures every step of the process.

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Here you can see that it’s not a stringy and wet as our pumpkins.

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Kylie was thoroughly engaged in the whole process.

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And Savannah couldn’t keep the camera away from herself…

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Oh, one day I’ll have to post the thousands of photos I have like this one.

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Voila!  We have ourselves a Jack-o-lantern.

 

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The seeds were tasty, the pumpkin was illuminated with a battery operated pillar candle, and we had a bit of familiar fall, in the midst of Sierra Leone!

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