DIY Pumpkin Puree

We harvested lots of pumpkins from our garden this year, so I am pretty sure I will be making lots of pumpkin puree! When baking and making puree, you want to use pie pumpkins, or sugar pumpkins, instead of carving pumpkins. Baking pumpkins are smaller, more flavorful, and contain less water. 

DIY Pumpkin Puree

Ingredients:

• 1 pie pumpkin
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups water

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Wash any dirt off the pumpkin. 
3. Remove stem or cut top off of pumpkin.
4. Cut the pumpkin in half.
5. Scoop out the seeds.
6. Place the pumpkin halves cut side down in a roasting pan.
7. Pour the water in the roasting pan.
8. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minute or until the skin darkens and it can easily be pierced by a fork.
9. Remove from oven and let cool.
10. Remove the skin.
11. Using a stick blender, puree the pumpkin until smooth. If using a blender or food processor, blend half of the pumpkin at a time.
12. Line a colander with coffee filters or paper towels and place over a deep bowl. 
13. Place the pumpkin in the colander and let the excess water drain into bowl over the course of 30 minutes to 1 hour, stirring occasionally. You may also place the pumpkin in cheesecloth and squeeze out the excess liquid.
14. Use the pumpkin puree in a recipe, or freeze it for future use.

 

Grab your pumpkin and preheat the oven to 375 degrees. 

 

Wash any dirt off of the pumpkin. 

 

Remove the stem, or cut the top off the pumpkin.

I used a folded up paper towel to hold and pop the stem off, because, as you can see, the stem has all these prickly little spines all along it. 

 

Cut the pumpkin in half. I tried several knives, and found the paring knife easiest to do the job.  

 

I cut the pumpkin vertically, however afterward I read that it may be easier to cut the pumpkin in half horizontally instead.

 

Scrape out the seeds and stringy guts. 

 

If you happen to have a grapefruit spoon, they work great for this type of job.

Don't throw the seeds away! Save them to make roasted pumpkin seeds! Later this week, I'll share my recipe for Kickin' Honey Roasted Pumpkin Seeds.  

 

Lightly rub olive oil across the cut side of the pumpkin.

  

Place pumpkin cut-side down into roasting pan and pour the water into the bottom.

 

 Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minute or until the skin darkens and it can easily be pierced by a fork.
Remove from oven and let cool.

Remove the skin, it should peel away pretty easily.

Using a stick blender, puree the pumpkin until smooth. If using a blender or food processor, blend half of the pumpkin at a time. 

 

 Line a colander with coffee filters or paper towels and place over a deep bowl.

 

Place the pumpkin in the colander and let the excess water drain into bowl.

 

Let it sit anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 hour, stirring occasionally. You may also place the pumpkin in cheesecloth and squeeze out the excess liquid.

Use the pumpkin puree in a recipe, or freeze it for future use.

 

 I used the puree to make this delicious Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie with Gingersnap Crust from Martha Stewart Living.

DIY Pumpkin Pie Spice

Fall is here! This is quite possibly the only time of year you use pumpkin pie spice, so you may not have it on hand. Or, maybe you're using it in everything, and run out. I was in the middle of making my Pumpkin Spiced Latte Scrub the other day when I realized I was totally out of an important ingredient, pumpkin pie spice! I started to get upset, then realized it would be super easy to just make my own, since I knew I had the listed ingredients in my cabinet already. 

DIY Pumpkin Pie Spice

 Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
•  2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger 
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground allspice

 

 

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, combine ingredients and mix well.
2. Store in an airtight container.

 

Combine cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and allspice in a small bowl.

 

Mix ingredients until well-combined. 

 That's it!

You could easily double this recipe to get more, but this recipe fits perfectly inside these small pumpkin pie spice containers so I just refilled the one I had!

Busy Bees

 

It's so awesome to watch the bees working in the garden. Many plants that produce fruit rely on bees for pollination. So we want them around! Many pesticides kill bees, and this is just one of the many reasons we choose to not use any pesticides in our garden. Or anywhere on our property, for that matter. Here, I got a few good shots showing some bees in action.  

In the above pictures, you can see the pollen sacs on it's legs filling up with pollen, as it collects from corn anthers.

Sriracha Popcorn

Sriracha popcorn is our favorite late night snack. Even our two daughters love this spicy popcorn, and request it frequently. 

We got a popcorn popper a few years ago and we have been popping our own popcorn every since. Totally worth the $20. It's much healthier and cheaper than buying microwave popcorn from the store (If you're interested, here's just one article that discusses why you should avoid microwave popcorn). Also, it probably takes the same amount of time to make so it's not really any more of a burden.You can also make popcorn on the stove top, but this is just easier for us.

Anyway, some friends of ours shared this popcorn recipe with us sometime last year and I cannot even tell you how many times we have made it since. It's a real game changer for popcorn, in my opinion. So addicting. So give it a try!

Sriracha Popcorn
(Makes approx. 16 cups)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup popcorn seeds
• 1 (+/-) tablespoon Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce
• 1-2 tablespoons butter (or coconut oil)
• Sprinkle of sea salt 

 Directions:

• Pop the popcorn seeds, using your desired popping method.
• Melt the butter and quickly mix in the Sriracha sauce.
• Pour over popcorn, stirring as your pour to ensure even distribution. 
• Sprinkle with sea salt and stir one more time. 
• Enjoy! 

 

  

Sometimes we use coconut oil instead of the butter, but I really think butter just tastes better with the hot sauce. Experiment and see what you like best.

I never measure, I just eyeball it and squirt in whatever looks good.

 

Mix the Sriracha and butter together and quickly pour over the popcorn. It will separate if it sits too long. 

 

Pour the sauce mixture over the popcorn. I find that stirring as I'm pouring helps get a more even coat.

 

Sprinkle with sea salt.

Give the bowl one last good stir.

 

Enjoy.

DIY Brown Sugar

Making your own brown sugar is so easy and only requires two ingredients. The result is a much softer and fluffier brown sugar than what you buy in the store, and it's cheaper! It's also great because you can control how dark or light you want your sugar to be by simply adjusting the amount of molasses added. Give it a try and I doubt you'll go back!

DIY Brown Sugar

Ingredients:

• 4 cups granulated sugar 
• 6 tablespoons unsulphured molasses

Directions:

1. Combine the sugar and molasses in a stand mixer (or a bowl if you're using a hand mixer).
2. Mix until completely incorporated and no clumps of molasses remain. 
3. Store in an airtight container.

Combine in a medium bowl and mix well, until there are no clumps of molasses remaining. I just turn my KitchenAid on low and walk away for about 5-10 minutes.

That's it! Now you have fluffy and fresh brown sugar! Store in an airtight container or a plastic bag with the air pressed out. So easy!