Fun with Pumpkin

The day before Halloween I went to the grocery store to buy a pumpkin to carve and couldn't find one except the giant display one.  I asked the produce manager, and he said, "We're all out.  But I'll sell you the display one for $10."  So that is how we ended up with a 50 lb pumpkin.

I was afraid to take on the mammoth task of carving it, so Clint just painted a goofy Jack-o-lantern face on it with non-toxic paints from his face-painting kit.  I usually take the seeds out of our Jack-lanterns when we carve them and we roast pumpkin seeds, and once in a while I will use the meat for a pumpkin pie, but this year I did not want to let all of that pumpkin go to waste.  So this weekend Clint dragged Big Bertha inside for me and I proceeded to make pumpkin puree.

I actually had to use a tree pruning saw to cut it open it was so tough (yes, that is me looking none-too-glamorous in my sweats, tee, and favorite baseball cap).  When I saw how thick the walls of the pumpkin were, I was very glad we had painted it rather than tried to carve it, since it was about three inches thick!

I cut the pumpkin into good-sized chunks and steamed it on the stove until it was tender and then removed the skin.

Next I pureed the pumpkin with a potato masher.  I went ahead and froze some for later (good for pumpkin pies).

I made some pumpkin soup, which turned out to taste sort of like creamed corn.  I also decided I would try making pumpkin bread, since I like other fruit and veggie breads (banana, zucchini, applesauce...)  I used the recipe for the pumpkin bread that Bobby Flay uses in his pumpkin bread pudding.  I did add some pecans to it as well (I just love pecans!)

So not a bad weekend's work.  However, I have to confess that that big old 50 pounder got the best of me---I ended up throwing over 3/4 of it away.  Still glad some of it went to use, though!