I love the Harvest season and all it brings. The cool, crisp air seems to heighten my senses to the deepening colours and this season’s magical, temporal light. I am easily won over by the heartier flavours of all the root vegetables and roasted goodness coming from the oven, making up for the shorter days and signs of winter’s approach. For now, nature is showing off in all her splendour, inviting us to slow down and stand in awe of the beauty of this season’s transitional state.
One of our favourite things about this season is our annual Thanksgiving gathering. We love our more impromptu gatherings that happen so often with friends descending spontaneously to connect over a meal. We decide together what we should make with the ingredients we’ve got in the fridge and the making of the meal is as much of an event as the eating of it. But every once in awhile, it’s lovely to plan things out more thoughtfully, with careful attention to the details that make it feel like a celebration. It doesn’t have to be serious to be thoughtful. Just an intentional expression of gratitude through the mediums of food and friendship. Thanksgiving is a beautiful opportunity to do just that.
This year I felt like playing with mini pie pumpkins for a potentially cliché but hopefully charming addition to the table decor. Here were my weapons of choice:

Four mini pie pumpkins
A cordless drill with 3 different sizes of bits {all quite small}
A couple of spoons for scooping out the guts of my pumpkins {I saved the seeds and roasted them with sea salt, of course!}
A small paring knife to cut my openings

I chose to open the mini pie pumpkins from the bottom as I didn’t want the cut out to interfere with the patterns I was hoping to create.

Using the drill {and inspired by Moroccan tin lanterns}, I set about trying to create delicate yet simple patterns that would allow the light to come through and create interesting patterns of candlelight on the table. This was my attempt at a slightly fresh take on pumpkin carving!

PHOTO BY GABRIELLA HANSEN

What I learned was that my mini pumpkins were in fact too mini for the flame. Great idea, wrong scale! Within a few minutes, the less-than-festive odour of burning pumpkin began to fill the dining room. Yikes! In our scramble to keep them from totally combusting, I didn’t manage to get any pics to show you the charming and patterned glow they cast on the table. Plan B. Candles beside the minis instead of inside them. This is what experimentation is for, right? Now we know, 3″ to 4″ pumpkins are too small, but I stand behind the idea as one that would totally work on a slightly larger scale!

PHOTO BY GABRIELA HANSEN
PHOTO BY GABRIELA HANSEN {CAPTURED JUST BEFORE THE BURNING STARTED!}

I’m dying to see a Moroccan-tin-lantern-inspired pumpkin all lit up {and not burning}. Maybe one of my lovely friends south of the border will make these for your upcoming American Thanksgiving celebration in a couple of weeks? If you do, please take pics! I’d love to see them.

xo
s.