Halloween is almost upon us and people are really getting in the mood for this Halloween. People are starting to unpack their Halloween decorations to decorate their homes. Adults and children alike are trying to decide on their costume selection for this Halloween and preparing for Halloween costume parties, costume contests, masquerade balls, themed nightclubs, and yes, even Trick or Treating.

When Halloween comes, the first thing comes to everbody next to the scary costumes is "Halloween Pumpkin or Jack O Lanterns". A jack-o'-lantern is typically a carved pumpkin. It is associated chiefly with the holiday Halloween, and was named after the phenomenon of strange light flickering over peat bogs, called ignis fatuus or jack-o'-lantern. In a jack-o'-lantern, typically the top is cut off, and the inside flesh then scooped out; an image, usually a monstrous face, is carved onto the outside surface, and the lid replaced. At night a light (commonly a candle) is placed inside to illuminate the effect. Halloween is not perfect without a Halloween Pumpkin. No one can imagine a halloween without a Halloween Pumpkin.

Already the stores are filled with pumpkins in different sizes. Here are some tips on "How to select the pumpkin?, How to carve a pumpkin? & How to take care of the pumpkin to stay for longer days?"

• Select the shape of the pumpkin that would best suit your jack-o'-lantern design.
• Don't go too early to shop for pumpkin, since you want your pumpkin to be in good shape when Halloween arrives.
• Make sure the pumpkin you choose is not bumpy, too unevenly textured or too weirdly shaped. It can be a gourd shape, round or oval, but the important thing is that it is easy to carve.
• Make sure the pumpkin is free of nicks and cuts, as this could reduce the lifespan of your creation. Nicks will foster mould early
• Try to get a pumpkin with a stalk if possible as this adds to the aesthetics of the traditional pumpkin.
• Choose a pumpkin that is big enough to be striking when lit inside, but not so big that it keels over when carved.
• Examine the stem. If the gourd's stem is loose or has evidence of rotting, don't buy it.
• Pick up the pumpkin and examine it from all sides. Reject any pumpkins with blemishes such as white mildew, brown stains or wormholes.
• Knock on the pumpkin. It should sound hollow when ripe.

• Draw a circle or hexagon on top of the pumpkin in preparation for making an opening large enough for your hand to reach through.
• Cut through the stem end of the pumpkin along your outline with a sharp knife or pumpkin-carving tool. Use a back-and-forth slicing motion to cut through the thick, tough skin.
• Remove the stem end, which will act as a cap, making sure you scrape off any seeds or pulp.
• Use a large spoon to scoop out the seeds and pulp from inside the pumpkin. Hold the spoon by its bowl to get extra leverage while scooping.
• Choose a pattern which you wanted to carve in the pumpkin. Lots of pattern are available in the internet
• Draw a pattern for the face on the clean pumpkin with a felt-tip pen, or scribe the lines into the skin using a pencil. Be sure to make the eyes, nose and mouth large enough; you'll have a hard time cutting out tiny features when you're using a big knife blade to saw through tough skin.
• Follow your pattern as you cut all the way through the pumpkin.
• Push the cut-out features gently from the inside of the pumpkin and discard the pieces.
• Place a votive candle inside the pumpkin to create an eerie glow.

Tips to Pumpkin Craving

• Plan to clean out your pumpkin one day and carve it a day or two later if you are running out of time.
• Patience and care may result in the most beautiful designs.
• Keep cut pumpkins in a cool place whenever possible.
• Set pumpkins inside a large plastic bags. It may also help keep pumpkins from drying out.
• Coating all cut edges with petroleum jelly will help keep pumpkins from drying out.
• While completing the carving take care though that you do not cut your holes too close together or else your edges may collapse.

Tips to keep a Halloween Pumpkin Fresh

• Select pumpkins that are very fresh and firm. Avoid choosing a pumpkin that has bruised or soft areas or cuts or other visible blemishes.
• Store both cut or uncut pumpkins in a cool dry place to keep them fresh longer.
• If you live in a hot climate be sure to store your uncut pumpkins in a cool spot and wait to carve them until a day or two before Halloween.
• Once a pumpkin is carved, cover it with plastic for a day or two to help keep moisture in the pumpkin.
• Smaller cut pumpkins can be wrapped in plastic and stored inside the refrigerator for a few days before Halloween
• Shrivled cut pumpkin can sometimes be revived temporarily by soaking it in a bucket of cool water for several hours, then draining thoroughly.
• Cover all cut edges of a pumpkin, as well as the entire interior, with petroleum jelly . This is the best way to reduce moisture loss and keep a pumpkin looking fresh longer.
• Heat from electric lightbulbs and candles can also contribute to the early demise of a pumpkin. Try cutting a hole in the top of the pumpkin, allowing heat to escape

Regarding Candles, the best to use are the little tea-light variety with their own little metal holders. These are inexpensive, you can have a whole box of them and replace spent candles, and are not too much of a fire hazard as some of the larger candles can be. Even after the candle has melted into a liquid, they stay alight until it's all burnt off leaving an empty holder. Most Pumpkins are okay with just one candle, but you may need two or three for larger pumpkins to be able to show off your design better. If you go with other votive candles, without any sort of holder, you tend to end up with a glob of wax at the bottom of the pumpkin and most, unless of the better variety, do not stay alight for very long.

If you have an extremely large pumpkin, you may opt to go with the smaller household emergency candle variety. You can find wire spring holders that screw into the pumpkin that you place the candle in. You can usually find these around Halloween time also. Scrunching a large wad of foil around the bottom of the candle and placing it into the pumpkin can work, or else using a small candle holder. Using a large candle can be a fire hazard if not properly secured within the pumpkin.

The Celts that lived in what is now Great Britain and Northern France would carry a lantern when they walked on the eve of October 31. These lanterns were carved out of big turnips and the lights were believed to keep the evil spirits away. Children would carve faces in the turnips. These carved turnips were called "jack-o-lanterns.

Legends have it that the "jack-o-lantern" got its name from a stingy and mean old man, named Jack, who when he died was too mean to get into heaven. When Jack went to hell he was meet by the Devil who gave him a piece of burning coal and sent him away. Jack placed the burning coal in a turnip to use as a lantern to light his way. The legends claim that Jack is still walking with the lantern looking for a place to stay.

When the early settlers came to America they found the big round orange pumpkin. Being larger and much more colorful than turnips, the pumpkin made great "jack-o-lanterns". Eventually the pumpkin would replace the turnip.

As the settlers spread across America they took their Halloween celebrations with them. The custom of the "jack-o-lantern" would travel with them. Eventually the Pumpkin would become the most widely recognized symbol of the Halloween holiday.

Here is a recipe for a soup made with the flesh of the carved pumpkin.

Ingredients

1. The flesh of one recently hollowed out Halloween pumpkin
2. 2 potatoes, diced
3. 2 onions, finely chopped
4. 5 cloves of garlic, crushed
5. 5cm/1.5 inches fresh stem ginger, grated
6. 2 handfuls of coriander leaves
7. 1 pint coconut milk
8. 500g of crème fraîche
9. 1/2 Scotch bonnet chilli, seeded and chopped
10. Salt and pepper to taste
11. Grated cheese to garnish

Method

1. Heat a few glugs of oil in a heavy-bottomed pan and throw in the onions. Let the onions sweat for a few minutes on a low heat.
2. Add the garlic, ginger and Scotch bonnet and sweat for a further 2 or 3 minutes.
3. Add the pumpkin and potatoes. Cook on a relatively high heat until the potatoes start to crisp at the edges.
4. Add the coconut milk, reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
5. Add salt and pepper to taste.
6. Now add half the fresh coriander and simmer for a further 5 minutes.
7. Check to see that the potatoes and pumpkin are cooked.
8. Once cooked, add the remainder of the coriander.
9. Transfer the soup into a blender and whizz it up. You may have to do this in stages. If you don't have a food processor, mash it up with a potato masher.
10. Once the soup has been liquidized, stir in the crème fraîche.
11. Heat gently.
12. Serve with warm crusty bread to the side and grated cheese on top.