Food O'Lantern!

Do you have any idea how much food is wasted each Halloween when pumpkins are gutted, scorched, then THROWN AWAY?!  This 9-lb. o'lantern was briefly home to a flashlight, then herb-rubbed and tossed into the oven.  A friend who stopped by thought it was a little weird that we carved our faces into something right before tossing it into the oven.  But we were just taking narcissism to a level Narcissus himself could have only dreamed of.

Our narcissism soon yielded something like eighty-five gallons of pumpkin soup. 

Here's how you do it:

1.   Preheat your oven to 375.
2.   Cut the top off your pumpkin and remove it.  Set the top aside for later. 
3.   Scoop out all the guts.  Save the seeds for later, if you like to eat roasted pumpkin seeds.
4.   Carving your face into the pumpkin is actually NOT recommended, since this will cause the guts to dry out a bit while baking.
5.   Smear the following all over the insides of your pumpkin: butter, salt, pepper, and maybe some thyme, rosemary, sage, and any kind of dried herbs you like.
6.   Rub vegetable oil or a high-temperature oil on the outside of your pumpkin.
7.   Pour a little oil and a teensy splash of water inside the belly of the orange beast.
8.   Place pumpkin in an oven safe bowl or dish large enough to contain it.
9.   Bake at 375 for an hour or until the entire pumpkin is squishy-soft and has started to collapse a bit.
10. This could take a few hours depending on the size of your pumpkin, but you don't want to increase the temperature because then the outside of the pumper would burn up!
11. When the flesh is ultra-squishy, remove from oven and allow to cool.
12. After the pumpkin has cooled enough for you to touch (and safely place in a blender or processor), chop into chunks, cram into your blender or food processor, and puree away!  No need to peel, but don't use the stem.
13. Place puree in a soup pot with 1/4 cup of butter, water (depending on your desired consistency), and a pinch or more of any of these herbs, as suits your taste:  powdered ginger, sage, nutmeg, all-spice, curry, masala, cardamom, or coriander. Add salt and pepper to taste.
14. Stir it up over medium heat, stirring frequently. If you like a creamier soup, add a bit of whole milk or cream as you desire.
15. Soup's on!

To use the seeds:

1.   Soak overnight in super-salty water, enough to cover the seeds.
2.   Separate the gunk from the seeds.  Discard the gunk. Drain the seeds.
3.   Preheat oven to 275.
4.   In a mixing bowl, stir the seeds with a teaspoon of vegetable oil and as much salt as you wish.
5.   Spread seeds in shallow baking pan so the layer is no more than one seed deep.
6.   On top of the seeds, sprinkle any kind of extra kick you want to give your delicious snack: salt,   pepper, cayenne, chili, or ranch seasoning might be nice.
7.   Pour water into baking pan so that seeds are just barely resting in water.
8.   Place in oven until water dries up and seeds begin to brown.
9.   Stir and turn the seeds, and return to oven until evenly brown.  You'll have to keep an eye on them, as their roasting time depends on the size and volume of seeds.
10. When you think they're done, test a few from different areas of the pan.  They should all be extra crispy but not burnt.
11. Munchie relief!

There.  Poof.  Now you've used your pumpkin for its originally intended magic.

P.S. DO NOT use a pumpkin that has previously been used as a jack'o'lantern with a CANDLE inside.  This coats the pumpkin with soot and toxins.  If you must first use your pumpkin as a decoration, it is recommended that you use an electric or battery-operated lighting element, and keep the pumpkin indoors to avoid contamination by cat pee or child poo.  Well...hopefully keeping your pumpkin indoors would avoid those things, but I recognize not all of us have that luxury.