Are you tired of Turkey and Pumpkin Pie? I’m a little late with this entry but since this is Pumpkin season, let’s talk about them anyway! Now I might love to eat all things Pumpkin…in fact, I’ll even include the recipe for my favorite and much sought after Pumpkin Casserole here….but pumpkins that don’t come in a can remain a mystery to me.
Last year I thought I would make all manner of things pumpkin by going totally organic and using a real one. So I bought the biggest one I could carry from the market. Note to self (and anyone reading this)…bigger is NOT necessarily better!
First, according to all the recipes, I needed to get the insides out of this big beautiful mother of all pumpkins. I took the biggest knife I could find and cut and cut and hacked and hacked to no avail. I couldn’t cut it in half much less quarters. What was the secret???? I have countless friends who use real pumpkins so how do they do that???? Short of standing on my head, I did everything I could – and finally I got it in half. Now what?? I finally decided to ask Dr. Google…my go to guy in a pinch…and he said (or one of his minions) that I needed to roast it in the oven for a few minutes to soften the outer shell and it would be easier to remove the pulp. Aha! So that was the secret! (of course he didn’t say how to fit a huge pumpkin into the oven without the hacking).
Now I admit, I got the pulp out but when I tasted it, it didn’t taste at all like the pumpkin in a can. Yes, I’m really that naive! But even when I added all the spices, it just never quite got there. If you’ve been following my blog, you know I don’t have a lot of patience and am always looking for short cuts…..this doesn’t make my list, for sure. I vote for Libby’s canned pumpkin.
Never one to give up – I was determined to move forward so I decided to harvest the pumpkin seeds to roast them. This too is very time consuming! However, I’ve always loved roasted pumpkin seeds as a snack so it was going to be fun to make them myself. Enter that devil Murphy and his negative law! I followed the directions, sprinkled them with salt and oil, spread them on a cookie sheet and put them in the oven. I swear I only turned my back for a sec…..but when I turned back around, smoke was bellowing out of the oven. Of course they were burned. I don’t know what it is with me and pumpkins….but from now on I’m sticking to Libby’s!
Here’s the recipe I promised. Trust me, it’s phenomenal! You and everyone you serve it to, will love it!
Pumpkin Casserole
1(15oz) can Pumpkin
1 cup evaporated milk ( you can use regular milk, but don’t use as much)
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 box butter flavored yellow cake mix
I cup chopped pecans
I cup butter, melted
Mix first five ingredients. Pour into greased 13 x 9 baking dish. Sprinkle cake mix evenly over mixture- sprinkle evenly with pecans then drizzle butter over pecans.
Bake at 350 degrees for I hour. The top will get too hard if you leave it in too long.
Enjoy!
Toodles,
Funny food picture: