Happy Thanksgiving! I don’t know how your last few weeks have been, but mine have been a whirlwind. Our family experienced the loss of my Grandpa, and then I went back to work teaching. I have had my nose in the books studying alkali metals, valence electrons, tangents, proofs, the cardiovascular system, and graphing inequalities. Whew!

It has been nice to have a little time off to spend with my family and to play in the kitchen a bit. I thought that it would be silly of me to buy pumpkin puree when I have perfectly nice large pumpkins already at home. Fall decorations will be coming down anyway soon, so why not turn one of them into pumpkin puree? In case you were wondering, those strong muscular hands above belong to my husband.:)

First, slice a side off of the pumpkin and scoop the seeds into a bowl for another use.

Tilly from Simply Grateful Housewife has an easy way to clean the seeds in her Squeaky-Clean Pumpkin Seeds post.

I’ll let you read all about it on her site, but I ended up with over 2 cups of clean seeds from my pumpkin!

Slice the pumpkin, then use a spoon to scrape off any strings or seeds.

Cut into chunks (do not remove the rind) and sprinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg if desired.The spice sprinkle was my husband’s idea, and it really made the house smell festive!

Bake on a lightly greased cookie sheet at 375 for 30-40 minutes, or until fork-tender. You will find it quite easy to slice off the rind at this point.

Puree in small batches. Notice the color is bright and fresh, quite different from canned pumpkin. If you have ever steamed fresh green beans and then compared them to canned green beans, you probably noticed a similar difference in color.

Some say that if you puree a large pumpkin rather than a small pie pumpkin, you will get a watery, stringy product. I did not find this to be true.

From that one pumpkin I got about 12 cups of puree. Economically, I saved money by making my own fresh puree. The pumpkin cost $6 at a local pumpkin patch. Typically a 15 oz can sells for $1.99; this week you may have seen them on sale for less. Essentially I got 6 cans for $6 each, enjoyed a festive decoration, and I have some pumpkin seeds to play with too! 😀

Anybody have a yummy recipe for roasted pumpkin seeds? Feel free to add the link or recipe in the comments!

Homemade pumpkin cheesecake made with oven-roasted pumpkin puree is a much anticipated part of  today,  a holiday dedicated to gratefulness and enjoying God’s blessings. Happy Thanksgiving!