Part way through the morning, I realized that we are almost a week into November. How did that happen? November! That means it is almost time for Thanksgiving. That means it is about time for pumpkin pie. That means I need to do something with this.
This is larger than a pie pumpkin, but it is smaller than a jack-o-lantern pumpkin. It’s one of the multi-purpose pumpkins from my garden. Remove the stem and wash the pumpkin. Cut it in half.
Clean the seeds out. A lot of times I’ll clean the seeds and bake them, but this year they are just getting fed to the goats and chickens.
Put it in the pan, upside down. Add some water so it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan, and cover it with aluminum foil.
Bake at 350 degrees until a fork is easy to insert. It will take 45 minutes to an hour. I could only fit half of the pumpkin in the pan, so I had to use two pans.
Let it cool for a few minutes, but you want it still warm when you remove the peel. If it is thoroughly baked, it will be really easy to just slice the meat from the skin.
After I have the peel removed, it’s time for me to step back in time. I get this from the cupboard.
Yep. It really is what is says. The original box, a little worse for the wear, but hey, my mother got it from her sister about 1966. Who knows how long her sister had it before she handed it down. It’s pretty safe to say, the food chopper is older than me. It makes me want to get out my heels and pearls when I use it.
Run it through the chopper or if you aren’t in the sixties, a food processor.
After grinding half the pumpkin I ended up with about half my bowl. This one pumpkin will make enough for both Thanksgiving and Christmas.
I just freeze it until I need it.
There’s even enough left over that I might have to try another recipe before then.
Teresa
Eden Hills 