Guest guest Report post Posted November 18, 2009 What I do is I cut it in half, add a little apple juice in the center, bake until soft, when it's done I scoop out all the flesh, mash it up, weight it in 1lb or measure into 4 cups, put in freezer bags and use year long in pies, breads, muffins, whatever calls for pumpkin puree. My Grandmother did this and I LOVE it! I also enjoy pumpkin bread year round. ~Tee Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest guest Report post Posted November 18, 2009 I don't know how the rest of the world does pumpkin, but here is how we do it...  We bake them at 350 until a long skewer inserted into the ceter comes out clean and is easily insterted. This varies by pumpkin so no given time just check frequently after about 45-60 minutes. You can cover your cookie pan with parchement or tin foil, which catches the juices better. We then let them cool to a temp you can handle for scooping because warm scooping comes off cleaner than cool scooping and mashing with a potato masher. Then you can pumpkin pulp for anything you like. You can freeze it in plastic bags if you like, but double bag it once cooled for extra freezer protection. We make pumpkin pie with ours using a family recipe that really is no recipe at all because how much pulp is yeilded per pumpkin varies greatly. We use sugar, vanilla cook and serve jello pudding, and vanilla extract. You have to over sweeten it because once you bake it, it will not be that sweet. The pies come out like a custard because of the jello pudding. We will be baking some for Thanksgiving and they freeze wonderfully and then you can bake them. My dad and I do the cooking. I never used canned pumpkin before because this is how we always got our pumpkin. I doubted the quality of pumpkin in the can. I just never really knew what kind of pumpkin manufactures used. Ours are family grown, so we know what we are getting. We also grow our own mustard, but this years crop is gone because of a bettle. No fresh mustard this year. When we got out for school holidays, we got into the truck and straight into the mustard field for picking and cleaning. It takes a while to clean a mess of mustard for the whole family. I hope this helps you.  Dena in GA Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest guest Report post Posted November 19, 2009 I found myself in this situation last night, some mashed baked butternut squash but no immediate use/ideas or inspiration, so after reading the responses I stuck it in the freezer for next week! I love this group! To answer your question on ideas to use it: You can substitute pumpkin/butternut squash pretty much across the board, but get the pie or sugar pumpkins. The large ones used for halloween are not that good. I am making the butternut/pumpkin ravioli next week (a cup of mashed pumpkin ends us making a tray of 15 large raviolis). I will make 30 or 45, depending on how many people show up. Soup is great, different types, but i like mine creamy (but without cream). You can use curry spices, sage, nutmeg,....lots of sauteed onions, a little ground white pepper. I blend mine with an immersion blender. The other day I made a pumpkin flan. I cannot have flan because of the eggs, but I make it for other people. It was well received. There is a dish i posted here, curried green beans and butternut cooked in coconut milk. Very good, but it uses chunks rather than pureed. I think some of that puree would make great muffins, adding pumpkin pie seasonings. Have not made any yet but it is in the plan. Will post if it turns out well. The other thing I wanted to mention, which is true of the butternut squash is that they keep at room temperature for a long time, so no need to bake all of them yet. I have two large baskets full of butternut squash that I plan on making last until january hopefully. I use the ones that start to blemish first. Have fun with your pumpkins! Ah, also remember pumpkin seeds. Soak in salty water and bake for a snack. I am keeping my butternut squash seeds for planting next year, they are beautiful specimens. , StarMote wrote: > > so i'm at the spot where i need help. i have a few pumpkins, friends that > think it's cute to give the veg-head those pumpkins. HA, i'm going to use > them this year. so i am ready to cut them in half, place face down on a > cookie sheet (parchment paper covered), bake until tender. > > this might take a while, i have 2 that are under 2 pounds, 1 that is about > 3 or 4 pounds and another that is over 10 pounds. > > i have decided that for me, baking would be the easiest way to go with > them. so okay, they get baked in the oven 350oF. they become soft, mushy > even, so what after that? do i scoop out the pulp?, do i mash it with a hand > blender?, what? how do i keep it then? can i freeze it at this point or do > i need to do something else to it? > > and just what will i do with it? make it into a pie? that would be a > good choice for my family. what if i wanted to make a soup? please any help > would be welcomed at this point. i am determined that these wonderful > pumpkins will NOT go to waste!! > > thanks for any and all help . . . qupla' > hm > > > Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest guest Report post Posted November 19, 2009 [Default] On Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:20:41 EST, StarMote wrote: >can i freeze it at this point Yes, freeze it in 2 cup servings. Then you can remove what you need for one pumpkin pie or six servings of pumpkin soup, etc. The only thing you might want to do is mash it a bit before freezing. After defrost, you can whirl it in a food processor to get the consistency you need for pies or whatever. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
