She carves pumpkins by the seashore

On Wednesday night Lucy and I went along to Shells in Strandhill for their pumpkin carving night. I had no idea what to expect (apart from carving pumpkins!) but it was such an enjoyable night. When we arrived the cafe was all lit up and looked very welcoming.

The cafe was decorated with bats, witches, hats and candles. ‘Spooky’ music was playing including Thriller and Ghostbusters, it was the perfect way to get in to the Halloween spirit.

Jane and Myles were great hosts. We were invited to pick our pumpkins and Myles gave us some tips on how best to carve it. We were up against the clock though with only 45 minutes to complete our task, it was like the ‘Great British Bake Off’. I have to admit I’ve never carved a pumpkin in my life, although I did carve a pepper once (recession pumpkin).  I’m delighted I chose a small pumpkin although even at that I was almost up to my elbow in pumpkin innards and they smell really bad!

In between the pumpkin carving there was the most amazing food, everything contained pumpkins. There was pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin pies, brownies with pumpkins, pumpkin broth and more. It was all just delicious, my favourite was the pumpkin arancini which was made with rice and goats cheese and of course pumpkin, it’s the round balls in the centre photos. You are always guaranteed amazing food at Shells.

This was my pumpkin attempt. I thought I’d use the stalk as a nose. I also carved Shells out at the side of it, Lucy said I was sucking up…I was! I didn’t win (sob!) but it was great fun, a really enjoyable evening and a great laugh. You can read Lucy’s blog post (it’s hilarious) here.

Thanks to Jane, Myles and all at Shells for such a great night.