Pumpkin Pie...year round!

When we started subscribing to the CSA three summers ago, they included a pumpkin in one of our fall baskets.  Not a carving pumpkin, an actual pie pumpkin.  They also included a bunch of winter squash, which I was equally confused by.  Fortunately for me, our weekly email also included directions on what to do with these things.  The directions for how to prepare the pumpkin for pie seemed easy enough:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Wash pumpkin and remove stem.  Cut in half and remove seeds.  Place cut side down in baking dish filled with 1/8 in ch water.  Bake in conventional oven for about 1 hour or until soft to the touch.  Cool.  Scoop out flesh and puree. 

I could do that!  And so, we had our first pumpkin pie made with an actual pumpkin, instead of a can of Libby's from the grocery store.  

I was so excited about this (yes, it was that good), that I decided to grow pumpkins in our small townhouse garden the following year.  I had a trellis so I could use the space as well as possible and send the vines up, instead of sprawling all over my small space.  I learned about which blossom was male and which was female and how to recreate pumpkin sex sans bees so that I was sure of getting something out of my plants.  I was, however, blindsided by powdery mildew, a nasty fungus that kills curcurbits.  I did end up with three small sugar pumpkins that were roasted and pureed to be used for pumpkin pie.

The puree ended up frozen when the fridge got too full last fall, and pulled out only today.  Yes, I know it is June (nearly July), but really, when is pumpkin pie a bad idea?  My three wee pumpkins turned into a lovely pie, nearly 9 months later.  

So, now you know.  It is really quite easy to get a pie out of an actual pumpkin.  You can usually only find them in your grocery stores when they are in season, which is, of course, in the fall.  You can also get them at your local farmer's markets, or if you are feeling like it, grow your own. The puree freezes quite well for later use if you come across a pumpkin in the store before you are ready to make pie and can be used for muffins, cake, or even smoothies if you wish.  

I am always surprised at how much knowledge we have lost.  Making a pie with a pie pumpkin is fairly simple, though a bit more time consuming, but most people have no idea how to go about it.  My mother didn't, even though the pie recipe I always use is hers.  So, this year, whenever you find one, try a pie from a pumpkin instead of a can.  Or freeze the pumpkin, and have pie year round! :)

Here's the pie recipe I use: Pumpkin Pie  

Comments

[LisaG]

and now i know what's wrong with my zucchini plants, sigh........

[Adina]

Oh shit! Sorry honey! I had some success with garlic, baking soda and water mixed up and sprayed on the leaves. Only water in the morning, so that the leave have time to dry off.