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Pumpkins...so much more than just a decoration


Fairytale, Jarrahdale, Cheese and Brown Neck pumpkins are decorative enough to sit around looking pretty for weeks before you decide to cook them! Deep orange flesh inside creates a beautiful dish, and the flavor is irresistible!

Perfect for pies, saute, soups, baking, mashing and more! An entire pumpkin will yield many (many) cups of pumpkin- and way better tasting than canned! It takes about an hour and a half (350 degrees oven) to bake a sliced pumpkin. Just cut and bake! The sugars in the pumpkin will create a glaze, so no need to oil first. Or cut up, cook in a pot with just enough water in it to keep it from sticking.

Try this Recipe:

Pumpkin Soup with Gruyère

https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/pumpkin-soup-with-gruy-re

1 6–8 pound Cinderella, cheese, or Jarrahdale pumpkin

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1 teaspoon fennel seeds, finely ground

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 cups (packed) grated Gruyère

1 cup fresh breadcrumbs made from white bread

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

2 fresh or dried bay leaves

5–7 cups low-salt chicken stock

Flat-leaf parsley

Preheat oven to 350°. Cut out a wide circle around stem of pumpkin to make a lid. Lift lid; scrape off any seeds and set aside. Scoop out seeds and strings from inside pumpkin.

Place pumpkin in a roasting pan or on a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Rub pumpkin flesh with butter. Sprinkle all over inside with ground fennel seeds .

Season lightly with salt and pepper. Add cheese, breadcrumbs, garlic, and bay leaves. Pour in stock to come within 3" of the pumpkin's rim. Cover with lid.

Roast pumpkin for 1 hour. Remove lid; put lid flesh side up on pan alongside pumpkin and return to oven. Continue to roast until pumpkin flesh is soft when pierced with a knife (take care not to puncture skin), 30-90 minutes more, depending on size of pumpkin.

Discard bay leaves. Season soup to taste with salt and pepper. To serve, gently scoop a big spoonful of flesh from sides or bottom of pumpkin into each bowl and ladle stock over. Garnish with parsley.

WHITE PUMPKINS: The flesh inside a white pumpkin is edible. White pumpkin can be substituted for orange pumpkin in many recipes, whether you're baking pumpkin pie or concocting a pumpkin soup. The satiny texture and sweet pumpkin taste of the Lumina variety is excellent for baking. Try using a hollowed out white pumpkin as an attractive serving tureen. Recipes online will show you how this pumpkin is candied (it’s delicious) and other alternative uses.

Jack-Be-Littles & Dumpling Squash can be cooked easily for single serve side dishes. Simply cut off tops, remove seeds and strings. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place squash in baking pan with hollow side up. (Some folks bake them upside down. Some put them in the microwave) Bake uncovered on middle rack for 30-45 minutes or until the flesh is soft. Add butter, syrup, apples- or whatever! Serve hot.

Peanut Pumpkin - ‘Galeux d’Eysines’ is often called the peanut pumpkin for obvious reasons. The flesh makes tasty pies and other goodies. The warts are created by the build-up of excess sugars in the flesh. In other words, the more peanuts, the tastier the flesh is! Try making pumpkin bread, cheesecake and pie from one!

By the way, the first Thanksgiving dinner really did include pumpkin pie! Pilgrim cooks hollowed out small pumpkins, filled them with sliced apples, sugar, spices and milk. After placing the stem cap back on the pumpkins, they were buried in hot ashes of the cooking fire and baked until tender.

Turks Turban is a big decorative squash that is also very good to eat. Although flesh is not sweet, you can roast it or steam it just like butternut, and you can use it in recipes in just about any way you use butternut, acorn, or other winter squash. Cut top off and scoop out seeds. Rub inside and out with olive oil. Season. Bake at 350 for about an hour (or more). Scoop out most flesh, stuff with cooked filling of your choice and return to oven for additional 10 minutes. Skin is not intended to be eaten, but it makes a nice bowl presentation!

The flavor of Hubbard squash is a combination of sweet potato meets pumpkin, which makes it perfect in pies and soups. Though high in sugar, this squash can sometimes be mealy, which means it is best pureed. You can also mash the flesh like potatoes and mix into casseroles or combine it with wild rice or other

whole grain side dishes. Like other squashes, the Hubbard is packed with vitamins A and C, and has plenty of dietary fiber and almost no fat. Best to bake with skin on.

Try this recipe:

1 (5 lb.) squash 1 med. onion, diced 3 lg. tart apples, peeled, cored & diced 1/2 c. raisins Parsley for garnish 2 tbsp. butter 2 tsp. cinnamon 1/2 c. sunflower kernels

Lay squash on its side and cut off 1/4 of it to make a lid. Remove seed and strings. Melt butter in skillet, add onion and saute until soft about 5 minutes.

Add apples, cinnamon, raisins and sunflower kernels. Stir and toss until well mixed. Cook about 5 minutes. Scoop apple mixture into squash and replace lid. Place on baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees until tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Garnish. Serves 8.

Search the web for more recipes! Fresh pumpkins are so much better than canned!