Waste free pumpkins - Guest blog - Molly Jeffery
Do you ever find yourself struggling to find decent Halloween ideas that don’t cost the Earth – literally?
Most decorations and party games involve lots of plastic and are usually thrown out at the end of Halloween.
Here are some ways we can use a Halloween classic, the pumpkin, to create some plastic free entertainment and cook up some tasty treats.
Keeping the kids (and maybe some big kids) entertained
First up, a fun, classic party game made much more Earth friendly: Pumpkin Piñata!
Pumpkin Piñata
In order to do this, you’ll need to cut off the top and scoop out the insides of the pumpkin, like you normally would, only this time, save all of the insides because we’ll use these later! Leave the pumpkin to air dry a little.
Find some pick ‘n’ mix style sweets that come in a paper bag - Benny’s in Braunton or Pura Vida or Ewings in Barnstaple are a couple of local places to look. Once your pumpkin is dried out, fill it with loose sweets. Pierce a hole in either side of the pumpkin, nearer to the top, and thread it with string/rope ready to hang up.
Once your party is in full swing, put an old sheet down on the floor and hang the pumpkin above it. This will catch all of the sweets and extra bits of pumpkin to use later on. And you know the next bit - swing a rounders bat in turn until the pumpkin breaks and the sweets are released (hopefully onto our handily placed sheet).
Once the piñata game is over, collect the leftover bits of pumpkin and pop them together with the insides that were left over from cutting it open.
There are loads of different things that you can do with all of the parts of the pumpkin so it doesn’t go to waste.
Pumpkin treats
Here are a few ideas:
For the seeds, you could plant them so that you can grow your own pumpkins for next year, or you could roast them with a little salt to make a tasty snack
For the flesh of the pumpkin, you could make pumpkin puree, which is great for baking – especially in warm and Autumnal pumpkin brownies (see recipes below)
For the skin, you can cut it up and pop it in a dehydrator to make pumpkin crisps
And that’s one way to use a whole pumpkin! You can also do this with the flesh and seeds after carving pumpkins to make Jack-o’-lanterns.
Recipes
Cooking the pumpkin for pumpkin puree
Take the parts of the pumpkin and put them face down on a foil lined baking sheet
Bake for 20-25 minutes on 180°c
Scrape the flesh from the skin
Pop the flesh into a bowl and use a masher or a blender to puree the pumpkin
Store it in the fridge or freeze it -and remember to store in reusable containers
Pumpkin Brownie Recipe
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 48 minutes
Serves: 9
Ingredients
96g all purpose flour
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
171g melted butter
192g white sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs
32g cocoa powder
64g chocolate chips
64g pumpkin puree
64g chopped walnuts
¾ tsp ground cinnamon
¾ tsp ground cloves
¾ tsp ground nutmeg
Method
Preheat oven to 175°
Grease an 8x8 inch baking pan
In a bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and salt
In a separate bowl, mix melted butter, sugar, and vanilla
Using a spoon, mix in eggs one at a time
Gradually mix in flour mixture and divide batter evenly into two separate bowls
Mix in cocoa powder and chocolate chips into one batter; in the other batter, mix in pumpkin puree, walnuts, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg
Spread ½ of the chocolate batter into the bottom of the greased 8x8 pan; spread ½ of the pumpkin mixture on top
Add dollops of both of the remaining mixtures on top, then drag a kitchen knife through the dollops of batter to swirl them together
Bake at 175° for 45-48 minutes
Enjoy!
These are some really easy ways to make sure that the leftovers from an occasion or event don’t get wasted and cause damage to the Earth, seas and wildlife. It doesn’t take long and there are so many ways out there to reduce waste.
Another easy win for the environment is to make sure that your pumpkin is grown locally, whether that’s in your own garden or by a local producer - check out PFND’s shop local directory for ideas of where to look to help support the local economy and reduce the carbon footprint of our food.
And if you just don’t have the time or inclination to cook, you can always leave your pumpkin out in the garden or open space for wildlife to nibble on - pumpkins are favourites with hedgehogs this time of year.
This Halloween, give these ideas a go!
You can also check out last year’s Halloween to Hallogreen blog for even more ideas and inspiration.
Molly Jeffery
Youth Support Worker
Georgie’s Space