Mission Jack o' Lantern

Yes, I see all your beautiful jack o' lanterns on Facebook. 

 

Australia might be a little be behind on the whole Halloween thing, but they're catching up. The past few years, they've even been selling carving pumpkins (with the disclaimer that they're not for human consumption). Thus, I was shocked when I learned that one 26 year old and one 28 year old had never carved a pumpkin. Nor had the related 5 year old and 2 year old. Hoorah! It was my American mission to share my years of jack o' lantern carving with my Aussie hosts.

Note: Coles is one of the two large grocery store chains in Australia. This is their ad this week.

 I should be able to find a pumpkin.

Two weeks ago: I saw two very large pumpkins in Coles Victoria Park on my run home from work. $3 per kg. My mind still doesn't work in metric, but it's probably not cheap, but worth it. Though they might be a bit two big to fit in my running backpack. 

October 31st, 6 hours until pumpkin carving time: I enter Woolworth's in the city (the other major grocery chain). They have a display of random Halloween candies, decorations, and costumes. But no pumpkins.

October 31st, 5 hours and 45 minutes until pumpkin carving time: I walk down the street to Coles Raine Square, also in the city. No pumpkins in site. Mind you, there were plenty of costumed folk making their way to the Halloween festival in Northbridge (on a side note, Australian's are much more gorey with their Halloween costumes. An investment in fake blood makeup might be worth a consideration), and other staff in stores were dressed in full Halloween paraphernalia. It's not like they forgot it was Halloween in the Perth CBD. 

October 31st, 4:40pm, 20 minutes until pumpkin carving: Enter Coles Bayswater. No pumpkins in the produce section. IN a last minute ditch, I see a Halloween section over on the other side of the store. Just lollies, toys, and very whiny children. Luckily i had my back-up plan to the next nearest Coles that I could arrive at in 11 minutes.

October 31st, 4:57pm, 3 minutes until said pumpkin carving: Arrive Coles Bassendean after Google Maps lied to me and told me it was not where it really is. Rushing through the neighborhood, avoiding the early trick or treaters (the orange and black balloons mark the participating houses and not everyone has caught on to the tradition), I sprint through the shopping mall, only to reach a closed entry gate. Stores in Australia close at 5pm on Saturdays, and apparently, this one was not accommodating last minute pumpkin shoppers. I wander around the small produce stand, and seriously consider carving a butternut squash. But I know that it would not be an authentic experience for these 4 first-timers.

My 2015 jack o' lantern mission was a fail. 

Coles Jack O' Lantern-1

Yowie the Witch-0

Please note that I Was so excited for the occasion, I even bought a costume!

October 31st, 6:27 pm and 27 minutes past said pumpkin carving: Plan B is enacted, and we make some very beautiful & "scary" paper plate pumpkins. The first-timers don't know the difference and think it's the most fun ever.

Just wait until I show you how it's really one and  we carve the real thing...