Pumpkin Themes

Pumpkin spice and everything nice

People incorporate pumpkins into their food, decorations during autumn

Madelyn Lerew lerewmad000@hsestudents.org

Acool chill in the air signals the changing of the seasons in October.

As people begin to break out their cozy sweaters and jackets, routines from years past begin to arise. Fruits and vegetables that are not as popular during other seasons pop up again. “My favorite part about fall is easily the food,” junior Micah Derrer said. “I like food and the food that comes around fall, whether it be from anksgiving or candy from Halloween. I know there’s gonna be good food when fall comes around.” Many fall recipes incorporate pumpkin due to pumpkins being ripe during the months of September through November. For freshman Nathan Graham, this food comes in the form of baked goods. “My family will sometimes bake pumpkin mu ns,

[and] the smell of that is always nice,” Graham said. “My mom knows how to make them, and we use store-bought ingredients. ey’re pretty good and it’s something that all the family likes.” Making food with family can be common during the holiday season. Derrer participates in this by baking with his grandmother. “My grandmother and I always make a pumpkin pie together with one of the pumpkins she grows in her garden,” Derrer said. “She has a little tradition for anksgiving with every grandchild and ours is pumpkin pie.”

Cooking and baking are not the only things that utilize pumpkins as an ingredient during fall. Pumpkin- avored drinks rise in popularity when the weather starts to turn. Dunkin’ released its fall drinks on Aug. 17 and

Starbucks released theirs on

Aug. 30. “I’m basically a ‘basic white girl’ because I am at Starbucks the rst day that the fall drinks come out,” Derrer said.

“I am there and I buy exactly what they want me to, which is a pumpkin spice frappuccino. I’m talking practically ice cream in a cup that’s got pumpkin avor and I go to school in the best mood I’ve ever been in.” Pumpkins play an important role in decorating for Halloween as they are typically carved into jack-o-lanterns. According to National Geographic, this tradition dates back to the Irish folktale of Stingy Jack, where people would carve and light turnips. When the tradition moved to North America, Washington Irving’s ‘Legend of Sleepy Hollow’ popularized pumpkins and people began carving them as opposed to turnips. “Sometimes I’ll go to a friend’s house and he’ll have a pumpkin carving contest,” Graham said. “He invites four or ve friends of his from his school and we’ll all bring our own pumpkin. His dad gets really into holidays and stu so he’ll have a bunch of supplies and anything you could want. ey’ll have templates there if you wanna try and cut

those.” ere are a multitude of designs that can be made on pumpkins, especially when provided with the right tools. Creating elaborate carvings allows for friendly competition with others. “Last year I took a picture of my dog and I tried carving my dog and it actually turned out pretty good,” Graham said. “At the end, it’s a contest, but it’s more for fun, [and] the adults and the kids get to hang out. We’ll end the night by taking them outside and putting a candle in them, then we’ll take a big picture and then we’ll have a winner.” When acquiring pumpkins, there are di erent ways to go about it; heading to the store, a pumpkin patch or growing one in a garden. All methods require di erent time and price commitments. “My grandma has a garden where she grows pumpkins, I think those are the best pumpkins,” Derrer said. “I think that if you can grow your own pumpkins over buying from the store it’s always better. It’s not necessarily because they’re better pumpkins, it’s because you have more of a connection to them.” While jack-o-lanterns are a very widespread way of decorating, pumpkins can be incorporated into designs without the fruit itself. is comes in the form of pumpkinthemed decor. “If I’m not making a jacko-lantern because sometimes they’re hard to make or I just don’t have the time to get a pumpkin, I make pumpkin arts and cra s,” junior Samonti Sanchita said. “Usually, I can nd that o the internet, like paper pumpkins.” ere are numerous things associated with fall and they are incorporated into the decorations and food people enjoy during the season. Pumpkins manage to traverse through multiple categories and embed themselves into everyday life. “I usually associate [pumpkins] with fall because of Halloween, and the color orange is a really prominent color throughout the fall,” Sanchita said. “You can see it in the leaves and also Halloween. It’s a really big staple in the holiday.”

Pumpkin mu ns recipe

Ingredients: - One box of spice cake mix - 15 ounce can of pumpkin - One cup of water

Directions: - Preheat oven to 350 degrees - Mix water and pumpkin together - Slowly add in mix to thicken - Scoop batter into mu n tin - Bake for 15-22 minutes

Background photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.