COMMENTS FROM MICAH
With the holiday season upon us, pumpkins will show up in more and more recipes to that fall favorite.
Here’s a brief guide.
SELECTION—Look for a deep orange color, but some pumpkins can be green.
The skin and stem should be hard. Give the pumpkin a good thump. If it is hollow it’s ripe.
HEALTH FACT—Raw pumpkins provide 26 calories and are an excellent source of vitamins A and C and fiber.
The seeds are edible too.
FUN FACT—It is one of the most popular crops, 1.5 billion pumpkins are grown each year.
A pumpkin is really a squash. It is a member of the cucurbita family which includes squash and cucumbers.
Pumpkins are grown all over the world on six of the seven continents, with Antarctica being the sole exception.
They are even grown in Alaska. The self proclaimed “Pumpkin Capital of the World” is Morton, Illinois where Libby has its pumpkin industry and plant.
PUREE—Homemade pumpkin puree will keep in the freezer for 6-8 months.
Homemade pumpkin puree will keep in the refrigerator for about 1-1/2 weeks.
HOW TO BAKE
A PUMPKIN
Ingredients
•Small Pumpkin (I like to do two at a time, and freeze extra pumpkin puree that is left over).
Directions:
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Place whole pumpkin in a oven-safe dish or pan that will catch any juices that cook out of the pumpkin.
• Place your dish/pan with the pumpkin into the oven.
• Cook for 4-6 hours, or until pumpkin collapses on itself when prodded with a cooking utensil.
• Let cool, then open up the pumpkin and scoop out the seeds with a spoon, to be discarded.
• Scrape pumpkin “meat” out with a spoon, and place it into a mixing bowl. Try not to get any of the pumpkin skin into your mixture.
• Mix well with a mixer until you have a nice smooth puree.
HOMEMADE
PUMPKIN PIE
Yields: 2 Pies.
Ingredients:
• 4 cups of pumpkin puree (that yummy stuff we just made).
• 1 cup of brown sugar/ whole cane sugar.
• 3 eggs.
• 2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
• 2 cups of heavy cream.
• 2 whole wheat pie crusts.
Directions:
• Preheat oven to 425.
• With a mixer, blend all of your ingredients together.
• Pour the mixture into your pie crusts.
• Bake the pies at 425 for about 10 minutes, and then reduce the heat to 325.
• Cook the pies for about an hour, or until knife inserted comes out clean.
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