Up to 1 Month Before
- Bake Jack-o'-Lantern Cake (one or more), but do not frost; tightly wrap and freeze. Make cupcakes, if using, and freeze.
1 Week Before
- Take the gang to a pick-your-own pumpkin patch to get enough pumpkins so each guest can have his or her just-right-size pumpkin. (Puzzled over pumpkin picking? Put your puzzling at ease with the Pumpkin Primer below.)
The Day Before
- Bake Jack-o'-Lantern Cake if not already baked. Frost and decorate just-baked or frozen cake, or wait until the party and make the decorating a party activity.
- Make Sweet and Crunchy Snack Mix. Add candy corn and/or candy pumpkins or gummy worm and spider candies.
- Measure ingredients for Spicy Pumpkin Pancakes. Combine dry ingredients; wrap tightly. Mix the wet ingredients; cover and refrigerate.
About 1 Hour Before Guests Arrive
- Mix pancake batter.
- Brew Peachy Spiced Cider; cool slightly for little ones.
- Slice pears or apples; sprinkle with lemon juice to prevent slices from turning brown.
About 15 Minutes Before Guests Arrive
- Make Canadian Bacon; keep warm over low heat until serving.
When Guests Arrive
Pumpkin Primer
Pumpkin varieties vary greatly. The pumpkins you choose to carve into jack-o'-lanterns will be different than those you use in pumpkin pie, roasted vegetables or pumpkin soup. "Field," "sugar" and "cheese" are three types of pumpkins.
- Field pumpkins are the pumpkins piled high at the supermarkets and roadside stands. They're the pumpkins typically used for carving and Halloween spooking, although smaller field pumpkins may be used for cooking. If you go on a picking adventure, experts will direct you to the "best picks for carving" pumpkins. Field pumpkins tend to be larger and have coarser, more fibrous flesh.
- Sugar pumpkins (also called pie pumpkins) are sweeter than field pumpkins and can also be carved. These fleshy pumpkins are bright orange and round, average 5 to 8 pounds and have a fine texture and sweet flavor.
- Cheese pumpkins have a more squat, flat-topped shape, similar to that of a wheel of cheese. They are a pale orange color with a creamy, fruity flesh. These pumpkins aren't the best choice for carving.