You say you have leftover pumpkins that you had for Thanksgiving and you just don't have the heart to throw them out? DON'T until you read this!...

Okay.

I know how you feel.

If you eat ONE more turkey leftover, you are going to Ralph.

And now you have to take down all of your Thanksgiving decorations and replace them with Christmas cheer.

And you still have those stupid pumpkins sitting outside.

You can paint them red and green and pretend they are Christmas ornaments, but I'd advise against that.

Actually, I have a much better idea.

And once you do it, you will NEVER want to use canned pumpkin again for your Thanksgiving pumpkin pies, your pumpkin bars or your pumpkin bread.

Today:

I am going to walk you through how to use REAL pumpkins for your favorite recipes instead of using the poop-brown, canned, icky pumpkin that you get at the store.

First:

Gather all the pumpkins you still have that haven't frozen outside or haven't gotten moldy. We bought these WEEKS ago but since it is chilly here, they have lasted fine:

No, that stuffed turkey is not a pumpkin. (Just in case you were wondering).

Step one:

Carve out wedges of pumpkin:

Step Two:

Carve away any seeds and pulp away from the wedges and also carve away the outside part of the wedge (like you do with a cantelope or honeydew melon):

Step 3:

Cut the wedges into smaller pieces:

Step 4:

Add about 1/2 cup of water to the bottom of a microwaveable bowl,

and then add the pumpkin pieces that you just carved up to the top of the bowl:

Step 5:

Cover the bowl with the pumpkin and the water with a piece of wax paper

and place in the microwave.

Cook on high for 15 minutes.

Stir it.

Cook on high for about another 15 minutes:

Pick pumpkin with a fork.

If it is soft, like boiled potatoes, it is done:

Step 6:
Dump them into a strainer and let all the water drain off of them.

(Be careful, they will be VERY hot!):







Step 7:
Place cooked, hot, drained pumpkin pieces in a blender and puree them:

Note: You will probably get at least 3 bowls of pumpkin per carved pumpkin to cook, strain and puree like in the instructions above. I often am cooking one bowl while puree-ing another bowl.




Step 8:
Dump the puree into a fine strainer (the one shown is a little big, if you have one with smaller holes it is better).
Let sit for about 5 minutes (to drain off the excess water away from the pulp):





Final step:
You can use it right away (like you would canned pumpkin) for your recipes OR you can:

Measure the pulp into 2 1/2 cups to 3 cups each and freeze:

You can defrost these one at at time and use the pumpkin all the rest of the year for your pumpkin recipes.

When I take them out of the freezer, I let the water drain out of the pulp one last time before measuring the pumpkin for my recipes.

I promise you, that once you make your own pumpkin like this and use it in a recipe you will NEVER go back to using canned pumpkin.

The taste just cannot compare.