Helloween....Pumpkin again for dinner! ;-0
The poem -
"I light up the darkest of nights, with a smile that wrongs rights. I smell amazing when warm, & when the bees swarm I come in all sizes, although not always perfect, I can often win prizes. I have bright orange flesh, blood red when roasted and seeds that are toasted. I can feed you humans and wild life too, nothing of me goes to waste! Walk past me if I scare you, but I dare you to try me, and savour the taste." WHAT AM I.
Ahahahahahahahaha It's close to midnight Something evil's lurking from the dark Under the moonlight You see a sight that almost stops your heart You try to scream But terror takes the sound before you make it You start to freeze As horror looks you right between your eyes
You're paralyzed and loving Pumpkin!
Halloween seems to come earlier each year in gift shops & dollar stores but now our food shops too, are all getting the most out of the Halloween festivities.
The humble pumpkin has been pimped and twisted to make the very best window decoration for any brave household inviting those eager witches and ghouls to their doorstep, but its also evolved in the modern kitchen, and proven to be an ingredient that provides for so many dishes, both savoury or sweet, and approved by both the young or the more experienced pallet.
The history - Its a fruit, would you know. Pumpkin is rather like a lizard that looses its tail but is able to re grow another and flourish even better than before. Its need for damp soil means that sometimes when weather surprises us and the sun puts on its hat, leaves fall or the vines are damaged, it comes back twice as strong. Pumpkins need bees to pollinate however, and in this day the commercial need for pumpkins is so large that often they need to be hand pollinated otherwise this humble fruit aborts growing altogether and turns into nothing more than an ingredient fit for the witches caldron. Now since this member of the squash family has been around since 500BC I m sure you can imagine there are some recipes out there, and, since its name originated from PEPON a Greek word for large Melon, then adapted by the French to Ponpom, then the Brits to Pumpion before finally being challenged by the American market and made Pumpkin, there just has to be a long list of incredible recipes that we should all be keen to try.
So with the knowledge that there is no part of the pumpkin that you and I can't eat, with the knowledge that pumpkin can be steamed, roasted, boiled, smashed, made into soup, sweetened for cakes and the seeds made into healthy snacks or into oil, I hope you are now considering the Pumpkin to be friend and not foe.
I have listed a Halloween special on my website for ideas, from simple soups, to pumpkin spiced ice cream. I hope you enjoy it and twist this humble squash into a plethora of fun over this festive Halloween.
