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Carved Pumpkin Thanksgiving Soup Tureen
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By Cheri Sicard
Photo: Mitch Mandell
Posted November 29th, 2008
Author Notes: A hollowed out pumpkin makes a fabulous Thanksgiving Soup Tureen that provides easy after-dinner clean up -- just toss it out.  We used the Dremel Rotary Pumpkin Carving Tool to carve out the top layer of orange pumpkin flesh into the turkey design.  A scalloped border completes the picture.  The pumpkin tureen in the photo is filled with Turkey and Barley Soup, but feel free to fill with your favorite soup variety.
Supplies: 1 large pumpkin (pick one up for a song the day after Halloween and store in a cool place until Thanksgiving)
Dremel Rotary Pumpkin Carving Tool
small poker for transferring design
turkey pattern (click here for pattern)
small pumpkin carving knife
scoop or large metal spoon for scraping out pumpkin
permanent felt maker, such as a Sharpie

Instructions: Center your pattern on the pumpkin and tape in place.  Use a small poke tool to transfer the pattern to the pumpkin.  Click here for detailed instructions of how to do this step.

Use the tool to outline the design.  Remove pattern and rinse off to see design.  Use the rotating Dremel tool to fill in the design.

When you;re happy with the way the turkey looks, it's time to hollow out the pumpkin.  Take the felt marker and draw a scalloped border about1 1/2 inches about the top outline of the turkey.  Continue this line, at the midpoint of the pumpkin, all the way around the circumference.

Use your small pumpkin carving knife to carve along the scalloped line.  Carefully life the top part of the pumpkin off the bottom half.  You may need to cut the top part into piece to accomplish this, just take care to keep the bottom half intact.

Use a scoop or large metal spoon to remove the inner seeds and pulp.  Save the seeds to make Gourmet Seasoned Pumpkin Seeds.  Chill until ready to fill with hot soup for serving.

Tips for Using the Dremel Rotary Pumpkin Carving Tool
We love this tool and find it relatively easy to use.  That said, through trial, error, and practice, we find these tips to be helpful when carving pumpkin with it.
  • Even though the directions that come withe the tool say to spray mount your pattern to the pumpkin and use the tool to carve through pattern and paper together, we didn't do this.  We found this method only works well on large, simple designs.  The more detail, the more the paper shred and gets in the way.  We prefer to transfer the old fashioned way with a poker, then use the Dremel too to carve.
  • Stop and take your pumpkin to the sink and rinse it off frequently while carving.  As the tool carves off the top layer of pumpkin, a lit of pumpkin flesh can get in the way and make it difficult to see your design.  A quick pass under some running water quickly cleans everything up and lets you see what you are doing.
  • Fresh batteries in the tool make a HUGE difference.  If you batteries are low the tool will be sluggish.  New batteries make all the difference between a fun and easy project and a tedious one.
  • These designs tend look better after they've had a change to sit for a few days.  The design dries, and rough edges magically tend to smooth out.  For the soup tureen, feel free to carve the turkey design 3-4 days in advance, then chill the pumpkin in a refrigerator (our outside if you live in a cool but not freezing climate).  Take the top off the and hollow the pumpkin just before serving.
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