All things Pumpkin

Thanksgiving is coming!

Not that my neighbors know this... because they all have their Christmas lights & trees up already

Ahem.... anyway.

I am thinking about all things pumpkin & baking

I normally don't do this, so I'm going to go with it

I bought some cute little pie pumpkins for my boys to paint before halloween

We ran out of time to do that so they've just been sitting here staring at me for a few weeks

I couldn't just let them go to waste

But, I've never done anything with a real pumpkin besides carve it

I assumed cooking it was similar to cooking squash but I wasn't sure

So, I googled "how to cook a pumpkin" and found this handy dandy site

I also saw some great recipes online and decided to make a few of them

I am sick of plain old pumpkin pie... so I am opting for a pumpkin cheesecake

And some pumpkin scones ( I am hi-jacking those off my friend kara's site)

These will all be in my up & coming Holiday posts

I promise they won't be difficult recipes....

Pureeing your own pumpkin, however, is a pain in the butt ( I won't lie)

But, I had to try it... and now I have to share it!

This is what I did to my little pie pumpkins this morning.

In case you a have a few pumpkins that you're feeling angry with.....

You'll notice that they are not all nicely cut... 2 of them were so hard that I had to smash them on my tile floor because the knife wouldn't even penetrate them.  Not fun!

Anyway.... here we go!

Ingredients:
- 4 pie pumpkins (yes, there are "pie" pumpkins ... not all pumpkins are good for making pies)

Directions:
** I made these 2 different ways... just to see if there was a difference or one was easier than the other
I would recommend the boiling.. it's faster. But I will post them both

• Wash the exterior of the pumpkin in cool or warm water, no soap.
• Cut the pumpkin in half. 
• Scoop out the seeds and scrape the insides.  You want to get out that stringy, dangly stuff that coats the inside surface.
• Baking in the oven:
• Heat oven to 350 degrees
• place pumpkin pieces face down in baking dish
• fill dish with about 2 inches of water

• Bake for about 45 minutes or until pumpkin is soft and a knife goes right through it

OR

• Boiling in a pot:
• Place pumpkin in large pot
• cover with water
• Once the water is boiling it should take about 10 minutes until done
• When pumpkin is really soft it's done
• Scraping the cooked pumpkin:
• Using a spoon gently lift and scoop the cooked pumpkin out of the skin.  It should separate easily and in fairly large chucks if the pumpkin is cooked enough
• Place in a bowl then add to food processor in batches


• Blend the pumpkin until smooth

And ..... you're Done!

Now the pumpkin can be placed in freezer bags and frozen until you are ready to use it...or start baking your pumpkin goodies right now.  You can use this just like canned pumpkin.

I am using some today & tomorrow and freezing some to use for a thanksgiving treat!

***Review:
This was not the most difficult thing to do.... but I wouldn't say it's something I would do all the time.  Honestly, opening a can of store bought pumpkin is much much easier.  But.... this is not difficult... just time consuming.
It was fun to do... the kids always love helping me do something different... so that was a bonus.  Today was one of those rare days that not much was going on so I was able to make this stress free..... and in my jammies!  At least now I know if there's ever a time that I can't find canned pumpkin, I can make my own.

**Tips:
Well, as I mentioned above, boiling the pumpkin was much faster and the pumpkin cooked more uniformly.  I thought baking it would give it a different flavor... more rich & roasted tasting...but it didn't.  Same exact flavor... so I say, if you have a large enough pot... boil it.  Either way... it's cooked.
I was also thinking that this would make great baby food.  I mean, how fresh and natural can you get?
Also, it would be good to use in recipes from Jessica Seinfelds book Deceptively Delicous (which you can actually see in my kitchen in the background of this photo)
Here's a tip from the site I found: "To eliminate watery pumpkin, I strain my pureed pumpkin through a cloth overnight. If I use frozen pumpkin I do the same again as it thaws out. It works great and my pies cook beautifully."


I am looking for some different ways to use this pumpkin puree!
Do you have any yummy pumpkin recipes you want to share with me?
E mail them to me at thedinnerdrama@hotmail.com