Pumpkins

I love growing pumpkins.  I had no idea how useful they were until we grew a large crop of our own.  I didn't even realize we'd planted pumpkins until the squash plants grew so large they overtook the garden.  They grew through the fences - I was surprised to see that the deer didn't munch on them.  We feasted on the flowers for a while.  In the fall, we harvested several wheelbarrows filled with gorgeous, large, bright orange pumpkins.  We were suddenly perplexed with what to do with all of them.

Here are several ways to put our pumpkins to good use:

• Use the yellow flowers in salads, stuffed, sauteed or baked
• Roast the seeds for a snack
• Use scraps for feed for animals
• Make a festive fall colored pot of soup
• In colonial times, Native Americans roasted long strips of pumpkin in an open fire.
• Colonists sliced off pumpkin tops; removed seeds and filled the insides with milk, spices and honey. This was baked in hot ashes and is the origin of pumpkin pie.
• Native Americans flattened strips of pumpkins, dried them and made mats.
• Make a honey pumpkin exfoliating mask
• Hollow out little pumpkins to use for (pumpkin) soup bowls
• Stuff and bake your small pumpkins - enjoy everything down to the skin!
• Make a devine pumpkin body butter
• Make a savory pumpkin pie or a delicious pumpkin cheesecake!
• Make pumpkin biscuits, bread, muffins, cake and more
• Create your own pumpkin pie potpourri
• Carve a jack-o-lantern

Roasted pumpkins for freezing