Taking Work Home

Everyone tends to have the habit of taking their work home with them. Even gardeners. The work we bring home is a little different. Today I have brought home pumpkins. I need to clean them, cook them, save the seeds and freeze the pulp.

These are some of the pumpkins I brought home; Winter Luxury (far left) is the one with the cantaloupe like webbing, Cinderella (far right), Seminole, it's the small one with the writing on it (Pat leaves me notes on produce) and Amish pie. The other small ones are some I grew in my garden at home but can't for the life of me remember the name.

Years ago I had the great idea that I would can my own pumpkin. I love making jams and jellies, pickling beets, canning fruit and making dilly beans. Pumpkin however is not a favorite for canning. As I found out it takes a pressure cooker. I have had a fear of pressure cookers ever since my Grandma's exploded all over the kitchen and I had to help clean up the mess.

So I came up with an alternative; freezing. It is so muck easier. I bake halved pumpkins, I puree, I pour into freezer bags, I freeze. Anytime I want to make a low-fat cake from a mix I pull out a bag of pumpkin, thaw it for an hour in cold water, open the bag and mix.

I use the pumpkin for pies, pancakes, Rachael Ray's Most Awesome Whoopi Pies, and cookies. I love anything pumpkin.

I save the seeds for work. We process them and then replant. We sell the extras at our seed sale. The baked rind gets put out in the compost and usually gets eaten by squirrels and raccoons. They love pumpkin too!