Pie Pumpkins ~ Interesting Tidbit ~ Stocking up and Preparedness

(2018 photo, the last time we grew them on the homestead)

There was a point when organic butter at the grocery store became horribly high priced.  It's still high, but I try to stock up when they have coupons or a sale.

However, I learned something new!  I have not tried it yet, but I have pie pumpkins planted this year.  

There are concerns all over this country dealing with certain foods, shortages, price hikes and the like.  

Most people are aware you can substitute unsweetened applesauce for oil when baking, but this next tidbit is new to me.

You can substitute pumpkin puree for oil or butter when baking, using 1 to 1 ratio.  Meaning if your recipe calls for 1 cup oil, use 1 cup pumpkin puree.

At harvest time, I roast the pumpkins (cut in half as shown in the photo), and let them cool down.  I scrape out the pumpkin, puree it in the food processor and freeze it in freezer containers.

Of course there are many other uses for pumpkin puree, and we even make a macaroni dish with pumpkin and sage.  

I hope you enjoyed this tidbit, and I hope to learn of many more as our country attempts to heal all the massive damage that was done to it.

Providing we have a  nice garden year and a nice harvest, we'll have them this year.  

My blogger "featured post" gadget is not working.  I will only pick up most recent posts, so that's frustrating.  I'm trying to update it. 

Garden is almost in. . .

Yesterday was a busy day for me.  Although late this year, I got some things planted in the vegetable garden - green beans, wax beans, zucchini, yellow squash, pie pumpkins, beets, carrots, radishes, sweet potatoes, red potatoes, green bell pepper plants, and mullein.  

I have more to plant.  Popcorn will go in next, and when my grow bags arrive I'll get my swiss chard, collards and kale planted.  We have resorted to putting down layers of cardboard topped with soil filled grow bags in place of building raised beds this year (to avoid high cost of lumber).

However, I have something digging in my grow bags that are already out there, so it'll be interesting to see how this goes.  I may need to put up a scarecrow this year again.

Our resident ground hot almost crossed the road the other day.  Our county pest picker-upper will no longer pick up.  It's up to us to trap and release.  I just may have to, if I can locate a release location.  I have eaten ground hog (at a historical festival roasted over a pit and seasoned), but .....

Our mower guy has been showing up again and taking that all day task off our list.  Thankfully too.  It's freeing up my husband's time to help with the garden and other things still on the long to-do list here.