So, one year after Halloween, I just decided that if I saw the house owner of one of those houses using pumpkins as decorations in their yard, I’d offer to take their pumpkins home, cook ‘em up, mix ‘em up with some spices, and bring that puree (all ready for pumpkin bread or pumpkin soup or pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving) back to them. Well, honey, I’ve never seen so many people willin’ to give up their pumpkins to a stranger! By the second week in November, I had cooked up about 15 pumpkins and given out the recipe along with the puree to eight different families!
But, you know what ? Along with makin’ all that fresh pumpkin, I also made a whole lot of new friends. And now, when I walk my dog through the neighborhood, I know they’ll be no more rotting pumpkins. Instead, all I hear is, “Hi, Bobbi Jo! How are you doing? It’s almost pumpkin time!”
So much better than store bought in a can, now you can have fresh pumpkin, which you can use in a bread or in a pumpkin pie or whatever pumpkin recipe you choose. It freezes well. You can use the entire pumpkin and just double or triple the recipe and keep it in your freezer for future use. It’s sooo good and cooks up beautifully!
Fresh Pumpkin (for pies, soups, cakes and breads)
Recipe by: Bobbi Jo Lathan
Recipe type: Recipe Base
Cuisine: Traditional
Serves: 1 cup
PREP TIME
20 mins
COOK TIME
20 mins
TOTAL TIME
40 mins
INGREDIENTS
1 medium-sized pumpkin
1½ cups pumpkin
¾ cup sugar
½ cup evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ teaspoon salt
4 eggs (beaten)
½ teaspoon each of ground cloves, ground cinnamon, freshly ground nutmeg
3 tablespoons butter (melted)
INSTRUCTIONS
You’ll need 1 small pumpkin. Cut it in half and then scoop out the seeds and stringy membranes.
Now, cut into manageable sized slices, peel off the outer skin, and cut into 2 or 3 inch pieces. Put into a pot of boiling water (like you would to boil potatoes) and boil until tender, about 20 minutes, until soft.
Next, put your colander in the sink and pour the cooked pieces into the colander and let it drain.
After a few minutes, gently press the pumpkin with a big spoon in the colander to get all the extra juice out .
After it’s drained, put boiled pumpkin into a bowl and mash it like you would mashed potatoes and pour off any extra juice.
There’s your fresh pumpkin! SOOO much better than that canned stuff!
Now, take one cup of the pumpkin, add all the rest of the ingredients and mix well in a big bowl.
NOTES
You can also save the pumpkin puree, itself (before adding ingredients) and freeze it for pumpkin soup!