Pumpkins

Growing up, I had no idea that pumpkins were a thing one could eat. For years I went about carving pumpkins, tossing the seeds, and never thinking twice that any of it was edible. Of course, as it turns out, pumpkin is one of the great treasures of fall. Pumpkins you eat are often the small pumpkins (usually like “pie pumpkins”) but the large pumpkins you carve also serve an important purpose: pumpkin seeds! Once you start making your own pumpkin puree, it’s hard to go back to the canned (plus, it’s not too terribly hard of a process to make your own!)

If you get a rather large crop of pumpkins, making puree and freezing it is an excellent way to preserve your pumpkin throughout the winter. Then you can have pumpkin whenever you need it for pies, breads, and muffins! Of course, picked fresh pumpkins can also last up to three months as long as it is stored in a cool dry area (like a root cellar or dry basement.)

My recipes for pumpkins: