The Pumpkin Aftermath

My archenemies, the evil squirrels, can now munch happily on the carved pumpkin carcasses lying around my front yard. I only managed to carve 8 of them, but I was pleased with the results. The squirrels can pick for another day, and then the pumpkin parts left over will be taken to a back neglected garden and dumped. They'll rise from the dead, I'm sure. Either by nourishing the soil for next season when I try to revive the garden - or a surprise pumpkin or two may appear from the wreckage.

I did have several pumpkin in a few varieties that were uncarved and will find life in a number of ways.

The cheese pumpkins, the beige ones that look like - well, a wheel of cheese, will be roasted and used in pies and cakes and pumpkin butter. They have a lovely, sweet pumpkin flavor and process to a smooth and creamy consistency.

The little grey one in the picture is a Jarrahdale. It's supposed to be a very sweet, stringless pumpkin. Hmmmmm, I'm thinking Pumpkin cheesecake for this little baby.

The white pumpkins seemed to be everywhere this year. I'm not sure if these are Lumina's or Cotton Candy's, but they will be roasted up for some edible goodness. I might trying cutting these into chunks and tossing them into stews or roasted along with the potatoes.

My orange pumpkins will serve in a number of ways. Some will be made into our Honey Pumpkin Face Mask. Some will be dried and ground for some new skin care product experiments ( ;-) ). And some will be roasted and mashed and added to the food of my multitudes of cats and my dog, Rudy. Pumpkin is a great digestive regulator for cats and dogs. Plus they think it's yummy!

I'll also be saving some of the seeds from this collection to roast - and to plant for next year. In fact, looking at this list of things to do with all these pumpkins, I may have to look for a few more.