Australians get creative when it comes to seasonal holidays. While our popular notions of Christmastime involve snow and warm winter wool, Aussies celebrate with outdoor barbecues and Santa Claus wearing a swimsuit, because it's the middle of summer in the Southern Hemisphere. It's the same with Halloween. When we are carving pumpkins into Jack O'Lanterns, the gourds are just starting to bloom in Australia in springtime. But they aren't doing without Jack O'Lanterns- they make them out of watermelons!
Watermelon is sweet, juicy, and traditional at Fourth of July picnics. There's no reason Halloween fans can't dress up one holiday with the fun parts of another. Bush Cooking gives us a recipe for a Watermelon Jack O'Lantern that's a decoration for a refreshing fruit salad! They use watermelon, strawberries, apples, mandarin orange segments, and mint, but you can combine any kind of attractive fruit. It's arranged so that the Jack O'Lantern appears to be regurgitating the fruit salad. What a fun addition to a Fourth of July party or picnic!