Friday, November 6, 2009

Family Tradition

If I'm being honest, I'll admit that I haven't done this every year (or even most years), but in the spirit of being frugal and green I decided to turn all seven of our jack-o-lanterns into pumpkin puree. I'd never actually heard of anyone roasting their own pumpkins prior to meeting James' mother, but it's actually kind of fun, if you can overlook the huge mess that takes over your kitchen since it takes hours from start to finish. I now am the proud posessor of about 8 gallons of pumpkin puree. :-) Here's the process:

1. Cut your pumpkins into rough rectangles, discarding the bottom, top, and carved portions. Remove the top layer of inside flesh and wrap in aluminum foil.

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2. Roast in oven until pumpkin is very soft and an orange hue (as opposed to yellow) - this takes between 60 to 90 minutes. Then remove from oven, allow to cool until you can handle it, take off aluminum foil and cut off pumpkin skin.

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3. Puree on high for several minutes in food processor or blender until pumpkin is the consistency of a beginner baby food. Freeze extra.

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4. Enjoy delicious homemade goodies like this Pumpkin-Cranberry-Walnut bread. :-)

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2 comments:

Mom said...

Wish I could have tried the bread when I was there. That was a huge ordeal though, I think I'll keep buying pumpkin from the store, I know I'm a loser, lol! Sorry James for sharing the cold :(

The Fifes said...

we did the same thing with our pumpkins! Just made pumpkin pie yesterday and it was yummy. That bread sounds delicious!