If I had pumpkins outside, they would certainly have frost on them as it was 27 by my thermometer this morning.
Thankfully my pumpkins are inside, in a sunny window.
And so are the herbs. I have a plan for 2 window table/shelves and some extra lighting to see if I can coax the group to stay alive and growing through the Winter. I’m not much for inside plants so we’ll just see how this goes.
Rosemary…probably my favorite herb…she is nice and green, but the whole growing thing has not been happening. I did some reading. Rosemary likes sun and heat. Hoo, boy – she definitely will need the grow light AND the best sun spot. And she likes to be moist but not wet or dry. Rosemary, she is high maintenance: pray for her, please!!
Back to pumpkins. I had three from my CSA farm distribution. One has been dealt with…the smallest I cooked with the smallest squash to refine the process and decide if I wanted to buy a few more for extra pumpkin as well as squash puree.
I do! The process is easy and not time consuming. I think I have 20 minutes in this morning’s effort and that includes doing the dishes after.
The hardest part is slicing them open! I found that taking off the top is fairly easy. Then, halving and quartering is not so difficult as trying to halve from the get go. I think there is a physics principle in there somewhere about the strength of a sphere…
I put a bit of water in a pan, quartered (or smaller) pieces flesh side down and bake in a 400 degree oven for about 40 minutes.
Meanwhile, the seeds. I LIKE pumpkin seeds and they are full of good stuff. I buy them roasted (and shelled!). I decided to try roasting a few of my own as long as I have them. It is not the roasting, but the shelling part that might be the show stopper.
I’m not big on a mega processing kind of thing…a whole day making jam or dealing with the veg – I much prefer doing a number of small batches. So, one or 2 pumpkins at a time. But the seeds I decided to save until I have enough for a cookie sheet full. Today’s chore was just the cleaning and that was easy…soaked them in some water and the pulp slid off.
These went into the frig for later roasting…probably :)!
Pumpkin is done.
The skin is easily peeled off with a paring knife at this point. I defy anyone to peel an uncooked pumpkin with a paring knife and as far as I’m concerned peeling an uncooked pumpkin is putting fingers and hands at great risk with a large, very sharp knife that is apt to careen off who knows where. Too scary for me.
This method is easy, safe (r!) and I didn’t lose much pumpkin in the process.
I gave it a light mash – just enough so that I could pack and measure. A pie takes 2 cups.
Unfortunately, I decided to taste the mashed pumpkin. It was good!
A few bites too many and I ended up with a bit less than 2 cups. So…1 cup for the freezer and the partial for the frig and something other than pie. I haven’t decided what but I’ll probably share the result(s).
