Can you tell who they are?
Added Note- Since everyone's having such a hard time, I'm thinking of giving the extra incentive of a prize. The first person to figure it out wins an aromatherapy necklace.
(The answer as well as a fifth carved pumpkin can be found here.)
I’ve been thinking about carving these particular jack-o-lanterns for over a year, even before I carved this little guy on a watermelon. Since these were relatively simple (with only white, black and 1 shade of gray), the actual carving part (minus the cleaning out and scraping) took just about an hour per pumpkin.
We've finally built up a pretty handy little collection of tools, which makes the whole process go much smoother.
-For cleaning the inside of the pumpkin (as well as scraping it down to a good thickness) ceramic loop tools or pottery scrapers work really well.
-We mark the design with a regular push pin.
-We use the little saws from the pumpkin carving sets to cut out the pieces, though I'm thinking of making something like this for next year.
-For refining the depth of the design on the areas with the skin removed (thinner equals lighter) cheap wood carving tools or a linoleum cutting set work really well.
The night that I came up with the idea for these designs, I sat up late, searching the internet for the right pictures to use. Every time I opened up a picture of the guy on the left, I would hear a sound from the kitchen. The sound was a minor one, something like the house settling, so I didn’t pay attention at first. But as I clicked into the various pages, there it would be again and again.
Eventually, I noticed it and I started to freak myself out. It was at this point that I realized that it was well after one in the morning and I was the only one awake in the house. And here’s the thing, I was actually unable to get myself to stand up from the computer and walk down the hallway to the bedroom. To do that, I’d not only need to walk past the kitchen where the noises were coming from, but also our sliding glass door and I was pretty sure that I hadn’t pulled the curtains that night.
I thought about calling for help, “Jeeeeeeeff, honey, please come and walk me to bed.” But I really didn’t want to admit how freaked out I was. So, I opened up an audio book and listened to it for, honest to God, another hour before I had distracted myself sufficiently to be fairly confidant that I could walk down the hallway instead of running at a full sprint, giggling and squealing like a little girl.
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- Jeff bought this several years ago, and we haven't used our regular blender since. In fact, I recently gave it away to a friend. We use the immersion attachment for smoothies and soups and refried beans. And we use the blender/ chopper attachments for sauces, marinades, salad dressings and even baby food. Jenny bought the Cuisinart version of this and was pretty disappointed with it because it just doesn't get things as smooth as ours does (though it does look sleek in that stainless steel way). The link above is for the model that is almost the exact one that we own, but according to the Amazon description it seems to be missing the larger blender/chopping bowl. Although, the pictures on the front of the stick show all the correct attachments. I've also read great reviews of the 
version, but it's more pricey. We use this almost daily.
- This is the exact model that we own and it comes with two different sized pans and a pasta/steamer basket. However, this version (
) contains just one of the cookers and looks to be about 40 bucks cheaper. Before we bought our pressure cooker, we discussed the pros (quick cooking means less energy and less of our time) and cons (price and storage space) for months. One day, Jeff just returned from errands with one, ending the debate. We've used it almost once a week (sometimes much more) ever since. It makes an amazing pot roast (never dry) and can cook a whole chicken in about half an hour. We use it for stocks and stews and beans and curries and even rice (because we cook our rice like pasta and drain off the water). We use it lots in the winter, but it's also fantastic in the summer. It doesn't heat the kitchen up much because once it gets up to pressure, you set the stove to a fairly low temperature. And, because everything is trapped within, it doesn't put out as much heat as regular methods. Also, you can actually turn the stove off about 10 or 15 minutes before it's done cooking, and let the pressure come down naturally (or conversely, take it outside and release the pressure there, so the heat is outside your house, not in). It's because of this that Fagor participates in the Energy Star program.
and (somewhat surprisingly) 
