Punkins!!!!

[Randi R]

I hope I haven't just missed a thread on this over the last few days. We're drowning in pumpkins, and I'd love to cook some for later use (in a pie, of course...) Does anyone have any tips or recipes for cooking and canning fresh pumpkin? It's got to be better than that stuff in the store!!

[Kayla]

Last year around halloween, there were about two or three smallish sized pumpkins that I didn't carve, but instead just displayed. Rather than throwing them out, I took them over to the little girl's house where I would babysit and we made our day into making recipes out of pumpkin. One of the easiest ones we finished (and loved) was this Pumpkin Butter recipe, which once finished, we spread on her mom's cranberry banana bread - absolutely unbelievable :)

I'm not sure if this is exactly what you're looking for, but it's easy and delicious...

Pumpkin Butter

Ingredients:

About 1 (1 16 oz. can) pound pumpkin, cooked and mashed
2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 to 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

In medium saucepan, combine ingredients; mix well. Bring to boilover medium-high heat, stirring frequently. Reduce heat, simmer 20 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally. Pour hot mixture into sterilized canning jars; seal immediately. NOTE: Unsealed Pumpkin Butter may be stored in an airtight containerin the refrigerator for several weeks or frozen several months.

[Randi R]

Kakyla, that sounds yummy. Perhaps I'll bag the pie idea and make this instead!