Pumpkin Palooza

Welcome to my Pumpkin Palooza.     What is Pumpkin Palooza, you ask?   Well I'll tell you:  It is when you receive a lot of  pumpkins from a really nice person and you try to make as many recipes containing pumpkin as you can.

There are many kinds of pumpkins out there these days, Some are better for carving, some are better for decorations and then there are those that are edible.    I was given several varieties of edible pumpkins.   

I started by baking a few Sugar Pumpkins.  This is a small to medium sized pumpkin with a dark orange outside.   They say this is the best pumpkin for baking and cooking in all of your favorite recipes. It has a sweeter taste than other varieties. It also has a smooth texture.

Sugar Pumpkin

Before you can start making all those yummy recipes you see posted on the internet, facebook and pinterest, you must first bake the pumpkin.   

Right click on the photo below to open and print the recipe for baking a fresh pumpkin.

Click on photo to open photo. Once open right click to save to your computer for printing later.

Below are photos of the second type of  pumpkin I baked.  As you can see I baked these whole in the oven.    It is called the Flat White Boer Ford Pumpkin.  It is also an edible pumpkin as you can read below.  

The "Flat White Boer", is a heirloom from South Africa and is one of the finest pie and general use pumpkins you can grow.  It is also knockout gorgeous, very large, ribbed, cream white in a natural sort of way.   Just everything you want in a decorative pumpkin.   It stores an incredibly long time so don't forget about it because its dense smooth cream sweet orange flesh is superb for cooking and baking.  Plus its brittle shell is much easier to open than many pumpkins.   A sharp knife is all you need (no mallet necessary).   The seed cavity is small in relation to the flesh, but it holds many, many, large plump seeds which also  make delicious eating.  Very few strings and they are completely confined to the seeds and peel off easily.  (entire paragraph copied from the world wide web).    

White Boer Ford Pumpkin

Roasting whole pumpkins in the oven.

Baked until they are tender to the fork/knife and bubbled on the outside.

Skin peels right off, remember to scoop out the seeds and strings. 

Pumpkin ready to be pureed in the food processor. 

No matter which variety you use, the process is always the same.  Although, you can cut and clean the pumpkins before you bake as I did with the Sugar Pumpkins.

You can keep the fresh puree in the fridge for 3-4 days.  Or you can freeze it in amounts suitable to you for using in your favorite recipes.  

I froze mine in 15 ounces servings for recipes.  I then froze some in mini muffin pans for use in smoothies.  Once frozen I pop them out of the pan and place them in a large ziploc for storing int he freezer.

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From the bottom of my heart..............