Wikipedia tells me jack-o-lanterns traditionally were carved from turnips. Pumpkins became popular in the New World, being larger, easier to carve, and readily available on All Hallows Eve.This is my jackolantern this year. It's not strictly kosher to carve something other than a face, but there you are. Anyway, there's a little face at the bottom being carried by the bat.
The Jack of tradition was a no-good thief who managed to trap the Devil with a cross, sometimes in an apple tree and sometimes in his wallet. Jack agreed to let the Devil go only if he promised never to take Jack's soul. Jack was not eligible for Heaven, either, so when he died he was forced to wander the Earth with a never-dying ember that the Devil provided him from Hell. He carved a turnip into a lantern to carry the ember in, thus becoming Jack of the Lantern.
Here in South Texas you can't carve your pumpkin ahead of time and leave it outside for more than a day or so, or by Halloween it will have collapsed into goo. This one is staying in the AC, where it will entertain our dinner guests tomorrow night. We're cooking up a feast of Indian food for some restaurateurs we've met in town, so the pressure is on to produce spectacular food and clean the house up into a more respectable state. My husband, usually Mr. Bah Humbug about holiday preparations, surprised me by specially requesting a jackolantern for a centerpiece. Next he'll be openly admitting he likes my Christmas tree and proposing Easter Egg hunts. Well, maybe not that last one. He did enter a local contest last week, though, and took home a trophy for his alligator jambalaya. That's getting pretty sociable.
6 comments:
Your carving far outstrips mine; so I try to make up for it with the fire.
I admit I've never tried your technique of combining a jackolantern with a full-up bonfire.
No one would dare to send the creator of an alligator jambalaya homeward *without* a trophy...
It fought back, too. It was ten feet long. Even after you shoot an alligator in the head, the tail considers that the fight is still on. In fact, the tail meat, after being fileted and stuck in a ziploc, continues to twitch for quite a while. Luckily, it's quieted down by the time you cook it and serve it to the judges.
My husband and his companion in violence learned that ordinary knives are not the best tools for butchering an alligator. You really need a Saws-All. Never again, he says.
Stihl, McCulloch, and Husqvarna all manufacture implements suitable for dressing out an alligator. Just make sure to use Wesson oil as a bar lubricant rather than 10-weight...
The Army Survival Manual, which has all sorts of useful hunting and trapping advice for various game animals, is adamant that the only proper tool for alligator is a rifle. As for butchering it, I'm with Bill.
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