So, a hearty "Good morning, Mr. President-Elect Obama!" I can't sleep. T'ain't happenin' right na'h. Far too excited!
Last week, my dad bought a Cinderella pumpkin... aka what is properly called a Rouge vif d'Entempes. (I've always liked them. They're so pretty...) He bought it for my mom to explode in her one of her science classes the Monday after Halloween. But I convinced them to let me go out and find her a carving pumpkin, rather than have her explode a beautiful, huge pie pumpkin like that. Found 'em at Albertsons for $0.99 each. So I get to do as I like with the Rouge vif d'Entempes...
After the election had been called, and President Obama had made his speech in Chicago, I needed something to do with my hands. Knitting was not enough. Sewing, pppffffttt!! The newly-successful-at crochet, uh-un. Time to massacre a pumpkin. So I looked back on my dear friend Ilana's blog to when she massacred a similar pumpkin last year (Very useful link you've got posted there, btw!) for tips on how to tackle it, and I got to carving... Several hours later, I've got a ton of pumpkin puree and the kitchen-- actually, the whole house smells so good! One of the things I dislike the most about carving pumpkins is the smell. It smells kinda gross. But this one! OMG! So sugary and yummy! Like pumpkin pie without the spices!
Now, all I need is some recipes to make with this yummy stuff... Suggestions are welcome... And I might go out and get some small, Connecticut Fields pie pumpkins and puree those as well...
Oh, and I'm saving the seeds. They're going in the ground in January, if I can manage it. I want to try growing them "off-season" for Florida because large vining squashes have never been successful for me in the later Spring and Summer, when all the literature says they should be planted here. If I had room out there right now, I'd plant a few tomorrow, just to see.
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6 comments:
Hee! Will you be posting pictures of the pumpkin slaughter?
:D ... Unfortunately, no, I didn't think to take any pictures while meting out the pumpkin's fate. But I did two parts of it in the oven, like a butternut squash, and the center part that would have made the end parts too wide to fit any of my roasting pans, I cut all that up and cooked it down on the stove. I was surprised by how little it cooks down.
Fairytale pumpkins are usually, according to what I've read, less watery than other kinds of pumpkin. ;)
Ah, well, perhaps that explains why it didn't cook down very much then. I had never worked with fresh pumpkin before. The pumpkin I cooked on the stove seemed pretty watery while I had it covered with the lid. When I took the lid off, after about 10 minutes of simmering, it turned into the apple-sauce- like consistency I've read it's supposed to be without much effort with the potato masher (I have no food processor, so the potato masher is the best tool I've got for puree). The stuff in the oven though, it was like perfect butternut squash and I was afraid it would dry out, so I added just a little water while I cooked it and it seemed fine.
I can't wait to get cooking with it! I'm so excited!!! I was going to do a pie tonight, but I realized too late to go out that we only have one egg left! *headdesk* So that will have to wait until I can get to the grocery store... I hope I'll make it over there tomorrow. *realizes that it's almost Supernatural Thursday during an already awesome week!!!*
Whee! Will you be posting pictures of your pie if you make one?
I boiled the fairytale pumpkin and it soaked up a little water that way, so I had to strain the puree in paper towels and a strainer to get the extra liquid back out, which ended up being just fine. Doesn't sound like you'll have that problem though.
I'll definitely post pictures! :D And a link to whatever recipe I use too...
Yeah, no problems like that. I didn't add very much water to the pumpkin, just a little bit to keep it from scorching on the bottom of the pan until it started to release its own moisture... figured that works for mushrooms. LOL!
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