Pumpkin-Shrinking Fever!

 Maybe it's a reaction to the COVID shutdown and sadness, but suddenly the crafting/make-do/primitive world has gone crazy for shrinking down pumpkins in the oven, and turning them into hard decorations that evidently will last at least a year!

There is a huge amount of experimenting going on, and even while you're reading this, thousands of pumpkins all across the U.S. are being baked at this moment. All I can say is, before you even start, go get one of those fantastic fried Pumpkin Creme Pies from McDonalds, because if you don't, the smell of baking pumpkin - and none to eat - will drive you to distraction.

The fried pies are great. Better than my pumpkin pie, and it's delectable.

The consensus so far: Use small pumpkins. Use orange ones. Be sure to bake them on a cookie sheet/shallow baking pan. Jack O'Lantern pumpkins seem to do better than pie pumpkins, according to SOME. Don't undercook, and don't overcook!

They are cooked like Lowrider Pumpkins: Low and slow. 

They harden as they cool. Some people are cutting faces into them (don't cut out a nose, because it weakens that side of the pumpkin too much and you get a crack or a collapse), but some are just cutting two small slits in the bottom of whole pumpkins and making no face. Some haven't even cut the slits in.

Here's a screenshot of some instructions for your very own "shrunken" pumpkin:

 

    Kind regards,

    Olde Dame Holly Rose