Last week an email arrived from our CSA farmer with an offer. Seems the abrupt freeze caught him, his squash and his pumpkins off guard before they got into the root cellar and they froze. Not just a little nip, but rock solid. They were free for the taking to anyone who had time to process them. Not having a real clear plan, but unable to see them all go to waste, I piled 150 pounds of what felt like granite into the car. And then spent the next two days making this huge pile of pureed pumpkin and squash. There was so much pulp, skin and seed waste that the chickens even tired of it. No small feat as they are nature's garbage disposals.
Turns out that SOME pumpkin will be going into pies for Thanksgiving baskets made by my daughter's class for a community service project. The kids are coming over after school today to mix pie filling and roll out dough. Can't wait to see them all covered in flour and if I don't end up scraping pumpkin pie filling off the ceiling I'll call it a success.
Roasted Squash or Pumpkin
Carefully split in half with a large knife. With a ice cream scooper, scoop out the seeds and place open side down on a baking sheet with sides. Bake at 400 degrees until the flesh is soft when you press it. Remove, let cool some and scrape out the flesh with a large spoon. Puree in large batches in the food processor. It can then be used as you would any canned pumpkin immediately or frozen for later use.
Annie
Rolling up my sleeves… still!
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