Pumpkin Tips!
11:47 AM
It'a that time of year again!
Fresh Pumpkin Pie
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| It's that time of year! |
At the Pumpkin Patch
Encourage the children to choose smaller (easy to carry)
pumpkins. Smaller pumpkins are easier to
deal with all around. They’re not so
heavy, have more flesh and make less mess.
They also have a shorter cooking time.
Decorating
Consider using no-carve pumpkin decorating options.
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| Decorate with tape |
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| Decorate with tacks or push pins |
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| Make a cute face with paper or felt |
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| Spider web pumpkin |
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| Mr. Potato Head Pumpkin |
Cooking your pumpkin
I’ll be honest, the main reason I want the kids to choose a
small pumpkin so that I can cook it later.
Smaller pumpkins are easier to cook!
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| Cook small to medium pumpkins in the crock pot! |
CROCK POT Method
Remove the stem.
Place your [uncut] small/medium pumpkin in the Crockpot with about ½ cup
water. With the lid in place, set the
pot to high and cook for 3 hours (cook for 6 hours on low). Once the pumpkin is fork tender it’s ready.
Removing the pumpkin can be tricky. I usually stab it with 2 forks and pull it
out.
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| Use 2 forks to lift pumpkin fro Crock Pot |
OVEN Method
If the pumpkin is small/medium, rub it with oil and place
it/them [uncut] in the oven. Bake at 350
degrees until soft.
If the pumpkin is large you may need to cut it in half. When it’s fork tender, it’s ready.
Once it cooked:
Cut the pumpkin in half and remove the seeds and strings
from the center. Scoop out the flesh and
mash with a potato masher.
Pumpkin flesh can be lumpy or stringy. For making soup, pie or baby food run the
pumpkin flesh through the food processor or blender to make it smooth.
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| Cut cooked pumpkin in half |
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| Scoop out seeds and strings |
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| This is all that's left of the pumpkin once the flesh is removed! |
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| Mash your pumpkin |
Fresh pumpkin recipes:
Dog Food:
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| Princess Daisy LOVES pumpkin! |
Our yorkie poo LOVES pumpkin! Add a
few tablespoons to hard food for a special treat or whip up a batch of soft dog
food.
1 lb ground turkey
1 cup brown rice
6 cups water
1 ½ c fresh pumpkin
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon salt
Simmer rice, meat, seasonings and water in a large pan until
rice if full cooked. Stir in fresh
pumpkin.
Cool and serve. Leftovers must be refrigerated or frozen.
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| Leftover can be frozen! |
(adapted from Mrs. Sigg’s Fresh Pumpkin Pie recipe on allrecipes.com)
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| Fresh baked pie! |
1 medium sugar pumpkin
2 readymade pie crusts
2 eggs
1 cup brown sugar OR (1 cup white sugar + 3 tablespoons
molasses)
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
2 ½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 (12 oz can) evaporated milk
Cook pumpkin (in oven or slow cooker) until soft and puree
in a blender or food processor.
Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Mix well.
Pour into 2 pie crusts.
Bake in 350 degree oven for 1 hour or until toothpick
inserted into the center of the pie comes out clean.
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| This recipe makes 2 pies! |
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| I don't have time or patience for homemade crust. |
Tips:
- The batter will be thin. Don’t worry, it bakes up just fine!
- If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice, don’t panic. You can make your own!
- Pumpkin pie spice = (1 ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon nutmeg, ¼ ground ginger, 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves)
Super Pro Tip:
Add cooked (unmashed) pumpkin flesh and all other
ingredients to blender (or food processor bowl). Blend until smooth, pour into pie crusts.
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| Fresh from the blender! |
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