Pumpkin Bounty

This Fall, I bought a plethora of pumpkins when the sales hit with a couple of purposes in mind for them. I can can the pumpkin, or freeze it, save the seeds for planting, etc. One of my pumpkins was the traditional round orange pumpkin, of which I already have a good amount frozen and canned, so this one I decided to use for Pumpkin Butter. I’ve only made this one other time, and I wasn’t too fond of how it turned out. This time I chose a different recipe, and with a few of my own little alterations, I made it over night in my slow-cooker.

I love that most pumpkins, if left un-carved, will last a couple of months (well after Thanksgiving) giving me plenty of time to consider what I’d like to do with them.

What you may not know is that the majority of “fancy” looking pumpkins that you see around the supermarkets are actually edible squash, and can be used interchangeably with pumpkin. With some spices you can turn most of these in to delicious sweet or savory menu items.

The benefit of canning the pumpkin purely as a puree, as opposed to making something like a Spiced Pumpkin Butter, is that you can then use it to do sweet OR savory items. This gives you the opportunity for lots of options throughout the year. My kids love Pumpkin Soup, for example, but they can also gobble down a whole pie in one sitting. It’s a great item to have on hand in the pantry.

Recently, I made a pumpkin custard, and served it warm with whipped cream. It was lovely on a foggy morning, with a cup of tea. It isn’t a complicated thing to make a custard, but it’s a wonderful way to make a quick and easy snack or dessert in a fairly quick way using jarred pumpkin.