The Pumpkin Plan

Now that Thanksgiving is behind us, I’m sure you’re ready to put up your winter holiday decor.  Pumpkin spice lattes will transition into gingerbread lattes.  But what will become of those pumpkins you put on your doorstep?  If you carved a jack-o-lantern type pumpkin, sadly, it probably already went in the trash several weeks ago.  We have done that many times in the past, only to hold on as long as we can to a rotting, sad-looking carved pumpkin.

This year, I had a better plan.

Mommy, you aren’t going to buy pumpkins just to throw them away, are you?

Ethan and I went to the pumpkin patch, but we only bought sugar pie pumpkins.  And we didn’t carve them.  When he’s older, I’m sure we’ll let him decorate the pumpkins somehow.  We might even buy an extra pumpkin that we’ll carve.  But the secret is this: when you don’t carve them, you can *eat* them.

As soon as Thanksgiving passed, I made home made pumpkin puree out of our pumpkins.  Below are the instructions – it is ridiculously easy.  And now I have about six cups of pumpkin puree in my refrigerator.  I’ll freeze some of it, but with others I’ll make pumpkin pie, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin bread, and my personal favorite, pumpkin pasta.  Some of it I’ll just give to Ethan, as it is one of his favorite veggies.

So next year, buy yourself some sugar pie pumpkins!  They are a lot more useful than those big fat jack-o-lanterns, which will just stink up the joint.

Pumpkin Puree

makes about 6 cups, depending on the size of your pumpkins

Ingredients

2 sugar pie pumpkins

Tools you’ll need

a baking sheet and a sharp knife

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Slice off the tops (with stems) of the pumpkins.  Cut pumpkins in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds.  (Roast these and eat them if you like).

2. Place the pumpkin halves cut side down on a baking sheet.  Roast in the preheated oven for 50-60 minutes, or until tender.  (Test by piercing with a fork – it should go in very easily).  Let them cool for about 15 minutes or so.

3.  Scoop the flesh out of your pumpkins and put in a food processor or blender.  Process until completely smooth.  Transfer to freezer safe containers and freeze in batches.  (I recommend freezing in 1-2 cup batches, as you usually won’t need more than that amount at a time).

Advertisement