Pumpkin Carving Party for Grown-ups!

Every year my mom (in her fabulous fifties), my brother (21, yikes!), my cousin Lindsey (mid-twenties), and myself (31 ya'll!) get together to carve pumpkins for Halloween. Is this immature? Childish? Well, a little bit, but we put a fun grown up spin on our annual festivities.
We watch a spooky movie, last year was Bram Stokers Dracula, year before was Sleepy Hollow. We pour ourselves hardy glasses of booze (wine or beer usually) and we have a fabulous pre-carving dinner. The meal we had two years ago was so good that it has become an integral part of the tradition. It's easy to prepare and absolutely delicious! In fact, it's become one of my most requested recipes. So I shall pass it's awesomeness on to you! It'a adapted from a Food & Wine recipe and is a real winner.

Vietnamese-Style Banh Mi Burgers

Ingredients:
1 carrot, coarsely shredded
1/2 cucumber, thinly sliced
1/4 cup unseasoned rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 Tbl. Sriracha (Thai hot sauce)
1 garlic clove, minced
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 1/2 pounds ground beef chuck
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
One 24-inch baguette, quartered crosswise and split
8 slices of pickled jalapeños
12 cilantro sprigs

Preheat the oven to 400°. In a small bowl, toss the carrots and cukes with the rice vinegar and sugar and let stand for 10 minutes; drain.
In a small bowl, whisk the mayonnaise with the Sriracha and garlic and season with salt and pepper.
Form the meat into four 6-inch-long oval patties, about 1 inch thick. Season with the curry powder and salt and pepper. In a large skillet, heat the oil until shimmering. Cook the patties over moderate heat, turning once, until medium, about 12 minutes.
Meanwhile, spread the butter on the cut sides of the baguette. Set the bread cut side up on a baking sheet and bake for about 5 minutes, until lightly toasted. Spread the Sriracha-spiked mayonnaise on the bread and top each baguette section with a burger patty, pickled carrots and cukes, pickled jalapeño slices and cilantro sprigs. Close the sandwiches and serve hot.

This year we will be having these burgers as expected and though I always end up with a glass of wine in my hand we will be starting with a "Headless Horseman" (Shipyard Pumpkin Head Ale topped with Guinness). The movie? A classic I think, like The Shining or The Thing! The only thing I haven't decided on is what to carve into my pumpkin! Not much can top my brothers Dwight Schrute pumpkin of two years ago, best to stick to the classics and let him be the artsy creative one!