Making a Pumpkin Party Plan for your Trick or Treat event!
Spooky Season is here and the Halloween countdown has begun! It’s time to dust off your pumpkin carving kits and get creative for this perfect weekend activity with the kiddies. Take some inspiration and follow our Pumpkin Party Plan to help you create the most spooktacular pumpkin pal and dangerously delicious snacks for your Trick’or’Treat event!
Remember to register for your Trick or Treat party pack here
Choosing your Pumpkin Design
Pumpkins come in all shapes and sizes and now even colours! Don’t be afraid to do things differently by adding some paint and trading the carving equipment for some fun materials so the whole family can be involved! Here are a few pumpkin themed ideas:
Pumpkin Monster – You just can’t go wrong with a classic pumpkin monster! It is super simple to carve and is sure to add some ghoulish vibes to your Trick’or’Treat event! All you’ll need are triangles, round or any shape for the eyes, a triangle nose, and a toothy grin!
Glitter unicorn Pumpkin – not all pumpkins need to be scary, you can decorate sparkly ones too! You’ll need a small pumpkin, white paint, chunky and extra-fine white glitter or any coloured glitter you like, some clay for the horn (which you can grab from the local art supply shop), pink and white felt to wrap around the horn, glue, and a marker to draw in the details
Spider pumpkin – Sometimes the most effective and cute pumpkin decorating ideas are the easiest to make. Depending on the size of your pumpkin insert four normal or extra-long pipe cleaners on each side of the pumpkin then glue on googly eyes and a mouth made from black and white felt or draw on with marker.
Minion Pumpkin – Why not create one of your favourite minions or even better still you can create a few of them as you can never have too many minions!! This is quite easy to create, all you need is some yellow, blue, and white paint and then add a pair of toy goggles to complete the look or else draw them on?
Emoji Pumpkin – Recreate your own favourite emoji, All you need is yellow paint, felt, glue, and creativity to make your texting fave come to life.
The possibilities are really endless…… If you want to share them on our Trick or Treat Facebook group we’d love to see some of your spooktacular creations.
Pumpkin carving can be hungry (and messy!) work. Luckily, we’ve got some delicious recipes to follow which allow for less waste with some great taste!
Remember to always use freshly cut pumpkins for cooking.
Donal Skehan’s Roast Pumpkin, Coconut and Chilli Soup
If you haven’t cooked with pumpkin before, this is a wonderful way to start. Choose small pumpkins as they’re easier to tackle in the kitchen. If you can’t find pumpkins, butternut squash is an ideal substitute. The addition of coconut milk adds a wonderfully creamy and exotic flavour, but if you don’t want to use it you could just make up the difference with vegetable stock.
Method
- Preheat the oven to 220°C/450°F/Gas Mark 8. While you prepare the pumpkin, scrape out the seeds, clean them in a colander with cold water and then dry the in a tea towel. Pop the seeds in a roasting tray tossed with a little melted butter and roast in the oven until toasted. Remove and set aside.
- Tumble the pumpkin into a roasting tin with the thyme and toss in a little oil. Season with sea salt and ground black pepper and pop in the oven to roast for 45 minutes or until the edges are slightly charred and tender when pierced with a fork.
- In a large pot, heat a drop of oil and fry the onions until they are soft. Stir through the chilli flakes and fry for a further minute. Discard the thyme and add the roast pumpkin to the pot, along with the coconut milk and vegetable stock. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Using a hand blender, whizz the soup until you have a velvety smooth consistency. You may need to add more stock or boiling water to get the right consistency. Add sea salt and ground black pepper and check the seasoning. Serve the soup in warm bowls with a sprinkle of chilli flakes and toasted pumpkin seeds.
Ingredients
1kg of pumpkin or butternut squash, peeled and chopped into rough chunks
1 tbsp of melted butter
2 tbsp of rapeseed oil
A few sprigs of thyme
2 red onions, roughly chopped
2 tsps of red chilli flakes
1 x 400g tin of coconut milk
1/2 litre of vegetable stock
Sea salt and ground black pepper
Time: 60mins
Serves: 6
Pumpkin Pancakes
Ingredients
300g Rolled Oats – blitzed to flour like consistency
1 tsp baking powder
300ml milk
150g cooked butternut squash or pumpkin, mashed
2 eggs
Optional – Cozy spices to make it really warming, a pinch of cinnamon, nutmeg, all spice and or ground ginger
Method
- In a bowl mix all the dry ingredients together.
- In a separate bowl mix all wet ingredients together.
- Make a well in the centre of the dry mix and pour in the wet mix until you have a lump free batter.
- Lastly, heat a non-stick pan and spoon in enough for 1 large or 3 small pancakes at a time (if making small pancakes, use 1 tbsp for each).
- Cook for about 2-4 mins until lots of bubbles have risen to the top and the surface has begun to dry out before turning them over, but keep an eye on the base to make sure it doesn’t get too brown.
- Repeat with the remaining mixture. Enjoy!
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
Don’t throw away the seeds if you’re cooking a pumpkin – try roasting them with this easy recipe. They make a tasty snack with a little seasoning, an eye-catching garnish for soup/salad or a nice topping for your morning breakfast!
Method
- Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Wash the seeds thoroughly and remove any stringy bits of pumpkin flesh. Dry well using kitchen paper to make sure they get nice and crispy in the oven.
- Spread the seeds on a singular layer across a baking tray and toss with the olive oil/butter/oil alternatives you prefer. Roast for 30 mins tossing them about half way.