Got Pumpkin?

Pumpkin pie, if rightly made, is a thing of beauty and a joy... while it lasts!

November days are pumpkin days! Simple joy days that glow orange and yellow! Days filled with porch pumpkins and table pumpkins.....the scent of pumpkin in muffins and bread and pies and Starbucks pumpkin lattes! Did you know that the biggest pumpkin ever grown was over 1000 pounds? That the Indian word for pumpkin is Isquotm squash? That pumpkins, tomatoes, zucchini and cucumbers are all fruits? That Peter Peter was the pumpkin eater who had a wife but couldn't keep her? That Cinderella rode to her ball in a horse drawn pumpkin? And that the Headless Horseman rode around with a pumpkin for a head? That pumpkins were once known for removing freckles and curing snake bites? Did you know that you can lightly salt and roast pumpkin seeds before you throw them out?! That the largest pumpkin pie on record mostly just went to waste.....or waist?!!! Did you know that you can use pumpkin in everything from main courses to ice cream to even beer?! And that one of my favorite pumpkin recipes involves opening the lid to a pumpkin, cleaning out the strings and seeds, leaving the pulp....rubbing the skin with olive oil and filling the pumpkin with your favorite precooked beef stew recipe..(mine has a touch of brown sugar that makes this dish sing!) Cook this masterpiece in the oven for 1 -2 hours, and serve in the pumpkin shell....sit back and enjoy the compliments, and the quick clean up when you toss the pumpkin serving dish away! May your pumpkin days of November be filled with simple joy!