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Pumpkin tip

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marion
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Post  VickiG Mon Nov 01, 2010 2:02 am

If you read my earlier post, you noticed that I mentioned we had students carve pumpkins at our Halloween party. My dad bought 13 pumpkins and had 3 left over that weren't carved, as well as three that students didn't take home with them. So my parents were busy all day cooking pumpkins.

If you have ever tried to cook real pumpkins, you know that you are supposed to cook them, traditionally by boiling them, until they are soft enough to cut away from the rind and them mash to either use right then or put in jars to freeze. My parents freeze them to be able to make fresh pumpkin bread throughout the whole year. Yummy!

Well, my dad got a tip from Melinda Lee, who has a call-in radio show on cooking and which is one of my dad's favorite shows to listen to. Instead of boiling the pumpkin, bake it. My parents tried that out, and they like it even better. It works well in cooking the pumpking to separate it from the rind and be able to mash it, but it isn't soggy and full of water, as it would be if you boiled it. They are really happy with the results. They just cover it with aluminum foil. I'm not sure what temperature they are cooking it at or for how long, but I can find out and add that detail to this post later.

But i thought it might be helpful for other people who are saving their pumpkins this year too!
VickiG
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Post  Ruth Mon Nov 01, 2010 12:19 pm

Thanks for this tip Vicki, I've always wondered how you cook pumpkin! I guess you could use it to make pumpkin pie too?

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Post  CluelessKitty Mon Nov 01, 2010 2:09 pm

I never cook a pumpkin but if you want to have an idea for quick pumpkin decoration for the next year , here's mine:


[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

The idea of putting nails in as "teeth", occurred to me as a desperate measure of saving time instead of longer sawing the teeth, lolol

Hope you like it!

Risa
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Post  Ruth Mon Nov 01, 2010 7:47 pm

Very creative Risa!!!!

This was the first year I didn't buy a pumpkin, I hadn't been feeling well a week or so beforehand and just wasn't up to digging all the guts etc. out, and we don't get many kids on our street, but I did put up a string of little pumpkin lights, and we had 22 kids this year which is pretty good for us!

Editing this to add that I wish they didn't sell those big boxes of mini chocolate bars for half price after Halloween, I went to Walmart today and bought two big boxes. Neutral I'm going to put them in the freezer, they are just too irresistable!

Ruth

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Post  marion Mon Nov 01, 2010 8:26 pm

If you clean out the centre of the pumpkin and add ginger also very good baked.

Add onion, dried chilli, ginger then bake, scoop out and blend - great pumpkin soup. Either add cream or coconut milk for smoothness.
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Post  crt Mon Nov 01, 2010 9:58 pm

marion wrote:If you clean out the centre of the pumpkin and add ginger also very good baked.

Add onion, dried chilli, ginger then bake, scoop out and blend - great pumpkin soup. Either add cream or coconut milk for smoothness.

Oh, does that sound good! Thanks for the recipe. Thanks to Vicki also for the baking tip.

Chris
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Post  AZgirl Tue Nov 02, 2010 10:56 pm

Love those teeth!
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Post  marion Wed Nov 03, 2010 7:17 pm

I know that in England most pumpkins are only used for cow fodder and that when cooked don't taste too good.

Are the pumpkins used for Halloween grown for size and ability to be carved or do they actually have a decent taste?

We have a variety of pumpkins for cooking in Oz, Qld blues, jap, all sorts.

Maybe even with lots of chilli yours won't taste the best??
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Post  Mini Fri Nov 12, 2010 3:07 pm

Great tip, thanks. Only use buttersquash since big pumpkin is totally tasteless.
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Post  pen Fri Nov 12, 2010 3:22 pm

Hi Marion,

We only really get pumpkins for a wee or so around Halloween.
Mainly because most Brits dont like Pumpkin.
Probably because they haven't really tried it.

I LOVE pumpkin pie, used to make it lots, but we dont have canned pumpkin on sale here any more.
So they are grown in Lincolnshire, hit the shops and bought and carved and are gone for another year.

I tried to get some as I couldnt get out before Halloween (3 guesses why!!!)
All gone, and thats it. The flesh is okay if you are putting it in a pie, but id they are too big, it is stringy and not much pulp.
We also bake off the seeds. Great aren't they and so good for you...

They do have some tiny ones in the supermarket, but you would need 3 or 4 and they are over £1 each....
Expensive pie....

As Mini says, Butternut squash is the other way to go...

Hope that answers your question.

P

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Post  VickiG Fri Nov 26, 2010 2:04 am

I learned that I missed a vital part of the process. You are supposed to put WATER at the bottom of the pan when you cook it. So essentially, you are steaming the pumpkin. Don't forget to cover it with foil, or it will dry out, as happened once when my mom forgot to do so. We still have one pumpkin left over that didn't get carved. My mom was waiting until after Thanksgiving to cut it up because she didn't have any more room left in the freezer. But she used some of the mashed pumpkin for pumpkin bread and gave some to another woman who made pumpkin pie for our students.

And yes, the pumpkins that we carve are good to eat. But I learned last week that there are "baking pumpkins," which are smaller but not as hollow. They are also brighter. And they are especially good to cook with.
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