Friday, October 30, 2009

Pumpkin Time!

Good old LOGS (local overpriced grocery store) actually had a decent deal of for once in a blue freakin' moon: pumpkins for 19 cents/lb. For $2.53 I got these beauties:I spent yesterday roasting them up, pureeing the meat, and freezing the pumpkin in one and two cup portions. I got exactly 14 cups of pumpkin puree from these two pumpkins! Woo-hoo!I also saved all the seeds and roasted them, in addition to the seeds my roommate gave me when she emptied out the pumpkin she bought for Halloween. I decided to have some fun with the spices Palidor sent me in her care package recently. I made three different kinds of roasted pumpkin seeds (always a favourite snack of mine at this time of year!): curry flavour, using the curry powder Palidor's dad uses; Chinese Five Spice; and just plain salted.The curry ones smelled absolutely out of this world! They needed some help in the flavour department, however. I think these would be good on a salad or as a garnish. I can tell you, though, that I am so looking forward to making a real curry with this powder because the aroma blew me away. The Five Spice were OK...They also needed a bit of help. I think, in retrospect, I should have added some sugar to them. The salted ones were great!

Thanks again, Palidor!!!

Have a great Halloween everyone!

16 comments:

Coleens Recipes said...

I can't believe you got that much cooked pumpkin from those little pumpkins!! I'm very impressed.I never have much luck toasting pumpkin seeds. I don't think I roast them long or hot enough because they never get crunchy like I think they should.

Denise said...

Cant wait to see what you are going to do with all that pumpkin!!

Palidor said...

Wow, you're really creative! I never would have thought of currying pumpkin seeds! Or using five-spice either. Maybe a little salt would have helped with the flavor of the curry ones.

Karen said...

Can you still use them as Jack o Lanterns or are you basically chopping them up into bits??? I have one pumpkin this year and I'll save the seeds as usual to snack on but have always then tossed the big burnt thing once halloween has passed.

NKP said...

Great idea to do up your own seeds - I agree, you probably just need a little sugar or a little more salt to bring out the spices.
What a great deal on pumpkins!

Anonymous said...

Hi W, you really know how to epitomize on avoiding waste. Really that's something i am really bad at and need to correct my waysre for su. I love what you've done with the pumpkin seeds too...the curried ones as a salad topping sounds gorgeous to me...

I was expecting to see a jack o lantern at the end of the post... ? Is that for later ; ) ?

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

A great time! Happy Haloween!

Cheers,

Rosa

Bob said...

That's a lot of puree! Can't wait to see what you're going to do with it.

You know, I tried to make pumpkin puree a while ago and despite leaving the pumpkin in the oven for almost twice as long as every recipe called for they didn't cook all the way. Made for a grainy final product. I wonder why that is.

Wandering Coyote said...

OK, no I'm not making any Jack O Lanterns this year - I never do, actually. I'm not all that into Halloween - I just took advantage of the wicked pumpkin sale so I could get some cheap pumpkin puree!

@ Bob: These pumpkins were quite stingy, actually, and baked up more like spaghetti squash. That's why I put all the pumpkin through the food processor this time. I usually don't have to do that.

Inspired by eRecipeCards said...

hey punkin seeds... I just did me a batch. Maybe next year I will do something with the meat...

it all sounds terrific to me

Future Grown-Up said...

You roasted your own pumpkins! I can't tell you how in awe I am of that (of course, bear in mind I had a near break down in the kitchen after trying to scoop one out to bake with).

Love the ideas you came up with for roasting the seeds.

Reeni said...

How cool! Fresh pumpkin at your finger tips! The seeds sound yummy.

Unknown said...

It's awesome that you found a good deal on those babies! We have a canned pumpkin shortage in these parts, so I'm gonna have to do what you did. Good to know it worked out well for you! I'm sure you'll be creating some awesome stuff with it. I've yet to do pumpkin seeds...yours sound fab!

Chris said...

Can you believe it's Halloween? I mean, crap, tomorrow is NOVEMBER. Where the hell did the year go?

And dammit, how come I haven't carved a jack o lantern yet?

Wandering Coyote said...

Chris: I hear you - this year has gone ridiculously fast for me, too. I don't "do" Jack O Lanterns. I cannot be bothered & I'm not that into Halloween.

monicajane said...

love all the pumpkin stuff on the blogs...

you know what I do when pumpkins can no longer be found?

I use butternut squash...it works pretty much in anything that calls for pumpkin...

someday I'll have a huge freezer, now I try to minimize what I freeze...

your pumpkin looks very yummy.

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