Goo as an Important Tradition

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Last year, I insisted we carve pumpkins. We sat around with my brother-in-law and his wife on our newspaper-covered living room floor, and carved pumpkins.

And my husband and his brother were shocked and appalled at what the inside of a pumpkin feels like. Angie and I were likewise shocked and appalled that they didn’t know what the inside of a pumpkin feels like. That goo is an important autumn rite of passage.

A little concerned that my husband and his siblings maybe had a sad, neglected childhood, I later asked my mother-in-law if she had ever carved pumpkins with the kids growing up. She thought about it for a minute, and then said yes, probably once or twice. I nearly cried. But then she explained that pumpkins weren’t too common in Ireland until the boom.

Phew. Tragic, but not intentional. Man, our not-even-on-the-horizon unborn children are darn lucky they will have at least one parent who can teach them about pumpkin goo.

Now in Dublin, you can find pumpkins at the big grocery stores. Although the great thing is that they usually go on sale for 50 cents in the days leading up to Halloween. I haven’t a clue why, but I’ll take it!

They also only come in a few sizes – small, smaller and smallest. No gigantic big pumpkins to carve with a scary face. But since they’re so little, I chopped mine up last year and used them for baking! Baked, scooped, drained and pureed, they worked great for cakes and whoopie pies.

Did you have traditions growing up you know you’ll have to pass on? Do you love carving pumpkins? And don’t you just love that goo?