Slashing Pumpkins

It's that time of year again! This weekend we carved up a new batch of pumpkins. I think we put last year to shame. A gratuitous action shot.

Our friend Scott picked out and carved pumpkins with us. I like how straight I made all of my cuts, but his turned out scariest. "And Darcy took home the "Too cool for school" prize with the sunglasses and cigarette.

Then we put the pumpkins out on the steps to guard our front door during the Halloween week. You can see Darcy's pumpkin better in this one too.

We also coerced Candice to carve a pumpkin later that night. She put us all to shame by completely finishing in 15 minutes, while we each spent about 40 minutes on ours.

And finally it got dark enough to light the candles and let the pumpkins shine. They look awesome. We also used Martha Stewart's tip about carving out the bottom of the pumpkin rather than the top. It works way better, plus, the top is the coolest part of the jack-o-lantern, so why hack it up just to pull the guts out?

I didn't even try to cook the seeds this year. I should have, but neglected my culinary duties. Last year I didn't come close to finishing my batch. I think it will only make me that much more dedicated to cooking them next year.

Rainy Spring Break BBQ

I've totally come down with BBQ fever this year already. And not even a rainy day will ruin it, I mean, c'mon, its spring break. So we got together some awesome ingredients and started marinating. We had Garlic Pork, Lemon Pepper Shrimp and Mushrooms, Red Wine Mushrooms and Garlic, Salt and Pepper Asparagus.We got everything on skewers and I fired up the grill. I use Matchlight, because it is by far the best charcoal in existence. Then we got to grilling.

Our grill is tiny and I had to monitor it constantly to keep the food from burning. I do like the multi level grill, so things like asparagus don't burn while I cook meat. And yes, I wore socks and sandals because I kept coming in and out of the house to check on the food. I think it turned out pretty darn good. While we were cooking, our friend Candice showed up, so she joined us in downing the grub.

Then it was off to watch a mediocre House, although there were a few awesome scenes.