Oh, Pumpkins!

I love pumpkin. There is something about that orange color and squashy taste that just fills me with warmth and contentment. Perhaps I didn't always love pumpkin as well as I do now, but that's just because I didn't know where good pumpkin came from.

Apparently, there are two general categories for pumpkin: eating and carving. Now, you can always eat carving pumpkins. I grew up eating our Jack-O-Lanterns before they got (too) moldy. My mom would cut them up (and cut out the mold), steam them, puree them, and freeze them in convenient sized bags to use all year long. And who am I to question this order of things? It is the way it must be done!

So, last year after carving our pumpkins, I did what I was supposed to do and processed the pumpkins (they were not moldy). But I did something different without really intending to. While at the pumpkin patch, I fell in love with a beautiful pumpkin. It was a brighter orange than I had seen before and, while rather too squat and heavy for a jack-o-lantern, I knew I needed to have it. Back at home, it was dutifully carved and, within a day or two, processed into puree. Initially, I was astounded by only the orangeness of the puree. And then my mom made a pumpkin pie out of it. Wow.

To make a long story short, I'm not going back. In the future, I will be purchasing some pumpkins to carve and some to eat. I've already done that this year, getting not one, not two, but three Rouge Vif D'etampes pumpkins (two of which have already gone the way of the freezer).

 

A helpful hint when processing your own pumpkin:

Drain your pumpkin. I line a colander with paper towel, pour my pumpkin in, and then let it sit for a long time, often overnight in the refrigerator. The pumpkin doesn't stick to the paper towel once it has drained enough.

And some words of wisdom (ie don't repeat my stupid mistake):

Don't try and use a food strainer to remove the skin from the pumpkin. I have a pumpkin screen for mine and I thought I would try it out. Of course, I tried to do things right and looked online for instructions, but wouldn't you know, there is nothing worthwhile to be found searching under "food strainer pumpkin how to". So I tried just one. Sure enough, little pieces of skin came through. (Now, I'm not sure why you would use a food strainer to do your pumpkin if you have to scrape the flesh out with a spoon anyway. I'll take my stick blender anyday.)

And because I can't help it, one of the few photos of my cute little pumpkins.

 

And what do you do with pumpkin puree? I like the Joy of Cooking pumpkin pie recipe, or my mom's pumpkin pancake recipe.

Or you can try these:

 

And because I just can't help myself, here is one more pumpkin treat to enjoy.

Words of Wisdom: Inanimate Objects and Cake

Life is something to be learned from, right? Well, I've decided that I have experiences in life that everyone could learn from. Granted, you probably have already learned these lessons, or are not stupid enough to need to learn these lessons, but I will happily ignore that fact and procede with boring the masses.

Lesson: Don't fight with inanimate objects.
Story: Our freezer is a mess. I like to buy things on sale, mostly meat, chop it up and stick meal sized bags in the freezer for future use. I also will make extra when cooking, like pizza sauce or pesto, put it into meal sized bags and freeze. But when all we have is a teeny, tiny freezer on top of our fridge, problems evolve.

Yesterday, I had to dig some items out from the depths of the freezer and, once again, the door was unclosable. I had a choice; I could either rearrange the freezer while Anna whined and Mathias screamed for my attention or I could use the "slam the door" technique, which will sometimes allow the freezer door to seal and keep the contents of the freezer contained. I opted for the latter. However, the door did not want to seal and I became more and more frustrated. Finally, I went in for the final blow. Arm back, I used all my force to slam the door shut. Lucky me, my palm hit right on the edge of the door and I spent the next minute leaning against the freezer trying not to curse. I tried to take a picture of the bruise, but it is rather deep and doesn't show up all that well in pictures. So, don't fight with inanimate objects.

Lesson: Don't make a cake unless you will be feeding it to at least 10 people.
Story: I made a Cream Torte with my mother-in-law this last weekend and ended up eating over a forth of it. All by myself. It is a good thing I'm nursing.