This Autumn recipe is long overdue.  Ever the last minute queen, here I am trying to catch up on this before Christmas madness descends on us in the next few days.  This recipe uses pumpkin but as Halloween is a distant memory, it can easily be substituted for any other vegetable in the squash family.  Such as butternut squash or even sweet potato.

As you may have read from my recent Halloween posts on pumpkin decorating and a faith debate, I really got stuck in with it this year! My 4 year old was really excited to give out all the sweets to the children knocking on our doors. We even dressed up! He had a knight outfit and I wore a purple satin effect eagle cape! It was fun but it did get a bit much to keep getting up to answer the door.  I think maybe we may go out for it next year and I could perhaps incorporate a prayer walk as we go between houses.  Anyhoo, onto the recipe!

Halloween is here! Ever the last minute queen, I thought I'd do a post on decorating your pumpkins. As mentioned in my previous post, 'should Christians celebrate Halloween?', I've been really getting into it this year. This past weekend was a flurry of pumpkin carving then making some yummy pumpkin recipes with the flesh. I have a pumpkin puree creamy pasta recipe coming up so watch this space! I also found the best doughnut recipe! OMG it was to die for! Pumpkin spice doughnuts with a maple glaze. My overeating struggles were not helped by these and I pretty much devoured them within two days (cue the face palm emoji!). But boy did I enjoy them. Found them on the Olive magazine food website after googling pumpkin recipes. It was within a bigger article containing savoury dishes, desserts and also pumpkin seed recipes such as granola. Check it out here.

In this tutorial I will cover the steps to prepare your pumpkin for carving and best practice for carving your designs.  I will also go through an easier diy for painting and then using stickers for some added fun! First up, the carving!

I have always hated Halloween.  My faith in God aside, I just don't get why evil should be celebrated.  When my Bible teaches me to think on whatever is lovely, pure, noble, right and true so that the peace of God will be with me (Philippians 4:8-9), I just can't see why anyone would want to focus on the opposite! When there is a general consensus that Halloween is 'just a bit of fun', I tend to disagree.  As a Christian, I don't think this particular holiday should be taken lightly.

It has always been a bone of contention for me.  Living at home at my parents and when I moved out in 2010, we would pretty much just turn all the lights off, lock the doors, and not open the door for anyone! Just hide away wishing it all to be over! But in the last couple of years, I've found my opinion changing.  In my walk with God, I am called to shine my light, Matthew 5:15 states that people do not light a lamp and put it under a bowl.  Instead they put it on a stand and it gives light to everyone in the house.

By turning off all the lights, locking down the house and not opening the door to anyone, am I not letting Satan have his way on this already dark night? The meaning behind that scripture is about not keeping the gift of God to myself.  To let it shine for others and illuminate His love to all.

If you're a Christian, like me, you may be a bit ambiguous about Halloween. Personally, I'm not a fan. And on previous years I have been known to turn all the lights out, hide away and hope we won't be disturbed! But recently, it's become a debate whether, as Christians, we should be hiding away. After all, it's written in God's word that 'people do not light a lamp and hide it under a bowl' (Matthew 5:15). We should be the light in the darkness.

So, this year I've decided to embrace it. Not only have I ordered some 'bags of hope' from UCB (I plan to fill these with sweeties and hopefully, if time permits, copies of the Father's love letter) I've even made some cheeky little pumpkin earrings! That use God's natural creation of pumpkins and a heart design to show His love. No ghosts, witches or ghoulies here!