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Updated: Nov 4

We have our winners!

Judging was a bit tricky as, in addition to having so many terrific entries from which to choose, many of our entrants did not exactly follow the contest directions to use their jack-o-lantern pumpkin carvings to create a dish. For the creativity prize, we restricted the entries to those that actually did use their carving cast-offs. For the recipe prize, we broadened our requirements, but the winner still ended up being one who had used pumpkin eyes and ears.

The judges (Cate of Sweetnicks, Adam Roberts of The Amateur Gourmet, and I) unanimously agreed that of all the entries Stephen's Jack-o-Lantern Pumpkin Quiche was the most creative. Congratulations Stephen! You have just won a It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown DVD.

For the winner of the Best Recipe, it was a real toss-up. Turns out, we judges all have widely diverging recipe preferences. In the end, we chose Souperior's Pumpkin and Amaretti Ravioli with Sage-butter Fried Pumpkin Seeds and Cream Sauce with an honorable mention to The Passionate Cook's Roast Squash Bites with Pumpkin Seed Pesto. Congratulations Fahara! You have won a brand new copy of Mark Bittman's The Best Recipes in the World. (See http://www.thebestrecipesintheworld.com for more information about this terrific cookbook.)

A big thanks to my fellow judges and all of the participants in this Carve-Up Cook-Off. And a special thanks to Random House Publishing for sponsoring the prize for best recipe.

Entries

Stephen of Stephen Cooks gets the gold star for submitting our first entry, a Jack-o-lantern Pumpkin Quiche. Stephen uses his powers of ingenuity to decorate his quiche with the pumpkin eyes, mouth, and eyebrows from his jack-o-lantern.

Helen of Beyond Salmon (a blog all about buying and cooking fish!) submits Pumpkin Kasha 3 ways. Regarding kasha, Helen explains, "In Russia, Kasha refers to a dish cooked out of any grain (buckwheat, oats, wheat, millet, barley, rice, etc). Just like not all pasta is spaghetti, not all kasha is buckwheat." This particular set of kasha dishes is made with risotto rice.

Johanna of the Passionate Cook has prepared some lovely Roast Squash Bites with Pumpkin Seed Pesto for a savory set of appetizers.

Aria of Passionate Nonchalance writes in from sunny Santa Monica, California with her tasty version of Toasty Pumpkin Seeds. We're in full agreement with you Aria, "Don't forget to toast the pumpkin seeds after you carve a Jack-O-Lantern."

Marc of Mental Masala has cooked up two fabulous dishes from one pumpkin - Bengali Pumpkin and Coconut and Pumpkin with Tomatoes, Tomatillos, and Chipotle Chiles.

Sarah Lou of One Whole Clove has outdone herself with three pumpkin recipes - pumpkin arancini, rigatoni with pumpkin and bacon, mini pumpkin tarts - and one butternut squash with pasta. Her Jack-O-Lantern is truly terrifying as well.

California's Penguin Chef prepared a Pumpkin Cardamon Custard in hollowed out miniature pumpkins.

Fahara of Souperior from Warwickshire, UK, carved some gorgeous pumpkins and created Pumpkin and amaretti Ravioli with sage-butter fried pumpkin seeds and cream sauce.

Sacramentan Andrea Winchester of Rookie Cookery layered pumpkin custard, persimmons, whipped cream, and walnuts to create her Pumpkin Persimmon Parfait.

(Late entry) Lady Almathea of Noshes, Thoughts, and Reves uses her pumpkin scraps to cook up a "homey" Pumpkin Pie with a graham cracker pumpkin seed crust.

From the Original Post:

Every year at this time millions of people buy pumpkins (more often large orange squashes) to carve up Jack-o-lanterns for the celebration of Halloween. And every year millions of perfectly edible pumpkin pieces and seeds go to waste. In our house we always use the pieces (carved out eyes, noses, and mouths) to make something or another, even if just simple boiled and puréed pumpkin with brown sugar. And we always roast our pumpkin seeds.