You can never go wrong with a good healthy pumpkin

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I have carved many a pumpkin in my day, and every time I sit down with one of these orange globes I know the task at hand is going to be a hard one. I did it anyways and a day later I have carved two wonderful pumpkins. Oh yay!

Even though I chose to carve my pumpkins, you can do so many things with pumpkins. You can eat them, carve them, throw them, and many other great pumpkin activities.

Carving a pumpkin is my favorite, and can provide hours of rewarding entertainment for the entire family. The Internet has a vast resource of advice on carving pumpkins. Study the art of pumpkin carving for a bit and you will be a pro! The best website for pumpkin carving, and the only one you will ever need is http://www.extremepumpkins.com.

You can also cook pumpkins. Eating pumpkins is a great source of many different vitamins, and provide important fiber. Here are my two favorite pumpkin recipes.

Rich Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients:
Pastry for 9-inch pie
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup canned or mashed cooked pumpkin
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup half-and-half
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons apricot brandy
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground mace
2 tablespoons finely chopped candied ginger
Whipped cream (optional)

Instructions:
Roll pastry to 1/8-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Place in a 9-inch pie plate; trim off excess pastry along edges. Fold edges under, and flute. Prick bottom and sides of pastry with a fork. Bake at 400 degrees F for 3 minutes; remove from oven and gently prick with a fork. Bake an additional 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Combine eggs and next 8 ingredients; blend well. Pour into cooled pastry shell. Sprinkle top with candied ginger. Bake at 375 degrees F for 30 to 35 minutes. Garnish pie with whipped cream, if desired.

Pumpkin Cookies

Ingredients
1/3 cup vegetable shortening or unsalted butter, at room temperature
1-1/3 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
2-1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped nuts

Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl, beat the shortening until light. Slowly beat in the sugar and then beat until light. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and then beat in the pumpkin, vanilla, lemon juice, and lemon zest.

Sift the dry ingredients together and slowly stir into the cookie batter. Stir in the raisins and nuts. Drop the batter by teaspoonfuls onto lightly greased cookie sheets. (They spread very little.) Bake until lightly browned, 15 to 18 minutes. Cook on wire racks.
Yield: about 4-1/2 dozen cookies

So now that you can cook and carve the pumpkins, we are at the fun part of the trip, smashing pumpkins. Not only a famous name in music, smashing pumpkins has become a favorite pastime celebrated by many people.

Pumpkin smashing is an art that takes a little practice. We here at CricketSoda recommend you buy the pumpkins you smash, because other people might be a little upset that you ruined their pumpkin. They might even call the cops, and in most places pumpkin smashing is considered vandalism, and can result in a heavy ass ticket, so be careful.

There are many tools you can use to smash pumpkins. I recommend a baseball bat, just because it is the most fun and relieves a lot of stress. I have seen other people use anything from golf clubs, to dead fish and chainsaws. It is more of a personal preference. Try smashing a pumpkin with a variety of objects and see what suits your needs best.