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Preserving Your Pumpkin Harvest
By Rachel Paxton
By the middle of September you already have a pretty good idea
which pumpkin is going to be your prize winner this year. The big
one with the round smooth face will make a perfect jack-o-
lantern come October, as will the tall skinny one that seems to
call out "Pick me!" as you gaze out over this year's pumpkin
patch with childlike anticipation.
So after you've picked the best pumpkins to carve and display,
what do you do with the rest of them? I've discovered some
interesting and unique ways to use up every last bit of your
pumpkin crop this year.
Everyone knows you can toast and eat pumpkin seeds, but did you
know you can also sprout them? First soak them by placing them in
a glass jar with just enough tepid water to cover them. Cover the
jar with cheesecloth, holding the cheesecloth in place with a
rubberband at the neck of the jar. Let the seeds set in the water
overnight to make sure they're nice and soft. The next morning,
drain the water from the jar by gently turning the jar upside
down until all of the moisture is gone. Place the jar out of the
light (in a closet or cabinet). The temperature should remain at
about 70 degrees. Rinse the seeds in the jar 4 to 6 times a day.
After 3 days you should have approximately 1/4-inch sprouts.
Rinse them once more and set the jar in a sunny window for about
a day until the sprouts grow tiny leaves. Eat them in salads,
sandwiches, or add them to soups and casseroles. They're very
healthy and easy to make!
You can also make flour out of fresh pumpkin. Cut the raw pumpkin
into chunks, cut off the skin the best you can and dry in the
oven. Grind the dried pumpkin in the blender or a food mill. Use
pumpkin flour as a partial substitute for all-purpose flour in
your favorite breads and other baked goods. Store in an airtight
container.
Last but not least, why wait to enjoy the fruits of your labor?
Try these easy quick bread recipes. Quick breads are easy to
prepare because you don't have to mess around with yeast and
waiting for the dough to rise. You just mix a few ingredients
together in a bowl, pour into a loaf pan, and bake! It's really
that easy.
Cranberry Pumpkin Bread
2 eggs, beaten slightly
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup cooked pumpkin
2 1/4 cups flour
1 cup chopped cranberries
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine eggs, sugar, vegetable oil,
and pumpkin, mixing well. Combine flour, pumpkin pie spice,
baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center
of the batter and add the pumpkin. Stir in cranberries. Spoon
batter into 2 greased and floured loaf pans. Bake for 1 hour.
Autumn Bread
2/3 cup shortening
3 cups sugar
4 eggs, well beaten
1 1/4 cups cooked pumpkin
2/3 cup water
3 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
Chopped nuts (optional)
Mix all ingredients together and pour into two greased loaf pans.
Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 1 hour.
Rachel Paxton is a freelance writer and mom who is the author of
the Creative Homemaking Recipe of the Week Club Cookbook, a
cookbook containing more than 250 quick easy dinner
ideas. For recipes, tips to organize your home, home decorating,
crafts, and frugal family fun, visit Creative Homemaking
.
SeptemberLady "Born and have lived in Southern MD most of my life. My husband and I just finished building a new home on the family farm, where I hope to retire in the near future.
My interests: Doll collecting, cookbook collector (especially old ones), antiques, family/friend get-togethers, cooking/baking, flower and vegetable gardening, bird-watching."
Memorial Day: Backyard Grilling Memorial Day signals the start of barbecue season. Everyone wants to light that fire and charcoal that first meal. A few tips might pre- vent your entree from becoming a "Burnt Offering."
Read these tips for plenty of grilling ideas, make this year's barbecue perfect!
Growing and Using Garlic Chives Garlic chives, Allium tuberosum, is a hardy perennial (Zones 3-9) that will grow to about 12 inches high. The stems are skinnier and flat, instead of hollow as are regular chives, with greenish white blooms that are about an inch wide and not as rounded. They bloom in the summer rather than spring. The bloom stalks grow much taller than the leaves, sometimes up to 30 inches.
The stems and blooms are both edible and have a mild garlic onion taste. I've noticed many writers will list this as primarily as an Asian herb, as they are also known as Chinese chives, Chinese leeks, ku chai (China) or Nira (Japan), but it has many other uses as well!
The Perfect Porch Swing Perhaps it is the soothing rhythm or the reassuring creak of the porch swing that attracts us. Perhaps it is the companionable silence or quiet conversation. Or maybe swings simply remind us of more genteel times.
Although porch swings can be purchased in a wide range of materials, the most common are wicker and wood. You can also make your own porch swing from one of the myriad of woodworking patterns available at garden centers, hardware stores, or on the Internet.
Memorial Day: Backyard Grilling
Growing and Using Garlic Chives
The Perfect Porch Swing