The Top 5 Things To Do With Your Leftover Halloween Pumpkin

So, Halloween when I was a kid was fun. I enjoyed the pumpkin carving, even though I was no good at it, and just generally the fact that people were so happy and excited really made me enthusiastic about this holiday, even though I kind of suck at costumes.

But, perhaps, one of my favorite things to do was just hang out with my folks as we carved the pumpkin. But, you know, that’s not as far as it goes. Once the pumpkin was done being carved, we went ahead and used it for, you know, food.

So here are our top tips for what to do with that pumpkin once you’re done celebrating Halloween:

1.) Bake the pumpkin seeds.

Have you ever tried these? Oooh! Yummy! We would collect them as we hollowed-out the pumpkin, wash them, dry them, lay them on a baking sheet, sprinkle salt on them and bake for a bit. Yum!

2.) Empanadas de calabaza.

Once you’re done with your pumpkin, consider washing it off, scraping off the inside and cutting it up for empanadas. Of course we never left our pumpkin outside that long, so the pumpkin meat was still good to eat, this obviously depends on how long your pumpkin was outside.

3.) Make pumpkin soup.

I’ve had some pretty yummy pumpkin soup, and of course, depending on how long your pumpkin has been outside, this is an option.

4.) Compost.

We did that, too, at my house and while the smell was not great, it was pretty great for our garden.

5.) Smash the heck out of it.

I mean, that’s fun, as long as you don’t make a mess in the street or your neighbor’s house. Consider smashing it into your compost heap or something — wee!

So, as ever, I know I probably missed some options, please share in the comments!