Friday 6 December 2013

Pumpkin day

Yesterday, two of my friends came around and we had a 'pumpkin day'! Both of them had said they had never cooked with pumpkin, so I saved the last 2 pumpkins from the 8 grown on my husband's allotment for them to come and learn!

So, they learned how to cut it open and scoop out the seeds. Then while they were cooking down in the oven, I brought out 3 thawed versions of the ones I had cooked and pureed a few weeks ago. I had also sorted 2 pie crusts and put them in the freezer before they came.

So, I used one lot of pumpkin (around 2 cups/1lb) and mixed up pie filling. They separated the seeds for me while I was doing this. and later when they had gone home, I toasted the seeds. We put the pie filling to the side because the oven was still in use.

Then one lady mixed up the pumpkin bread and one lady mixed up the pumpkin cookies (only we didn't have chocolate chips so we put 'craisins' in it instead.) This baking experience was interesting because the recipes were American recipes, so we were using cups. and the recipes weren't quite go-by-the-book because I have adapted them over the years, but that bit is only in my head! So, it was something like...well, it says this, but I usually do that!

Eventually we had oven space because the pumpkins were soft enough. and then did the pumpkin cookies, but in a cupcake paper so they were more like muffins.
and next the breads. and at last got the frozen crusts out and poured in the pie mixture and baked those. (if the crust is chilled or frozen, it keeps the crust from getting soggy. or in other words, the pie filling begins to set before the crust has got to the point where it would absorb the liquid)

And voila pumpkin things!

And then we had a cup of tea and a pumpkin muffin and they went home while I finished sorting the baking.

And by this time the pumpkins had cooled, so I took off the peeling (easy when it has been baked) and pureed the pumpkin. 2 pumpkins made 7 'lots' of 2 cups/1lb each.

Later they came round for a meeting we had here, so I sent them away with a cooled bread each. Next I have to translate the recipes because I also gave them a bag of pureed pumpkin to make something on their own!
We are all going to a Ladies Christmas luncheon on Saturday, so one of the pies will come with us. The other has gone into the freezer for when my son comes home at Christmas.

Now to keep from eating all the toasted pumpkin seeds in one go!

2 comments:

irene macwilliam said...

sounds like good fun having a number of you for a bake in.

Sarah Jacobs said...

having just made two pumpkin pies last week... the filling is so forgiving. as long as you add lots of good spices and sweetener, the exact proportions of the pie filling don't matter a whole lot...Clearly if you use heavy cream instead of skim milk you will have a difference in lushness. Even the relatively austere vegan version I had made were pretty good. ( although I prefer the taste of egg and butter fat in my pie)