In case you might be wondering a bit about pumpkins this week, I thought I’d give you some interesting facts about those members of the Cucurbita family (the family that includes squash and cucumber). Maybe you can share your new knowledge with the rest of the family while you’re carving pumpkins or making pumpkin pie.

Speaking of pie, the largest pumpkin pie ever recorded weighed more than 350 pounds and was more than five feet in diameter. Baked for six hours, the pie contained 80 pounds of cooked pumpkin, 36 pounds of sugar and 12 dozen eggs.

Pumpkins, which are 90 percent water, can weigh less than a pound or more than 1,000 pounds. They come in many different varieties and many have unusual names like munchkin, funny face and spooktacular. Several colors of pumpkins are available, including white, green and blue, as well as orange, by far the most popular.

The pumpkin carving tradition started in Ireland where they carved turnips. When the Irish began to immigrate to the United States, they discovered pumpkins were much easier to carve.

Back in the early days of our country, the colonists used pumpkins in the crust of their pies, not as the filling. In later years, they would slice off the pumpkin tops, scoop out the seeds, fill the pumpkins with milk, spices and honey and bake them in the hot ashes of their fires. These were the precursors to our modern day pumpkin pies.

Native Americans would eat pumpkin strips that they had roasted in the fire. They would also pound strips of pumpkin flat, dry them and weave them into mats.

Pumpkins have been used as medicines or cure-alls for many ailments through the years. They are reputed to cure snakebite and to remove freckles. Seeds have been used for de-worming and to avoid prostate cancer in men. The pulp has been used to treat burns. Note: this is not a recommendation for any of these treatments – just a history.

If you have a carved pumpkin masterpiece that has started to shrivel, you may be able to re-hydrate it by soaking it in cool water overnight.

And, here’s a goal you might want to work toward: “The World’s Fastest Pumpkin Carver.” Currently held by Steve Clarke of Havertown, Pennsylvania, his winning time of 1:14.8 minutes as recorded in the “Guinness World Book of Records” was achieved in 2000, smashing the old record by 19 seconds.

Clarke, who teaches sixth grade, began his pumpkin carving career by recreating masterpieces on his pumpkins – from the Mona Lisa to American Gothic. In 1999, then-Vice President Al Gore invited Clarke and his family to the Gore’s Halloween party where Clarke carved more than 30 pumpkins.

Enjoy your week. Enjoy carving pumpkins whether they end up as masterpieces or monsterpieces. And check out this week’s winning recipe for Pumpkin Soup. It could be just what you’re looking for to round out a hearty fall meal.