Edible Pumpkin Centerpieces for Your Party Table

For your next fall fête or Halloween party, add some healthy whimsy to your holiday table with an unexpected crudités centerpiece. Pumpkins and gourds make festive yet practical vases for this edible bouquet, which is sure to delight and entice guests. Even those who are veggie averse won’t be able to resist noshing on the wildly funny hair of a Medusa jack-o-lantern.

Ingredients

• Medium pumpkin
• Head of Lettuce or bunch of kale
• Cauliflower
• Zucchini
• Mini heirloom tomatoes
• Wooden skewers
• Non-toxic markers or paint
• Culinary creativity!

Steps

1. Wash, clean, and dry all veggies that you’ll display or serve.

2. Cut off and discard the pumpkin’s top. Lightly scrape the inside clean, saving the seeds for later use (try this great party snack recipe).

3. Cover and slightly fill the pumpkin’s empty cavity with lettuce or kale to create a ruffle-like collar around its outer edge. We chose textured leaves with hints of brown and red to better capture the mood of Halloween.

4. Next, skewer the veggies that will form the foundation of your edible centerpiece. Cauliflower is a great choice because it’s reminiscent of a creature’s brain (gross!) and creates a sturdy, sculptural base for the arrangement. Just make sure that the pieces aren’t so tightly packed that guests can’t pull out a veggie to munch on.

5. Continue to skewer and arrange veggies to make the edible bouquet.

Tips (No Tricks!)

There is no one-size-fits-all approach for designing your centerpiece. You can assemble it in a quirky, sophisticated, or simplistic manner — whatever suits your taste and party’s theme. The only rule? Have fun!

We made two versions to show how easily you can adapt this DIY for a creative Halloween bash or an evening among adults.

When creating our crudités arrangement for a Halloween party, we looked for veggies that were unusually shaped and reminded us of witch’s fingers, eyeballs, and snake hair! Then we upped the pumpkin’s personality by painting Medusa’s face on the shell.

Don’t feel limited to the veggies we grabbed at the grocery store. Think carrots, bell peppers, olives, even grapes… Let the produce inspire you and your kids as you work together to dress up the pumpkin. We see a mad scientist, a Frankenstein flat top, a rock star mohawk, and lots of giggles in your future.

For a fall event — an autumn luncheon, open house, even Thanksgiving — we created a centerpiece that is equally nutritious, but more modern its presentation. Simply group the same veggies together in tiers. To take it to another level, carve a smaller pumpkin, fit a tiny glass bowl inside, then fill it with hummus or dip.

How do you incorporate natural items into your holiday décor?