I was greatly afraid that powdery mildew and squash bugs were going to get my pumpkins before they got ripe. Fortunately, I chose a type of sugar pumpkin this year that ripened a lot earlier than previous types. The plants are withered and dead, but the pumpkins just made it.
The pumpkin harvest is here, and they look beautiful. I have started processing them two by two. I learned a valuable tip last year in processing pumpkins -- well, two really. First of all, its a lot easier to wait until AFTER they are roasted to get out all the stringy stuff and the seeds (unless you are purposely wanting to roast those separately). This year hasn't been as much of an issue, because the sugar pumpkins this year actually are REALLY easy to seed. Secondly, the crock pot is a magnificent way to roast pumpkins. I just break them up into quarters and put two of them in my six quart crock pot and set it for twelve hours. When its done, I can pull them out, let them cool a little bit, take off the stringy layer with a swipe of my spoon, and then measure out the remaining pulp into 1 cup increments, baggie by baggie.
Voila...then they are ready to be pumpkin pie, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin soup, and maybe even some pumpkin juice, Harry Potter style :D
yummy... just tell me when to come over... since it's apparent your arrival in southern Illinois is as real as Cinderella's pumpkin carriage.
ReplyDelete;-)
I was TOLD by a certain Southern Illinoisan pastor's wife that a really good time for me to come down would be in late November. I didn't set the date...she did!!! I have to be polite to my hosts.
ReplyDeleteBTW, you and your family are more than welcome here. Or to meet up in Indy, or whatever other arrangement.
ReplyDeleteI would LOVE to see what you make with your own pumpkins! I'm thinking of growing them next year.
ReplyDelete