Sometimes called the Jack-o’-Lantern, the carved-out pumpkin has a long history with Halloween and is considered an American import

However, the tradition of carving faces into vegetables, often turnips, has its origins in the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, a celebration that marked the end of summer and the beginning of the new year on November 1.

Picking your pumpkin!

Pumpkin picking has become increasingly popular over the past few years with many PYO farms now offering a pumpkin patch.

This can be a fun family day out with many places offering additional activities such as children’s crafts, maize mazes, seasonal trails and delicious autumnal food and drink.

Carving ideas and tips

Once you have picked your perfect pumpkin consider how to carve it!

• Try using an ice cream scoop to remove the pulp and some of the inner wall.
• Draw your design on paper or use a pre-drawn stencil. Tape to the front of your pumpkin and use a fork or pencil to poke holes along the lines and use as a guide when you carve.
• Use a rubber mallet or a hammer covered with a cloth and a cookie cutter to stamp out shapes such as stars, hearts or circles.
• Drill lots of small holes all over the pumpkin.
• Cut out windows and a door and create a Sweetie Shop; fill with sweets for trick or treaters.
• Sprinkle cinnamon on the inside of the lid for a pumpkin pie aroma.
• No-carve pumpkins – painted pumpkins can look fantastic and are great for younger children.

What to do with the left-over pumpkin

1000’s tonnes of pumpkin gets thrown away each year but Dairy Diary has lots of ideas of what to do with the scooped out pumpkin flesh and don’t forget the seeds; they can be cooked and enjoyed too!

Follow the links to our five favourite pumpkin recipes!

Streusel Muffins

Spicy Pumpkin Seeds

Pumpkin, Chorizo & Sage Frittata

Butternut Squash Velouté

Pumpkin & Ginger Risotto

And don’t forget the wildlife

When you have finished with your carved pumpkin it can be filled with seed and hung up as a bird feeder or chopped up into chunks as a treat for local wildlife.

Two delicious vegan recipes

A couple of years ago, when we were exhibiting at the London Stationery Show, we met a colleague at an Islington vegan restaurant, I think it was called The Gate.

I love veggie food, but my former boss Nick – an avid fish and cheese-lover – was especially sceptical about the flavour of what he was going to eat. Apart from the dessert, which was quite strange, his scepticism was misplaced, and the main course, Miso Aubergine, was AMAZING.

Memorable meals out often inspire recipe writing
and that’s the story behind the recipe below.

I could never become vegan – I love cheese and milk chocolate too much – as well as working on Dairy Diary of course! But vegan meals can be delicious as part of a varied diet.

We often get requests for vegan alternatives from people who are cooking for vegan guests and have no idea where to start. Try the Miso Aubergine below, or the Vegan Sausage Roll recipe; vegan visitors (or you) won’t be disappointed.

Both recipes are featured in the 2022 Dairy Diary and the Dairy Diary Set – available to buy now!

Miso & Sesame Aubergine

Vegan Sausage Rolls

Emily Davenport

I post regular blogs featuring food, family and fun. Ideas for days out, crafty makes, health and home, plus giveaways and, of course, delicious recipes that I think you will find irresistible.

Wish Dairy Diary a special happy 40th birthday!

Here’s a peek at what’s new in the special anniversary edition…

We are so proud to wish Dairy Diary a very happy 40th birthday, please join us in our celebrations of this amazing accomplishment!

We couldn’t have done it without the support of our customers, milkmen and milkwomen, and of course, the various people that have worked on the diary since 1982.

Over the past 40 years, the diary has changed dramatically. The way we cook and eat has also changed, meaning the diary has had to keep up with developing trends and new exciting ingredients.

The special 40th-anniversary edition is truly the best yet, with brand-new stunning recipes that have been triple-tested to ensure success, fantastic features including a ‘Could Do’ List for 2022, and ‘Gardening in the shade’.

As always, the Dairy Diary is packed full of useful information – cook’s guides, stain removal, handy conversions, tips on how to get your 5-a-day, special anniversaries plus much, much more.

Order now to discover an invaluable daily planner with an abundance of useful information at your fingertips.

DAIRY DIARY 2022

Emily Davenport

I post a blog every week featuring food, family and fun. There are lots of useful household tips, crafty ideas, giveaways and delicious recipes that I think you will find irresistible.

Launch month of the Dairy Diary 2022

It’s Launch Month! & we’re very excited to hear what you think about your 2022 edition of the Dairy Diary, with lots new for its 40th anniversary!

Behind the scenes this year, we have been working hard to put the new finishing touches to our website. We’ve launched a new shopping cart page too, to make it super simple to place an order – don’t worry it is as secure as ever, just more user-friendly!

Here is a wonderful shot of the new 40th-anniversary edition of the Dairy Diary.

It has lots of interesting features, delicious triple-tested recipes and of course, handy planning tools!

Take a closer look at Dairy Diary 2022.

Who is as excited as we are?!

Emily Davenport

I post a blog every week featuring food, family and fun. There are lots of useful household tips, crafty ideas, giveaways and delicious recipes that I think you will find irresistible.

Planning ahead makes a huge difference in how much food you waste.

It can also relieve that supermarket-aisle-stress where you don’t know what you fancy so just throw into the trolley several different ingredients that don’t really go together, we’ve all been there don’t worry!

This relatively short checklist of things is all you need to reduce your food waste; planning is super easy when you have the right tools!

Start with your More Taste & Less Waste cookbook, it has chapters that allow you to take one main ingredient and make two or three different meals with it.

In addition to the stunning, tasty recipes it has lots of tips and tricks, so you have expert knowledge at your fingertips!

For the week ahead, pick out 5 recipes you’d like to give a try, grab your favourite pen and fill in your practical Meal Planner Pad.

Write down all the ingredients required on your handy tear-off shopping list – but don’t forget to check in your cupboards and fridge/freezer in case you already have some of what you need.

Buy the cookbook and meal planner pad together and save money!

Cookbook & Meal Planner Pad bundle

Contents:

• Meal Planner Pad
• More Taste & Less Waste cookbook

£12.49

SAVES £1.00 off the cost of buying the items separately.

Emma Snow

I am the Brand Executive for Dairy Diary. A passionate foodie (with a very sweet-tooth). Who likes to blog about all things DIY & scrumptious recipes.

Introducing the More Taste & Less Waste cookbook

You may not think about all the work that goes into producing a new cookbook, it takes us about two years to develop a concept into reality and many fantastic brains too! From recipe writers to testers, from designers to photographers, from editors to proof-readers and many more.

This year’s cookbook centres on the
notion of reducing food waste.

It’s an idea that rated very highly when we carried out our research back in 2019. Our brilliant milkmen and women that deliver Dairy Diaries and cookbooks to their customers love it too, a force that forms an important part of reducing plastic waste.

It is also very fitting that Zero Waste Week falls on 6–10 September! Giving advice to individuals, organisations, schools and communities on how to reduce landfill waste and save money.

Of course, help doesn’t stop there; More Taste and Less Waste will give you the tools you need to make it a lifetime habit and help save our planet one day at a time.

Take a look at a selection of recipes to give you an idea of the stunning collection of bakes, mains, desserts and snacks that More Taste and Less Waste has to offer.

Win a copy of More Taste & Less Waste

To celebrate the launch of our brand-new cookbook, we are running a giveaway on our Facebook & Instagram pages.

Tell us, how many recipes feature in More Taste & Less Waste?

You can enter below for another chance to win too…