The Miracles of Pumpkin!

Not really..no miracles unless you consider amazing taste, extreme versatility and innumerable heath benefits as miracles.  At times, I do!  Early this morning, I realized that I needed to do something with a huge pot of cooked pumpkin chunks that sat in my refrigerator. This is one of those lovely leftovers from Halloween.  The humongous squash had not been carved as a Jack-o-lantern so was still intact but I needed the space for Christmas decorations!  Son whacked the huge pumpkin in pieces and had seeded it.  The chunks were placed in my large canning pot, covered with water and cooked until tender.  I had lifted the chunks from the water and let them cool.  Now, they sat in the frig just waiting for me to either use or freeze for later.  I chose to freeze them.  I pureed the pumpkin in what juice remained in the large bowl and then let it drain through a large, antique syrup strainer.  The pulp was bagged in gallon bags and placed in the freezer.  This would be used later in breads, pies and soups!

After I bagged the drained puree, I wondered what could be done with the juice that had drained through the strainer.  Hmmm...there had to be something that I could do with this nigh on a gallon of pulpy juice.  It seemed such a shame just to pour it down the drain!  Then an idea hit me!  For the past couple of weeks, I have been keeping a large pot of mulled cider on the back burner of the stove.  (Just for those with inquisitive minds..this is non-alcoholic mulled cider!) I used a variety of juices to make my cider!  Apple, blueberry and even peach juice had been mulled!  Not only did the stuff taste wonderful, it made the house smell divine!  This was aromatherapy at its best!  My pumpkin juice might just make some wonderful "mulled cider".  The juice was transferred to a large pot and placed over low heat.  A wonderful olio of spices and herbs were tossed in along with about a cup of honey.  After a bit, the conglomeration was starting to smell wonderful!  I tasted the cider..hmmm..still a bit pumpkiny.  I pondered...what could I add that would give it a more fruity taste?  I had a bunch of cranberries in the freezer so four cups of whole cranberries were dumped in the cider pot!  Much popping went on as the berries exploded giving their flavorful awesomeness to the mixture.  This also gave the cider a beautiful rosy color!  I taste-tested again.  Perfection!!!!  Even Son loved this mixture!  We sipped cup after cup as we baked a batch of cookies!  I am sure thinking that this is a "keeper" of a recipe!  Mulled Pumpkin Cider...this is a nice, warming, healthful drink that is just perfect for those wintry days!