So…2 weeks before Halloween, my lovely girlfriend & I went to a pumpkin patch for our annual pumpkin picking. After some merriment, we returned home with 2 beautiful specimens. We eagerly circled the Thursday before Halloween as the day we’d sit down & carve Jack-O-Lanterns out of our glorious new pumpkins. We both have somewhat busy schedules, and Thursday Oct. 28th was really the only day to do this. Unfortunately, it was also a day where we both came down with a nasty cold that kept us bed-ridden & miserable for 2 days. So…here we are, November 4th, with 2 rather large pumpkins. I hate to see them go to waste, but I’ve never done anything with a pumpkin other than carve a Jack-O-lantern out of one.
I’d like to do something else. Preferably something we can do together. Any Ideas?
2.5 pounds pumpkin
One onion
3 Tbs. butter
1 Quart vegetable stock
Salt and pepper
Lemon juice or balsamic vinegar
Hollow out the pumpkin, removing all seeds and the stringy stuff.
Using a sturdy vegetable peeler, remove the skin from the outside of the pumpkin (or pumpkin section, since you only need 2.5 pounds). Cut the pumpkin into 2-inch pieces.
In a large saucepan or pot, melt the butter over medium heat, then saute the onions until translucent. Add the pumpkin pieces. Pour the vegtable stock into the pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 15 - 20 minutes, or until the pumpkin is tender.
Using a hand blender (or working in batches with a regular blender / food processor), puree the contents of the pot to make a smooth, creamy soup.
Season with salt and pepper to taste. Then add the lemon juice or balsamic vinegar to taste. Heat through before serving.
Additional seasonings can be curry poweder, fresh or powdered ginger, toasted pumpkin seads or fresh chives.
You do realize that these pumpkins could actually be vampire pumpkins, right?
A couple of years ago I was searching for halloween trivia to share with my students. One website I wish I’d bookmarked had tons of folklore from different countries and ethnic groups about vampires. One story, told to the researcher as absolute truth, by a group of gypsies (I think I remember they were Romanian but I could be wrong) was about how there were vampire pumpkins.
These pumpkins looked just like regular pumpkins, only they were fresh much longer than usual pumpkins and at night you might hear them rolling about the kitchen floor. Vegetables stored in nearby sacks and bins would be inexplicably withered and dry the next morning. To be absolutely sure you could hold the suspected vampire pumpkin to your ear – be careful!-- and you would hear a faint brrr brrr sound if you had a bad one.
So, these pumpkins of yours could be vampire pumkins because it has been quite a while since you purchased them. I only wish I remembered what you were supposed to do when disposing of a vampire pumpkin. Vaguely, I believe you’re okay during daylight, but please, execise all due caution!
All you have to do is carefully wash the orange stringy goop off, toss them while they’re still moist with salt (and spices like curry & cumin, if you want), spread them in a single layer on a lightly oiled baking sheet with sides, and put them in the oven at around 250 degrees for an hour, stirring about every 10-15 minutes.
You can either unshell them as you eat (like sunflower seeds) or crunch 'em whole.
Jack-o-lantern type pumpkins might be a bit watery but they’re edible like any pumpkin. My mother used to cook them down to get rid of the excess water. Then you can use the resulting pumpkin puree for cooking. She made pies but I prefer pumpkin bread myself.
Find a steep hill (preferably not a curvy one, we found this doesn’t work too well) and go pumpkin bowling!
Another option is to hang out the shot gun window while Ms. Polly pegs *at least * 60 MPH and pick a target…the enormous pumkin splorch is extremely satisfying! Then switch so she can do the same!
I’m not advocating willful destruction of property, mind you…it’s best to do this in a rural area and pick large rocks for targets!
Lastly, you could do what my bro and friends practiced one year…they “cultured” a pumpkin by poking holes in it, putting it in a large trashbag, adding water, and leaving it in the sun for 3 weeks into November. They then exacted revenge on one of the friend’s evil neighbors by blowing up the quite rancid pumpkin in the guy’s front yard. Naaaaasty. :eek:
Get in your pickup truck. Put the shotgun in that there gun-rack, boy. Drive on down to Delaware this weekend. If the missus doesn’t like the smell of the pumpkin, you can keep her in the flatbed. Make sure to give her a jacket so she don’t get no “cold shoulder” - I hear city wimmen get that pretty easy like.
Anyways, git you and the missus and the truck down to Delaware and go see you some Punkin Chunkin. I recommend being there for the finals of the “Unlimited” Class, since it’s the most spectacular, but don’t write off the glory of seeing a pumpkin riding a trebuchet to glory.
Vampire pumpkins? Oh NO! THAT’S what’s been happening to the baby gourds… I’d wondered… (runs away to separate decorative pumpkins from decorative gourds)
Cut them into ‘boats’ like you would a melon, brush them with vegetable oil and roast them in a medium oven until they are soft and have started to caramelise; allow to cool and scrape the soft flesh away from the skin.
Fry up a few onions in a big, deep pot, then add a few large potatoes, cubed and peeled, some water and a stock cube and some of the pumpkin flesh. Simmer until the potatoes are completely soft and puree the whole lot; serve with a swirl of cream and a thick chunk of buttered multigrain bread.
Any leftover pumpkin flesh (there will be some, believe me) can be put in a bag and frozen for later use in soups, or to mix with mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, or added to the mix when making bread dough (use less water if you do this) - pumpkin bread is really REALLY good!
Jurph, this would be my first choice, but I have a wedding to attend this weekend. I read your post aloud to the missus & she was less than enthusiastic.
Actually, she got a good laugh out of the whole thread. Thank you for the great ideas. Although I appreciate the suggestions that would lead to Tom-Foolery, I’m going to try and make this a wholesome activity that avoids all forms of smashery & or amateur culturing (eeww.)
I’ll probably start with **Beadlin’s ** recipe for pumpkin soup, but that only calls for 2.5 lbs of pumpkin where I’m looking at almost 30 lbs.
I’ll also surely toast the seeds thatnks to **Podkayne’s ** advice.
I thought at first to make a pumpkin pie, but I have honestly never done such a thing with a fresh pumpkin. Perhaps if I take some of my leftovers from the soup & try dwyr’s mom’s idea of cooking them into a puree. I’ll be sure to make some room in the freezer too, **Mangetout **
If they are indeed Vampire Pumpkins, I’ll start with a stake to their hearts. Actually, filming that process might be good for a laugh. Hmm…
I make pumpkin pie out of jack-o-lantern type pumpkins all the time.
Basically, take your pumpkin, cut it in half or quarters, and roast it in the oven at around 400 degrees until done (1-2 hours). Take out of oven, let cool. Scoop out pumpkin flesh and puree in a food processor or blender. Line a colander with a fine-mesh cheesecloth (sometimes called butter muslin—I’ve even used a clean tee-shirt in a pinch). Let drain. Either hang it or gently squeeze the water out.
You will lose A LOT of water and volume this way.
When you’re done you will have pumpkin puree ready to use in your favorite squash recipe (pumpkin curry soup, pie, etc…). It freezes well, too.
We leave 'em out on the porch for a couple of weeks past Halloween. Eventually the squirrels find them and start a Pumpkin Friday the 13th. They get fat, we get entertained. Then we put the remains into the compost bin.
