Murphy NC 28906 - A growing community with small town charm
Preserving and cooking pumpkins
Good afternoon.
I was just now reading Tipper's post about Freezing Pumpkin & Roasting Pumpkin Seeds on the Blind Pig & The Acorn, and wanted to share a few thoughts about pumpkins.
One of the things I've missed the last few years was the smell of pumpkins baking during the late fall.
When I was growing up, Mom always preserved a few pumpkins to use later for pies, breads, muffins, and probably other things I don't quite remember. I think she used to make pumpkin soup, too, but I'm not sure.
I don't remember Mom boiling the pumpkins. I think she used to bake them the way Tipper describes. In fact, I remember Mom and Pop eating fresh baked pumpkin just the same way they would acorn squash or butternut squash. Hot out of the oven with butter, salt, and a little spice of their choosing. Sometimes a small pumpkin never made it into anything else other than their tummies.
Pop loved to roast all kinds of tasty things, but I don't remember him roasting pumpkin seeds. Mom would roast them, and I enjoyed them almost as much as sunflower seeds. Pop grew up in Tennessee before the chestnut blight destroyed all the chestnuts, and he would often tell us that nothing tasted as good to him as the memory of those roasted chestnuts on a cold winter evening. He still enjoyed roasting walnuts, pecans, and peanuts, though.
It was a running joke in our family that pumpkin pies may not have any pumpkin in them. Mom was known to substitute whatever was available - sweet potatoes, acorn squash, butternut squash, or anything similar - and just call it a pumpkin pie. I was a teenager before I realized that I liked pumpkin pies made out of butternut squash more than I did pumpkin pies made out of pumpkins!
This time of the year, our kitchen would smell great. Mom liked pumpkin bread and pumpkin muffins as much as she did pumpkin pie and always said they were easier to make, especially when she was tired from a long day at work. I always enjoyed a fresh slice of pumpkin bread hot out of the oven with butter melting on it.
I'm not a baker or cook, and if you can't heat it up in a microwave it probably won't get eaten around here. But, now and then, over the last few years when I was caring for Mom, I'd buy a pumpkin pie, heat it in the microwave, put whipped cream on it, and give her a treat on a cold winter night. I don't think they were as good as the pies she made, but she still loved it.
Thanks for sharing Tipper.
JD
I was just now reading Tipper's post about Freezing Pumpkin & Roasting Pumpkin Seeds on the Blind Pig & The Acorn, and wanted to share a few thoughts about pumpkins.
One of the things I've missed the last few years was the smell of pumpkins baking during the late fall.
When I was growing up, Mom always preserved a few pumpkins to use later for pies, breads, muffins, and probably other things I don't quite remember. I think she used to make pumpkin soup, too, but I'm not sure.
I don't remember Mom boiling the pumpkins. I think she used to bake them the way Tipper describes. In fact, I remember Mom and Pop eating fresh baked pumpkin just the same way they would acorn squash or butternut squash. Hot out of the oven with butter, salt, and a little spice of their choosing. Sometimes a small pumpkin never made it into anything else other than their tummies.
Pop loved to roast all kinds of tasty things, but I don't remember him roasting pumpkin seeds. Mom would roast them, and I enjoyed them almost as much as sunflower seeds. Pop grew up in Tennessee before the chestnut blight destroyed all the chestnuts, and he would often tell us that nothing tasted as good to him as the memory of those roasted chestnuts on a cold winter evening. He still enjoyed roasting walnuts, pecans, and peanuts, though.
It was a running joke in our family that pumpkin pies may not have any pumpkin in them. Mom was known to substitute whatever was available - sweet potatoes, acorn squash, butternut squash, or anything similar - and just call it a pumpkin pie. I was a teenager before I realized that I liked pumpkin pies made out of butternut squash more than I did pumpkin pies made out of pumpkins!
This time of the year, our kitchen would smell great. Mom liked pumpkin bread and pumpkin muffins as much as she did pumpkin pie and always said they were easier to make, especially when she was tired from a long day at work. I always enjoyed a fresh slice of pumpkin bread hot out of the oven with butter melting on it.
I'm not a baker or cook, and if you can't heat it up in a microwave it probably won't get eaten around here. But, now and then, over the last few years when I was caring for Mom, I'd buy a pumpkin pie, heat it in the microwave, put whipped cream on it, and give her a treat on a cold winter night. I don't think they were as good as the pies she made, but she still loved it.
Thanks for sharing Tipper.
JD
Tags: acorn squash, bread, butternut squash, chestnuts, muffins, pies, pumpkins, roasted pumpkin seeds
Views: 8
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Tipper on -
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on pumpkins too. You are quite the writer John : ) I've been studying the Chestnut Blight-it's amazing the effect it had on folks. Pap knew a man years ago-the man was in his late 90s. He told Pap when he first came to this country (cherokee county) there were gigantic chestnut trees as far as you could see in the valley between Murphy and Andrews. Makes me wish I had a picture of it-if that were possible.
Tipper -
-
Permalink Reply by John Dilbeck on -
Good evening, Tipper.
Look who's talking. (grin) I've been reading what you write for several months and enjoy it.
I never would have thought to talk about pumpkins and roasting pumpkin seeds if you hadn't written about it on the Blind Pig and The Acorn.
I agree with you about the chestnut blight. It changed this part of the country quite a bit.
When Pop was younger, he was a logger and cut chestnut trees with a cross-cut saw. Some of them were huge.
He said they used to collect bushels of chestnuts to eat every year.
Maybe one day they'll find a strain of chestnuts that are resistant to the blight. There are a number of organizations working on that. From what I understand, a lot of those old tree's roots are still alive and putting out shoots that grow awhile and are then killed back by the blight.
Hang on a second...
Have you seen The American Chestnut Foundation website? Here's a link to their frequently asked questions page.
Here's another interesting article: Revitalization of the Majestic Chestnut: Chestnut Blight Disease
I'm getting off-topic from pumpkins, but I think Pop infected me with his desire to see the chestnut trees come back.
All the best,
JD -
-
Permalink Reply by Tipper on
-
Thanks for the links! And thank you for the comment on Hominy too. I'm glad you are enjoying what I write-and even better I'm glad you've got information to add-cause thats what it is about.
Hope you enjoy this rainy day : )
Tipper -
-
Permalink Reply by Jane Henson on -
My oldest grandaughter love pumpkin pancakes. I make them using a large spoonfull of pumpkin mixed right into the pancake batter, with just a sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice (it is really easy to get to much pps becuase it smells amazing) just remember this is a small pancake and shake the pps accordingly.
I personally love pumpkin butter. I make it and my apple butter in the crock pot. I just toss all the pumpkin and apples in and strain it after it cooks. No pealing, no slicing and no taking the insides out. My mother believed in using everything when she preserved if possible. Alter all she was preserving for a family of 9 excluding our friends.
With modern cooking appliances the easy of perserving things now is so different than when I was a young girl learning to preserve at harvest time. I say, you can work hard or work smart. When I start the pumpking or apple butter, i just toss everything in with a few rough chops and leave it for a day and check it in the evening. Sometimes it takes 2 days to cook, but I have a really big crock pot. It also makes the house smell sooo good! -
-
Permalink Reply by John Dilbeck on
-
Wow, Jane, that sounds good.
I never thought of making apple butter or pumpkin butter in a crock pot. That sounds like a really good idea.
I bet it does make the house smell good!
JD -
New? Please Read...
Support our locally-owned businesses...
© 2012 Created by John Dilbeck.
Powered by 
.
