How To Make Your Own Pumpkin Puree from Scratch

It was baking day on Thursday and while I was waiting for some bread to come out of the oven I was looking at some of my favorite blogs. Over at Housewife Eclectic they had a guest writer: Megan from Kitschy Suburbia and she posted a yummy recipe for Pumpkin French Toast. In the story leading up to the recipe she explained how the can of pumpkin puree she was using came from her mothers kitchen in California and she was using it in New Mexico. She was hard pressed to find any in New Mexico. That got me to thinking why doesn't she just get (or grow) a whole pumpkin and make her own puree, I do it every year.

This of course gave me a DUH moment as my memory kicked in and realized maybe she doesn't know how to make it. It was only a few years ago when I figured out how to do it.

Now for me it wasn't just a matter of using the freshest ingredients possible but that is a wonderful bonus as it has much better flavor then the stuff in a can.

For me it was all about a WHO THE HECK DOES SHE THINK SHE IS ... Moment. I was sitting at the school waiting to pick up my kids for the walk home and I was listening to a older lady talk about how she was making pumpkin pie using fresh pumpkin. I told her That sounds wonderful how do you cook the pumpkin to use it. (if you've ever carve a pumpkin you know it's one Hard squash). She had the NERVE to look at me and tell me "It's too hard for you dear you should stick to the canned pumpkin from the store"

WHAT??? Really!!!

Well to heck with her I'll figure it out for myself!

It turns out it's really pretty easy to take a whole pumpkin and make pumpkin puree for all your pumpkin needs.

First select your pumpkin. You don't want one of the really large ones since you'll have a hard time fitting it in your oven.

Cut off the stem like your making a Jack - O - Lantern. It will make it easier to cut it in half.

Cut it in half



and remove the seeds. Don't throw them away and I'll share the recipe for pumpkin seeds.

Place the cut pumpkin, cut side down, on a cookie sheet and pour 1 cup water around it.
(this well keep it from drying out while it bakes)

Cook at 350 for 1 hour it will turn a darker brown.
and when you push on the skin it will leave an indentation.

Let it cool off.

Then Peal the skin off. It's alot like pealing a banana.

Finally Mash or whip up in a food processor. Use it cup for cup in your Recipes and Enjoy.

Found this wonderful Idea

Hop on Over to Happy Healthy Family for a great idea on a Do It Yourself Angel Wings. They are Really cute:

happy healthy families: Last Minute Costume Help: DIY Angel Wings: Got a DIY Angel Costume in mind for Halloween this year for your little one? Since my two little goblins are boys, and my daughter is de...

Tip Of The Day

Keeping your refrigerator and freezer running efficiently is a great way to save on your electric bill and here are the things you need to do to keep it in tip top shape.

1. Pull your fridge or freezer from the wall and Vacuum the condenser coils at least once a year. When the condenser coils are dirty they can't release the heat from the fridge into the air so they don't work as well.

2. Check your gasket. This is easy just take a dollar bill and close it in the door with part of it sticking out. if you can easily slide the dollar out they your gasket isn't keeping in the cold air and needs replacing. Also make sure you clean any dirt out of the little grooves on the gasket to help prevent wear and tear.

3. If your fridge is really really old then it may be time to consider buying a new one. Look at those Sunday sales ads and decide what you're looking for before you head out to the store. This will help you get exactly what you want. Keep in mind all those extra features may just suck down more electricity so decide before hand if you really need them.

4 Defrost the Freezer. If you don't have a frost-free freezer and you have more than a half inch of freezer frost then it's time for the Great Thaw. Put all your food in a cooler the fuller the better and unplug your freezer. You can help speed things up with a couple pans of hot water. Never use a knife or other tool to remove ice you can damage the inside of your freezer.

Another "small" thing you can do: when you are putting away your groceries after a trip to the store, gather all your items for the fridge in one place. Then you can open the refrigerator one time and put everything inside.

Now that it's clean and defrosted, keep your freezer efficient by filling empty spaces with old milk jugs filled with water (remember to leave an inch at the top for expansion). These jugs are great for camping trips or picnics to keep things cold without the water mess of ice cubes.

Pumpkin Picking Recycling and Elmo

We went to the opening day of Fink's Farm Fall Festival for some good ol fashion farm fun. It's a pretty good place to spend the day though most things are geared around the younger children. My kids still had a good time on the hay ride and the corn maze and of course picking the perfect pumpkin. Though my son got stung on the cheek by a wasp, he still would go back any day.

My Daughter picked this 31 pound monstrosity that I think will have to use as a jack - o - lantern instead of for baking it is just too big to fit into my oven.


The second largest was my sons at 19 pounds, large but will still fit in the oven for pies, cakes, breads, cookies, and pumpkin soup .... YUM!


I thought this was some very clever recycling in action this old gas tank became a piggy and and this old oil tank and milk can became a clever cow.
My kids have out grown Elmo but Elmo hasn't out grown them as he traps them in the corn t-pee trying to get a hug. It was a lot of fun watching Elmo play with the little ones some were brave and walked right up for hugs others were more leery of the giant Elmo others just cried. It was like a little flash back to when mine were little.

Fall Is Here

The Cooler air has me throwing open my window to let as much fresh air in as possible before winter cold sets in and has the house closed up for the winter. It also has me searching through the farms at pickyourown.org for the freshest in season fruits and veggies. Its a great resource for those who want to shop locally. It also includes picking tips, canning and freezing tips, and a whole heap or recipes for those delectable goodies you find. Right now I have my heart set on some fresh apples and pumpkins. But these aren't the only in season fruits and veggies right now but I have some fabulous recipes for them and when the picking is done I'll share my favorite with you pictures and all.

Tip Of the Day

Baby its HOT outside. If you aren't under a drought warning and are still haven't changed your front lawn into a vegetable garden (Hey its all the rage right now) then your going to want to water it. Right?

Make sure you water in the early morning. This allows your grass time before the hot sun comes up to absorb the water and keeps the water from magnifing the suns rays which can burn the grass.

Along with this tip goes make sure you don't cut your grass shorter then 3 inches. The taller blades will shade the ground keeping it roots cool and moist longer. It will also inhibit weed growth allowing you to skip that environmentally poisoning weed killer. (Hey if its designed to kill something its a poison!)

Tip of The Day

Finding More Coupons

There are plenty of other places to find those money saving coupons your looking for and once you get the basics down then start taking a look.

The internet is a great place to start looking around. There are several websites that have printable coupons for grocerys. Now a lot of them have the exact same coupons and you can only print them out once or twice. Next check the website of your favorite foods many of them have coupons for their products. I like using the Newman's Own site. They have 3 or 4 coupons you can print out monthly. Another source is your favorite magazine. I don't use this one personally since I read the magazines at the library and the kind of frown on people cutting the up.

Some other options look for or start a local coupon trading co-op. Not everyone uses the same coupons and there is no point in throwing them out if someone else can use them. Check the inside of product packing before you recycle or throw them away some time the manufacture will print a coupon on the inside. Check your favorite grocery store web site sometimes they put up their own coupon which can be combine with your manufactures coupon.

The last to try is E-Bay. Now it is actually illegal to sell coupons but it is not illegal to sell your time so there are multiple listings for coupons there. It is a great way to get a bulk amount of coupons for products you need. Just remember to read the seller reviews, its the best way to tell the good sellers from the phonies.

Tip of the Day

So I've been trying to improve my couponing skills I am blown away by the show extreme couponing. Of course the bad thing about the show is that now that they have gotten their 15 minutes of fame retailers will be changing the way they do things so they stop losing money and others will have a hard time following in their foot steps.

Now I'm not saying I want to be an Extreme couponer since it looks an awful lot like hoarding and I simple don't have the kind of storage space needed for that kind of stuff. I won't take up all the family space for toilet paper ... can't see it happening!

What I would like is to increase my savings using coupons on stuff I can use everyday. That being said my tip of the day is for all you beginning couponers. A great site for all new (or those looking of more savings) couponers is Couponmom.com.

She takes several of the major supermarkets and posts the sales along with any matching coupons that you might have gotten from your newspaper or online coupon sites. You can get lots of tips and can even print out the deals you want to take advantage of.

Now the reason I said it was for beginners is that it doesn't include every supermarket so once you get the hang of it your going to want to start checking out the ads of the other supermarkets near you to see if you can get a better deal. It also doesn't include all coupon sources for example. After checking the sales I googled Newmans Own (one of my favorite companies) and found they have coupons available on their site as well. This kind of coupon is not included on coupon mom and you will have to look for these other sources of coupons for yourself.