Pumpkin Time!

frugalwife — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 16:04:35 +0000

We got a Pumpkin in the last CSA box of the year. In doing a little research, I decided I was going to cook it and make fresh Pumpkin puree. I mean, that has to be better than the canned stuff right? I also ended up making Roasted Pumpkin Seeds. I figured, why waste it! Plus, I love roasted Pumpkin Seeds.

I ended up with 1 1/2 cups of Pumpkin Puree when all was said and done. I used 1 cup of it in Pumpkin Bread. I used the recipe in my trusty Red “Better Homes and Gardens” Cookbook but had to halve it because I didn’t have enough pumpkin for a full batch. I substituted directly for the canned pumpkin and the bread turned out excellent. The recipe ended up making 2 loaves so one will probably end up in the freezer for now. The other 1/2 cup of Pumpkin is probably going to go into the freezer as well. We’ll see how it turns out when I go to use it. I’m thinking I may make a Pumpkin Spice Cake with Cream Cheese Icing (once again from my BH&G Cookbook) for Thanksgiving. I’ll try to write an update with how the freezing goes and how the cake turns out.

The following recipes are available after the jump: Pumpkin Puree and Pumpkin Seeds.

Pumpkin Puree
1 Pumpkin (not a Jack O’ Lantern)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cut the Pumpkin in half, stern to base. Remove seeds and pulp. Set on cookie sheet, cut side down. Cover securly with tin foil. Bake 1 hour, or until tender.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
I followed the instructions here: http://www.pumpkinnook.com/cookbook/recipe03.htm

Extract sees from pumpkin.
Separate and discard pulp.
Thoroughly wash seeds in warm water.
Spread seeds out onto a cookie sheet.
Sprinkle generously with salt.
Put into oven and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 20 minutes.
Check every five minutes and stir, adding more salt or to taste.
Check seeds to see if they are done by taking a sample out, allowing to cool and tasting. If the insides are dry, they are done.
Allow to cool and serve.

CSA: It begins

frugalwife — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 19:10:23 +0000

I decided this year that my husband and I were going to participate in a CSA. For those that aren’t familiar, CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. It pretty much guarantee’s a farm that they’re going to have someone to buy their crops. And the great thing for the farmers is that they get their payment early in the year so they have the money they need when they’re doing the planting.

I found the farm we decided to patronize by going to http://www.localharvest.org/csa/. They have a pretty good search feature to find farms that are near you or have delivery spots near you. The farm we get our veggies from is Erehnow Farm. Since there is only 2 of us, I wanted a farm that would do a partial share. I was afraid that we would be overwhelmed with vegetables and they would go to waste.

So you might be wondering, if you’re so frugal why did you pay over $300 for 5 months of veggies? In this case it doesn’t have anything to do with money. You see, I’m not much of a veggie person. In fact, I could never eat another vegetable and be content. There in lies the problem. Turns out veggies are good for you! A body needs them to stay healthy. Plus my husband loves them and has been pestering me to buy some. This was my way to force myself to cook with vegetables. And a way to force myself to cook with vegetables that I wouldn’t otherwise buy.

We had our first few weeks already. I haven’t blogged about them sooner because most of what we had was green leafy things. Here’s what we have gotten so far (that I can remember):

Lettuce! (many, many kinds and colors)
Kale
Brocolli
Green Onion
Garlic Scapes
Garlic
Basil
Strawberries
Raspberries
Sour Cherries (more to come on these!)

It’s been pretty neat so far. I can’t wait until we start getting into things like corn and beans. They’re my favorite when they come from the garden.

Frugal Wife » csa

Pumpkin Time!

CSA: It begins