this wasn't in the plan |but life is still pretty good

The Tall One has been bugging me to turn our pumpkin into puree and make him a wonderful treat. So today I decided why not. I had never done this before so I first did some research. This website provided some good directions. I did the baking method and I was going to keep careful track of how long it took me to cook it (since I found that it could take anywhere from 20-90 minutes), but the timer went off while I was feeding Monkey and then I lost track of time. I'm guessing it took about an hour. At this point, one side was good and mushy, but the other side was not. I simply peeled away the skin (which is very easy after it's been cooked) and boiled the not quite cooked side for about 10 minutes. I mashed the cooked pumpkin with a potato masher and now I had some fresh pumpkin all ready to make some cookies.

I used the following recipe and it turned out yummy. This recipe comes from a family friend who is an awesome baker


Pumpkin Drop Cookies

Mix together:
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Mix and fold into above mixture:
1/2 cup margarine or butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup pumpkin
1 tsp vanilla

Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes
Frost with cream cheese frosting


I ended up with almost five cups, three of which I froze. Not bad for a $2 pumpkin.