BELLA VISTA — When thinking about my columns, I admit I am influenced by the calendar and can easily be captured by traditional events. Pumpkins seemed a likely topic for October and, as usual, I hopped on the Internet to see what I could find.

There are lots of pumpkin recipes, but I was fascinated with the history of jack-o’- lanterns and pumpkins as a fruit rather than as an ingredient.

There seems no doubt that our jack-o’-lantern tradition comes from Irish immigrants. However, they used hollowed-out root vegetables, such as turnips, rutabagas or beets.

Somehow I cannot imagine any of those replacing the fabulous faces of our presentday Halloween pumpkins.

As the story goes, once upon a time, there was a miserable, drunken, old Irishman called Stingy Jack by the residents of his village. He played tricks on his friends and his family - particularly his mother - and even the devil himself.

Jack tricked the devil into climbing an apple tree, and while the devil was there, Jack placed crosses around the bottom of the tree. The devil, now stuck in the tree, had to promise he would not take Jack’s soul before Jack would remove the crosses and let the devil climb down.

Eventually, Jack died and went to heaven. He was met at the pearly gates with rejection because of his inappropriate earthly behavior. He then tried the lower level, but because of his promise, the devil would not let Jack in there, either. However, he did toss Jack an ember from the resident flames, saying it would help light his way. Jack hollowed out a turnip to hold the ember andused it to guide his way as he roamed the earth with his “jack-o’- lantern.”

To this day, on All Hallows’ Eve, the Irish scoop out root vegetables, in which they put small lights to ward off evil spirits and keep away the still-wandering Stingy Jack.

While the history ofthe jack-o’-lantern is Irish, the word pumpkin comes from the Greek peon, which means large melon. The English called it pumpion or popmien, and while the term dates back to 1547, it was not until 100 years later that it first appeared in print.

The pumpkin, one of the many foods used by Native Americans in the new world, was a welcome discovery by the pilgrims. The colonists used pumpkin as a side dish, a dessert, in soup and even made a type of beer from it.

In addition to being a food source, the Indians pounded strips of pumpkin flat, dried them and wove them into mats for trading.

A pumpkin is considered to be a fruit rather than a vegetable. Whilewe all know what the stem, lid, skin, pulp, cavity and seeds are, there are a few terms that were new to me.

The indented ridges running from top to bottom are called ribs, and the slimy, mushy mass of strings and seeds we scoop out to create a jack-o’-lantern are known as fibrous strands, but they are commonly called the “brains.”

Carving tips include the following:

◊Bigger is better;

◊Save the seeds and toast them for a healthy snack;

◊Scrape the insides of the pumpkin with an ice-cream scoop or heavy metal spoon;

◊To make your carved pumpkin last longer, soak it for an hour or two in a solutionof 1 teaspoon bleach per 1 gallon of water, then dry the pumpkin thoroughly and rub with vegetable oil to prevent shriveling;

◊Draw your design on paper first, then either copy it onto the face of the pumpkin or tape it on and use a nail to make dotted lines to be connected with theknife when doing the actual carving;

◊Cut a hole in the bottom of the pumpkin and fit it over a candle that has been set on a fireproof base;

◊Always put candles in glass containers and do not leave lighted pumpkins unattended for any length of time;

and

◊Sprinkle the inside of the pumpkin with cinnamon or nutmeg for an air-freshener effect.

Jack-o’-lanterns are fun for all ages, but there are also lots of tasty pumpkin treats that can be made with either canned or fresh pumpkin. I personally prefer the canned pumpkin for its smoothness and uniformity.

One cup of pumpkin puree has 80 calories, 19 grams of carbohydrates, 0 cholesterol, less than 1 gram of fat, 588 grams of potassium, as well as vitamins A and C. All this with a fruit that is 90 percent water. How amazing.

While pumpkin comes to mind at Halloween, there is no reason why it cannot be used yearround in breads, muffins, cakes andcheesecakes. When I asked my sister if she had any pumpkin recipes, she volunteered the harvest loaf that appears below.

However, wanting to be sure it was as tasty as she remembered, she baked a sample for The Weekly Vista staff and delivered it warm from the oven. The entire loaf lasted less than 20 minutes!

There are also fun Halloween holiday treats that look the part for ghostly gatherings.

A few of them are listed below. We don’t need to outgrow the fun times in life. Picture your husband’s face if you served him a toast ghost for breakfast.

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A final note, in response to a very good question by a friend, the yeast in Aunt Phoebe’s bread recipe, which appeared in last month’s column, is mixed in with the flour and sugar when making the bread.

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Jan Burgess has been a Bella Vista resident for 14 years. She and her husband, Bruce Burgess, are avid cooks.

Lifestyles, Pages 19 on 10/28/2009

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