Thursday, October 14, 2010

the day kier attempted pumpkin puree

On the way home from a meeting yesterday, I stopped at Kathy's Pumpkin Patch again with one thing on my mind - pumpkin puree.  I am fresh out of canned pumpkin and instead of buying more, thought I should try my hand at making it.  Can't be too hard right? Especially since the only ingredient I want in my pumpkin puree is....pumpkin.

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So I ask the sweet lady at the patch, whom I am assuming was Kathy herself, what type of squash I should use. She suggested I grab one of the biggest varieties they had - a jumbo pink banana.

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Er, what?!

Yep - check this baby out! It was huge, and I even picked out one of the smaller ones!

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(cute pockets Kier...geez, I am such a dork)

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(Maia weighs just under 40 pounds if that helps you to imagine how large this thing was!)

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Kathy informed me that they use this squash for all of their pumpkin breads, butters, cookies, etc.  She likes this variety because it is not stringy like others and if cooked properly you don't even have to puree it! To roast, she told me to cut the ends off, then cut into circular chucks about 3-4 inches wide, scoops the seeds out and cook with a little water at 325 for a few hours.

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Sounds like the perfect thing to do on one of my busiest days of the week!

So while wrapping up work, meeting with a volunteer, doing loads upon loads of laundry, and getting ready for my early early morning trip to Detroit, I jumped right into my first attempt at making pumpkin puree.

I just pulled the cooked squash out of the oven and am waiting for it to cool before I puree and strain it (I am pureeing mine because there are a few unwanted chunks - nothing my immersion blender can't take care of though!).

Maia was getting jealous of me taking so many photos of the pink banana so I had to snap of few of her as well! hardyharhar

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In other preparations - I have 230 pages of a manual to three hole punch and get into a binder before my 6:20AM flight tomorrow.

And I totally did an arts and crafts project today - one that I am very proud of and am excited to wear on Sunday!  If you are running the IMT Des Moines Half Marathon, I should be easy to spot! :)

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My three hole punch is calling my name!  Yeah for zero sleep tonight!!!!

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