Pumpkins!

 

When Cletus talks about our Carolina Reaper peppers, he usually refers to them as "Stoopit hot".  This past week, we have experienced "Stoopit hot" weather, and I imagine most of you have as well.  

Pumpkins in general struggle in extreme heat.  Seminole pumpkins look around and say, "Bring it on!"  Honestly, they thrive in any weather conditions.  We have several plants which survived the (unexpected) winter weather we had.  They thrive in cold, heat, drought, and flood.  They grow several inches each day (that is not an exaggeration; Cletus got out and did measurements over the course of several days and the conclusion was 9 inches in 3 days).

Right now our back area is covered.  Opening the quail condo has become a challenge.  

The trailer?  Well, I'm sure it is in there somewhere.   

The barn cats love to use it as cover when they are hunting.  

The pollinators are very busy collecting pollen, staggering around with their poor little legs covered with yellow.  


 Pumpkins are everywhere out there and we are harvesting as many as we can find.

This week I took one which needed to be cooked and used it like my Mama used to use Acorn Squash.  

 

Baked Seminole Pumpkin 

1 Seminole Pumpkin

Butter

Brown Sugar or maple syrup (optional; if you are a diabetic like me, leave this off)

Salt

Pepper 

Preheat the oven to 350.  Remove the neck of the pumpkin and set it aside.  Split the belly of the pumpkin and remove the seeds and strings.  Depending on the size, you may need to cut the halves into quarters.  Prick the flesh with a fork.  Put 1 tsp of butter into each piece, then add brown sugar or maple syrup, salt, and pepper.  Bake for an hour or until the flesh is fork-tender.

I do not use a lot of seasoning (salt, pepper, sugar) when I cook it like this.  The flavor of the pumpkin is exceptional and does not need much to enhance it. 

We were only able to eat one quarter each, so the other two quarters were scraped out, mixed together and will be pumpkin fluff for the next meal.   

The neck can be sliced and grilled, fried, or if you have a dehydrator you can dry it and have pumpkin powder.  

A mandoline is very helpful with the slicing.  The slices can be safely kept in the refrigerator in a plastic bag for up to 5 days.

Remember, if you do not have seminoles growing all over your back yard just give us a call 😊 

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