Pumpkin Carving Time!

   I am probably the only person who looks at pumpkins as foodstuffs instead of decorations this time of year.  Mark came home with a huge pumpkin because the store had them and he was shopping.  If it is there...he buys it...whatever its is.  So, I got a pumpkin.  That is all fine and dandy except it is a wee bit early in the season and, well, this pumpkin was obviously in cold storage.  As soon as he brought it in the house, the thing started sweating.  Umm, a sweating pumpkin is not a good thing...at all.  When this happens, it means that the pumpkin will be rotted within the week.  There was nothing to do except salvage my prize!  Let the pumpkin carving begin!

  Son has an odd way of cutting the pumpkins for me to cook.  Without cutting the top or bottom, he makes about a dozen slices on the sides.  Then the top is cut out and each slice is merely plucked from the pumpkin.  Most of the seeds stay inside and he claims that it is easier.  Who am I to argue the point if he is doing the cutting?  Once Son pulled off a few of the slices, he was amused to find a plant growing inside of the pumpkin.  In fact, several of the seeds had sprouted!  This was yet another sign that our fine, fat friend would have withered before Halloween. 

  Now, the pumpkin is cut, cooked, pureed and stored in the freezer.  Two gallons of pumpkin puree is ready to be used in baking or cooking of some sort.  Mark has strict instructions to buy me another pumpkin from a roadside stand around mid October!  No more grocery store pumpkins that have been in cold storage!  It worked out alright, though, as now I have lots of yummy things to make!