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Well, it's finally NOVEMBER...and Thanksgiving is just a few weeks away. Much of the country is sliding into a more wintry weather pattern, we are hunkering down inside, but looking forward to family and friends for the holidays.
We always learned in school that Pilgrims had pumpkin at the first Thanksgiving.Pumpkins are assumed to come from the Americas. When the Pilgrims landed the local Indians already had pumpkins and squash under cultivation.
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Colonists called the vegetable pumpkins or 'pompion' They hollowed them out raw, filled with milk and spices and then roasted whole in the fire into a sort of pudding. No bakery or pie pastry shells were involved as there were no ovens for controlled baking.
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Nutritionally pumpkins were a welcome addition to the Colonists' meals. Rich in all kinds of minerals and vitamins, pumpkins had vitamin C which helped to prevent scurvy. Over half the pilgrims died the first year from the lack of proper nutrition and resulting disease.
Here in the Midwest Pumpkins are plentiful. In 2020 Illinois produced 564 million pounds of pumpkin, as much as the other top 5 states combined: California, Indiana, Texas, Virginia and Michigan.
Today, we use our own homegrown pumpkins outside as decorations and as food. After a heavy frost---I bring them in and they become a source of garden produce, and then our favorite Fall foods.
This is one of our 2018 pumpkins, growing on our antique cultivator. Strangely this year 2026...nothing over a baseball size? Blossoms rotted on the vines due to our heavy rains all summer.
But in the past, Another large one hid in the vines.
REMEMBER THIS!!!?
October 24th, 2020...The GREAT PUMPKIN!
Now for the best part---roasting!
Roasting Pumpkin for Puree is easy, and ecologically sound, and beats canned pumpkin---hands down!
Scrub your pumpkin off, even if it is store-bought. Slice it open. You don't have to remove the seeds, just layer the pieces skin side up in a roaster as high as you like. Pierce all the skin with a sharp knife as much as you want to--this promotes a circulation of moisture.
Add 1 cup of water to the pan and cover tightly with foil. Roast at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours or more---test by piercing the thickest part of a piece. Pierce to see if done or I just push down on the humps of pumpkin and see if they are soft right through the foil. To keep the pumpkin moist, I leave the pan covered until cooled to finish roasting for sure.
When cool, scrape the seeds and slimey parts off, discard. Then scrape the flesh and with the skin removed, process the flesh in your food processor/blender until smooth. If it is too thick to process, add a bit of water from the roasting pan to process. Measure into specific quantities, bag, label and freeze for recipes.
I think this is far superior to canned pumpkin.
When thawing, you can drain excess water out by putting paper towel in a strainer, the resulting puree is more the consistency of canned pumpkin.
Every other year or so, I make our friends' and families' favorite---PUMPKIN BUTTER! Worth the effort and the smell is delicious! Canned pumpkin butter will keep as long as the seals are good.
How about one of our favorites
Fall Pumpkin Spice Apple Muffins Post: HERE.
Don't forget Pumpkin pies, breads, soups are all delicious and very high in nutrition. I reduce the sugar in most recipes.
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So ---remember, there were no pies at the first Thanksgiving. Sigh!
But of course we can have them NOW and all the other goodies...more recipes coming this month!
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