The combination of chilli-fuelled pizzas, toasty wine and cookies was verging on explosive, which is more than we could say for the fireworks which save for the odd banger were a right damp squib. Two new pumpkins joined the above fireplace scene on Sunday afternoon. A carving kit was purchased too, but, alas, one of the pumpkins was manky and after delving into its slimy depths, I didn't feel like doing anything spooky with it. It was Sunday night, I'd had a Halloween biscuit disaster (more of which later) and I lost the fight to carve. So I made a soup instead. With the help of the BF. I came in to the kitchen to discover Julian had done the hard work and the pumpkin was in skinless chunks. I don't think it was a pain-free endeavour, however. (I have found this massively handy hint for preparing a pumpkin for future: cut it up like you do a cantaloupe melon . Half it, scoop out the seeds and slimy stuff, then cut it into wedges. Run the knife between the rind and the meat to remove skin, then dice. Woop.) Then I set about making a pumpkin and brown rice soup, adapted from lovely recipe I found on 101 Cookbooks . Start cooking your rice; it takes 30 mins+, I realised to my woe on Sunday . This was the first time I'd ever cooked rice. Not sure I'm keen on the admin. Next, in a big soup pan, fry