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Did you know there was a pumpkin shortage this year? I am not seeing it here in NE OH, but I am seeing reports of it all over the web. Apparently 1/3 of the pumpkin crop was damaged in cold weather. I see blogs talking about how you need to buy whatever canned pumpkin you see on the shelves as soon as you see it or there won't be any.Good news! I have the solution. You can make your own pumpkin puree. It is super easy and it freezes great. Since most people are already buying pumpkins for decoration then it is free food. If you have a pressure canner, you can even can your own pumpkin puree. Every year we get pumpkins for Halloween. On October 30th we carve them and on November 1st I cook them into puree. I always get enough from 2 medium pumpkins to supply us with enough pumpkin to last the year. Here are the steps I take to do it.
- Cut the pumpkins into large chunks, depending on how big the pumpkin is sometimes quarters, sometimes more.
- Place on a baking sheet and bake on 300 for an hour or so - until the pumpkin is fork tender.
- Let cool.
- Spoon out the pumpkin insides and put into a large mixing bowl. I use a hand held mixer to puree the pumpkin, a couple of cups at a time.
- I measure out the puree into 1 cup portions, because that is what I need for most recipes. I can always pull out 2 bags if I need it.
*This post is linked to Life as Mom.
7 comments:
What a fantastic idea! I might just try that with Jaycen's pumpkin this year. Thanks
If you happen to have a bunch of butternut squash from your garden, you can use this for your pumpkin recipes as well. I've heard that that is the squash they actually use for canned pumpkin. We just cooked it, pureed it in our food processor, and it worked great. Our pumpkin bread tasted the same. Just another idea . . .
Do you can the pumpkin or freeze it?
I freeze it Jeri.
fivetallsmalls - that is interesting about the canned pumpkin really being butternut squash. I also puree and freeze butternut squash, I will have to try muffins out of it and see if my kids notice. Thanks!
I have had no luck 2 years in a row with making my own puree. The pumpkins we've gotten both years hardly had any meat inside. Very stringy and dry. Talk about bad crop.
Ah well. The butternut squash in an interesting idea though...
:)
I bought pie pumpkins for the first time this year b/c of the shortage. I'm a little nervous to use the huge jack-o-lantern pumpkins - do they really taste smooth?
Do you leave the skin on or take it off? I read somewhere that you weren't supposed to use the skin. I don't want to take the skin off if I don't have to.....
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