So I was carving a pumpkin today with my husband and I thought that I should share with you all about what you can do with a pumpkin. Most people just cut a face into it and throw out everything that is inside but really the whole pumpkin can be used. Even after you've made it into a Jack-o-lantern and have lit a candle in it for a while, you can still use the meat inside of it for baking!
I also have not written a blog in a while, and that makes me sad. So I'm excited to kick this long hiatus in the butt with an exciting post! I hope you enjoy it! Let me know if you did!
Tools: You will need a spoon, 2 bowls, a knife and a clean, large work area! (And a pumpkin of course!)
Step 1: Once you have all that, make a circle around the top of the pumpkin and cut it out on an angle
Step 2: lick insides. Ha! Just kidding.
REAL Step 2: You need to get your seed and slime bowl ready. Start pulling out the seeds and place in the bowl. This will get pretty messy so make sure you are working on a surface that you don't mind getting a little bit orange.
Put all the seeds and the slimy stuff into the same bowl for now. You will seperate them later.
Step 3: Clean out the entire pumpkin. This is where you can use the spoon to help scrape out the inside.
Step 4: Once you get all the slimy part out, Scrape out a few more layers of the thicker, lighter coloured meat. Place that in your other bowl.
Step 5: Make your Jack-o-lantern!
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Alright, time to cook!
Step 1: Place the pumpkin meat (that you scraped out and had put into your second bowl) in a large sauce pan with 1cm of water in the bottom.
Pumpkin burns easily so place on low heat. Stir often so that it does not burn.
Also, don't get impatient. This takes a while before it starts to breaks down and you begin seeing liquid.
Step 2: While keeping an eye on the pumpkin on the stove top, seperate the seeds from the slime and rinse them off well. Place to dry on a towel. Pre-heat your oven to 300ºF.
Step 3: They seeds won't become completely dry, but when they are dry enough, place them in a mixing bowl with a little bit of oil. Mix or shake to coat.
Step 4: Pour 1/2 tsp. of salt onto the oiled seeds. As for spices, I use seasoning salt or you can use paprika. Add a 1/2 tsp. of one of those ingredients.
Step 5: Shake to coat with the salt and spice. The uncooked coated seeds will look something like this:
Step 6: Place pumpkin seeds on a single layer baking sheet and place in your pre-heated oven (300ºF) and bake for 35 mins.
Step 7: By now, after you have been stirring your pumpkin on the stove top, it should start to look something like this: Much more watery than before.
Step 8: Continue to stir and squish the pumpkin until it become a thick mush. Once all mixed into the mush, take off of burner.
Step 9: Set aside and let the pumpkin cool off for a while. Place into freezer bags and store. This can be stored in the fridge for no more than 2 days. In the freezer it can be stored much, much longer.
What do I do now with the pumpkin? This is used instead of canned pumpkin. So this would be great in a pumpkin pie!
As for the seeds:
Once done baking, let cool and enjoy!
I hope that you all have fun with your pumpkins this season! I would love to know if you tried this!
