COMMENTS FROM MICAH
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’s hollow…it’s ripe.
Health Fact—Raw pumpkin provides 26 calories and is an excellent source of vitamins A and C and fiber. The seeds are edible.
Fun Fact—Pumpkin is one of the most popular crops with 1.5 billion grown each year.
Texas is the fourth leading state in commercial pumpkin production and generates $2.4 million for farmers, with an economic impact of $7.4 million in the state. There are 5,0008,000 acres planted annually in Texas with 90% being in the west Texas region. The pumpkin is a cucurbit and over 90% are produced for seasonal ornamental use.
Storing Pumpkin Puree Safely: 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— Small Pumpkin (I like to do two at a time, and freeze extra pumpkin puree that is left over.)
Preheat oven to 350. Place whole pumpkin in an 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 the pumpkin and scoop out the seeds with a spoon.
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 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 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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