Shine Up Your Squash and Pumpkins For Pretty Party Decor

The best part about fall is its natural and edible decor. It's a snap to start decorating with pumpkins and squash and then, later, cook them up into a tasty recipe in the kitchen. But these pumpkins have a little extra shine! This technique is food safe and a snap to do — can you tell what was used?

Vaseline! It doesn't take much, but Stephanie Lynn over at Under The Table and Dreaming has taken ordinary garden grub and made it a bit more special. Even though Vaseline is petroleum-based, the man who discovered it, Robert Chesebrough, ate a spoonful a day "for good health" and lived to be 96 years old — so we're pretty sure this tiny amount won't do you any harm when cooking the squash or pumpkin later on.

The method is simple: you just wipe on a bit of Vaseline and buff it off. You're left with this super-shiny glow. Stephanie Lynn suggests wiping your pumpkin down first to ensure its surface is clean before giving it the grease.

Then, when the party is long over and it's time to roast off your table decor (which can't be said for most things!), just give them another wipe to remove any dust or peel their skins before tossing them in the oven.

• Check out more superstar shiny squash photos over at Under The Table and Dreaming

Related: How to Cut a Butternut Squash

(Image: Under The Table and Dreaming)

Comments (10)

Wouldn't wiping them down with a cloth spritzed with just a bit of oil do the same thing and remove any doubt as to what happens to Vaseline when you bake it?

Yeah the whole Vaseline thing does make me a tad... nervous. I love the idea though, might try it with olive oil.

Olive oil also has natural anti-bacterial properties that help to preserve pumpkins. I rub it on all my storage pumpkins and the last at cool room temperature well into the spring.

Seems like coconut oil would be a good substitute.

The number one thing you're supposed to give to cats having a hairball problem is vaseline. Its totally safe. All of us here use at least chapstick or lip gloss I'd bet. Its, in many cases, close to if not the exact same thing in it and you'd consume way more just from licking or eating than you would a bit rubbed on a pumpkin.

I was thinking milk---there was an old trick for shining plant leaves that just used milk as a wipe. Never tried it for pumpkins but it might work.

Petroleum based products = BAD. And jmorri26 , I completely disagree with you that Vaseline is the number one hairball remedy. It is actually mineral oil. But, I digress.

You can get a shine like that from probably any large molecule oil because it won;t get as easily absorbed by the pumpkin.

Uh, I don't think I'd recommend to anyone to use a petroleum-based product on food. And just because people have injested it in the past doesn't really mean that it's "safe". Many makeup companies are looking at alternatives to petroleum-based ingredients in their products due to the fact that many of them are contributing causes to breast cancer.

He ATE a spoonful a day? Yuck! I'd rather chug Buckley's!