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Halloween may be
over, but don’t throw away those Jack-O-Lanterns just yet!
We’ve come up with some great ideas to make use of every
last bit of your pumpkins.
Bake the Seeds:
Separate the seeds
from the membrane, rinse. Soak in salt water overnight. Spread
the seeds on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with
non-stick vegetable oil. Sprinkle with salt if desired. Bake
for 20 minutes at 350 degrees, turning once. Allow to cool.
Enjoy!
Make Baby Food:
Scoop the flesh out
of a pumpkin that has been halved and roasted. Mash well with
a fork. Typical Jack-O-Lantern pumpkins aren’t the sweet
type you find in the produce section of your grocery store, so
you may want to season with a little brown sugar and butter.
Use it as a Harvest
Planter:
Scoop out the
inside membrane and clean. Fill with a little water and use as
a vase. Fill the vase with natural twigs, grasses, and harvest
mums for a beautiful autumn centerpiece.
Make a Pumpkin
Bowl:
Scoop out the
inside membrane and clean. A typical pumpkin holds up to a
gallon of soup or an entire casserole and adds flavor, too.
Smaller pumpkins can be used for individual-sized bowls. Watch
out, Martha Stewart!
Pumpkin Casserole:
1 small to medium
pumpkin
1/4 c. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 lb. ground beef
1 tsp. salt
1 med. chopped onion
1/2 c. diced green pepper
1/2 c. chopped celery
1 (4 oz.) can sliced mushrooms, drained
1 (10 oz.) can cream of chicken soup
2 c. cooked rice
Brown ground beef
with onions, pepper, celery and salt. Add additional
ingredients and place in pumpkin bowl. Place filled pumpkin on
a baking sheet and bake for one hour at 350 degrees. Pumpkin
will soften a little while baking. Be sure to scoop out a
little of the pumpkin along with the casserole.
Make Pumpkin Puree
Pumpkin puree is
the basis for many great bakery goodies. After preparing the
puree, be sure to freeze what you won’t be using. It will
stay fresh in your freezer for months.
How to prepare your
pumpkin for use:
Cut pumpkin in
half, scoop out the seeds. Cut it into big chunks and place in
a baking pan peel side down. Cover with foil. Bake 2-3 hours
at 350 degrees. Remove from oven, scoop the pulp out of the
peel. Puree in a food processor to reduce stringiness. Freeze
excess pumpkin puree for later use.
Baked Pumpkin
Pudding:
6 Tbsp butter or
margarine
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. granulated
sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking
soda
1/2 tsp. ground
cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground
ginger
1/2 tsp. ground
nutmeg
3/4 c. pumpkin
puree
1/2 c. buttermilk
1/2 c. chopped
walnuts
Cream butter and
sugars until well blended, beat in eggs. Combine dry
ingredients. Mix together pumpkin and buttermilk and add to
creamed mixture alternately with dry ingredients. Fold in
chopped walnuts. Spoon into bundt pan or tube pan. Cover
tightly with foil. Bake for one hour at 350 degrees. Let stand
10 minutes, unmold and serve with whipped cream. Makes 12-16
servings.
Pumpkin Bread:
3 1/2 c. unsifted
flour
2 1/2 c. sugar
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
2 c. pureed pumpkin
1 c. vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 c. chopped walnuts
Grease and flour 2 (9 x 5 x 3-inch) loaf pans. In large bowl
combine flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.
Mix together pumpkin and vegetable oil. Add eggs, one at a
time, beating well after each addition. Add pumpkin mixture
and stir just until flour is moistened. Add nuts. Pour into
prepared pans and bake in 350 degrees oven 1 hour or until
toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven
and cool 10 minutes before removing from pans. When completely
cool, wrap in plastic film and store overnight. Makes 2
loaves.
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