# Pumpkin?



## CrackbottomLouis (May 20, 2012)

I have always been confused as to why no one in America eats pumpkin as a vegetable. Its actually quite nice. Cut it like a melon, cut off rind, salt pepper butter and bake boil or microvave. Am I alone in this? Or does everyone just carve em at halloween or make a pie at Thanksgiving? Where I grew up it was a common veg at the table. Try it and enjoy.


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## Trip286 (Oct 18, 2012)

I personally hate the crap. I think it's that simple matter of taste. I haven't met anyone who likes pumpkin in anything other than a pie or a scented candle.


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## Moby76065 (Jul 31, 2012)

Add a little butter, sugar and cinnamon and it is better than any squash. I love the stuff.


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## chitsgonnafly (Oct 23, 2012)

It's full of nutrients and antioxidants too!


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## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

Pretty good made like mashed potatoes.

We have quite a bit of it in our stores and in my book its one of the foods that shouldn't be ignored. Tastes good, cheap, nutritious and plentiful.


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## Lake Windsong (Nov 27, 2009)

Stewed pumpkin, cooled, is good in a banana yogurt smoothie.


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## Sentry18 (Aug 5, 2012)

> Pumpkin?


What honey? 

Sorry, that was the first thing that popped into my head when I read the title


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## Hooch (Jul 22, 2011)

It's been my favorite veggie to grow for years! I love it baked n mashed with a tad of butter, I make a yummy custard, n yea pie, bread, roasted seasoned seeds, cakes.. I make a killer pumpkin maple butter pie..YUM! I need to find where I put that receipe...

I think it's such a waste of pumpkin every year, folks carve one n I see them smashed on the streets n most folks throw in the trash after...stupid really!


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## cnsper (Sep 20, 2012)

For some reason I could not convince my ex that pumpkin pie was a vegetable.... LOL


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## Freyadog (Jan 27, 2010)

I like to slice it thin and fry it and then put salt on it.


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## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

Hooch said:


> I think it's such a waste of pumpkin every year, folks carve one n I see them smashed on the streets n most folks throw in the trash after...stupid really!


Thats one thing that really makes me think about all the "Food" this society wastes, I've heard that 50% + of the food produced in this country gets pitched or spoils before it can be eaten.

Thats a wasteful practice that will come back to bite in the future.


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## AuroraHawk (Sep 12, 2012)

Stuffed pumpkins can be the entree and the dessert, in the same meal. These are great for Halloween parties, harvest parties and Thanksgiving.

Remove stems and tops as you would for carving. Clean out the seeds and fibers, rinse the seeds out of the fiber and set aside for roasting during the last 15-20 minutes of baking time.

Stuffed Pumpkin Casserole

1 medium pumpkin (pie pumpkin if available and big enough)
1 lb lean ground beef
1 lb lean ground pork or sausage of your choice
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper (I prefer fresh ground pepper melange.)
1 tbs chopped garlic
other seasonings to taste
2 C beef stock
2 cups brown rice (or white/wild/mixed)

Cook the rice with less than the normal amount of liquid and remove it from the heat when the rice is approximately half cooked so it will absorb stock and flavor from the meats and seasonings while baking.

Brown and season the meats with everything except the beef stock, break down to your preferred size. Stir the rice and meat mixture together and stuff the pumpkin. Pour in the beef stock to just cover the meat mixture. Cover with pumpkin top, cut stem short enough to allow the pumpkin to stand in the oven.

Bake at 375 degrees, in a cake pan, until the pumpkin is fork tender, approximately 2 hours but depends on pumpkin size.

Baked Pumpkin Stuffed with Apples

1 medium size pumpkin, top removed and cleaned out.
6-10 Granny Smith and/or other firm, tart apples, diced
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
1 cup raisins and/or other dried fruit
1/2 firmly packed brown sugar
Apple Pie or Pumpkin Pie Spice to taste (about 1 tsp for my taste)
1 stick unsalted butter

Mix all of the fruits with the sugar, and spice(s) in a bowl and stuff into the pumpkin. Cut the stick of butter small enough to put on top of the fruit mixture and cover with pumpkin top.

Bake as instructed for the Pumpkin Casserole.


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## kappydell (Nov 27, 2011)

Pumpkin soup!!


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## mdprepper (Jan 22, 2010)

I had to search like crazy to find sugar pumpkins to make pumpkin butter. Everything I read was saying that the pumpkins for jack-a-lanterns are not very good to eat? Could I use a "regular" carving pumpkin or do have to search for the sugar pumpkins again?


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## Hooch (Jul 22, 2011)

Sugar pie pumpkins meat is not as stringy n there is more of it n I'm thinking they probably have more natural sugars in them . Jack o lantern ones are more stringy n meat is thinner n paler somewhat too sometimes. They need a tad more help tp process to make yummy but I've grown n used them in my recipes. I either bake until done n puree or steam n puree...including the skin so wash it n get dirt off good. They turn out just as good in my opinion..


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## mdprepper (Jan 22, 2010)

Hooch said:


> Sugar pie pumpkins meat is not as stringy n there is more of it n I'm thinking they probably have more natural sugars in them . Jack o lantern ones are more stringy n meat is thinner n paler somewhat too sometimes. They need a tad more help tp process to make yummy but I've grown n used them in my recipes. I either bake until done n puree or steam n puree...including the skin so wash it n get dirt off good. They turn out just as good in my opinion..


:thankyou: :kiss:


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## CrackbottomLouis (May 20, 2012)

Ive never been picky about the type of pumpkin. Hooch nailed it.


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## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

Hooch said:


> Sugar pie pumpkins meat is not as stringy n there is more of it n I'm thinking they probably have more natural sugars in them . Jack o lantern ones are more stringy n meat is thinner n paler somewhat too sometimes. They need a tad more help tp process to make yummy but I've grown n used them in my recipes. I either bake until done n puree or steam n puree...including the skin so wash it n get dirt off good. They turn out just as good in my opinion..


I always wondered if I was the only person that ate the skin/rind, guess I'm not so far out in left field after all.

When I was a teenager we grew the pie pumpkins but I like the bigger ones just as well.



kappydell said:


> Pumpkin soup!!


We make it pureed with chicken stock and sometimes add heavy cream. Good Stuff!


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

Curried pumpkin is a personal favorite. My DH will not eat it unless it's in a pie or bread. 

I will eat a heck of a lot more 'exotic' veggies than my DH. My daughter, Roo, got a lot of these veggies in the womb and with her baby foods. Pumpkin is still one of her favorites. 

I add steamed pumpkin to my applesauce sometimes for fiber.


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## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

Grimm said:


> I add steamed pumpkin to my applesauce sometimes for fiber.


I'm going to have to give that a try, sounds petty good!


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

Davarm said:


> I'm going to have to give that a try, sounds petty good!


I add nutmeg as well to help season the pumpkin. Think of it as apple pumpkin bread in a jar without the 'bread' part.


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## AuroraHawk (Sep 12, 2012)

*Pumpkin!*



Grimm said:


> I add steamed pumpkin to my applesauce sometimes for fiber.


Yummy! I'll have to try this too. Applesauce can be quite bland unless spices are added.

From what I've seen and cooked, pumpkin can be prepared in the same way as any winter squash, sweet potatoes, and carrots.


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

AuroraHawk said:


> Yummy! I'll have to try this too. Applesauce can be quite bland unless spices are added.
> 
> From what I've seen and cooked, pumpkin can be prepared in the same way as any winter squash, sweet potatoes, and carrots.


I make my applesauce from honeycrisp apples and use very little cinnamon. It is very good! The natural sweet taste of the apples works well in the applesauce and very little if any sugar needed. One tablespoon of sugar/Splenda for 6lbs of apples.

I use pie pumpkins for everything so no sugar and minimal spices are needed.


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## AuroraHawk (Sep 12, 2012)

Grimm said:


> I make my applesauce from honeycrisp apples and use very little cinnamon. It is very good! The natural sweet taste of the apples works well in the applesauce and very little if any sugar needed. One tablespoon of sugar/Splenda for 6lbs of apples.
> 
> I use pie pumpkins for everything so no sugar and minimal spices are needed.


Unless I make applesauce with very tart apples, I don't add any sweetening. A little cinnamon, a little nutmeg and it is good to go. I need to get some Honey Crisp apples and a small pie pumpkin so I can make some pumkin/applesauce.


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

AuroraHawk said:


> Unless I make applesauce with very tart apples, I don't add any sweetening. A little cinnamon, a little nutmeg and it is good to go. I need to get some Honey Crisp apples and a small pie pumpkin so I can make some pumkin/applesauce.


Not sure if you have had Honeycrisp before but they are GOOD fresh! My mom likes my applesauce so I have been debating if I should can some Honeycrisp slices for pies.


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## CrackbottomLouis (May 20, 2012)

Honey crisp apples and peanut butter! Mmmmm! Cannot wait to have a patch o land! Used to work on a farm in a tropical area. Still dream of fresh guavas and ripe mango breakfasts followed by a lunch of homemade bread spread with farm butter and avocado accompanied by a glass of fresh cream. About to look in my apt cupboard a cry just a bit. Bein in town for an education is hard. The army I could understand but man I miss the good life of honest hard work and all the fresh good stuff you could eat! At least I can visit moms place while in town. She does a mom laden table of love everyone tries to be invited to  Sorry for the rant but reading this forum brings to mind the good things I miss


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## Hooch (Jul 22, 2011)

Sounds awesome!


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## bindy (Nov 12, 2012)

Pumpkin filled with nutrition and it’s really good for the skin. Especially its anti-oxidant power helps to heal skin diseases.


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## cas4green (Nov 16, 2012)

Not the first person mentioned eating pumpkin raw! My brothers and I always ate pieces after we scraped out the guts and now a whole lot of years later I do the same with my lil girl, to which she thinks it is just another Halloween treat!

I have our 25lb and my parents 40+lb pumpkins seating outside now, while trying to figure out what to do with them.....neither of us carved this year!


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