Making use of discarded pumpkins

[macmex]

Healthy, delicious food is sometimes also quite economical, especially, one enjoys "foraging." The other day I went past a dumpster by some apartments and discovered that someone had been house cleaning. Apparently they had purchased two large Jack O Lantern pumpkins for Halloween and/or Thanksgiving decorations. They had obviously kept them inside their apartment, we've been through sub zero temps in recent days. I spotted both pumpkins near the bottom of the dumpster. I COULDN'T ignore all that good food! After some wrangling I managed to get one out. I stopped short of climbing in there to get the other. Still, I was thrilled! Our winter squash harvest was a bit on the light side in 2023 and this would bolster our supply.



Now, you might be thinking, "Yea, but that kind of pumpkin isn't the best for culinary purposes," and you'd be correct. They're not. However they're still good. I split them, scoop out the seeds (for roasting) and then bake the halves until soft. Then I scoop out the flesh, freezing it in 2 - 3 cup portions, in ziplock bags. These stack nicely in our freezer. The flesh, while not as fine as a truly fine variety of squash, can be run through a blender or food processor and it's quite good.




Years ago, I remember when we couldn't have a garden one year. I stopped by a farm stand in early December and paid $5 for a Big Max Pumpkin, so large that I almost couldn't get my arms around it. I split it into manageable pieces and followed this procedure. That one pumpkin supplied all our squash needs until we could grow some of our own!

This pumpkin can be used just like butternut or buttercup squash but our absolute favorite way to use it is to make a hot Mexican beverage called Atole. Mexicans make atole with any number of things. Squash is one of our favorite flavors of atole, When we lived in Mexico, we attended a church which had a Christmas potluck every year. One elderly woman made pumpkin atole every year. It was to die for!

I had to recreate the recipe as we neglected to get it from her. Once I figured it out, I added my own twist to it, using pumpkin pie spices. We LOVE pumpkin atole , using it for a light evening meal on cold winter nights. It's great to sit by the fire with a hot mug of this beverage, dipping homemade bread in it.



Recipe:
To a blender or food processor add:
Some milk (put this at the bottom so the machine doesn't get jammed by the squash)
2-3 cups of cooked pumpkin/squash
1/2 teaspoon of powdered ginger
1 teaspoon powdered cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves (optional: add 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg)
Optional: 1 egg

Blend this up, adding milk until you have approximately 2 quarts of atole.
Sweeten to taste. (We use brown sugar)

Place into a sauce pan and heat until just about to boil.

Serve

Previous Thread: Pumpkin Atole

[FrostyTurnip]

This is why I love winter squash and pumpkins!  They can take up some room, but no special housing required.  I picked up some super cheap decorative c. Moschata on after Thanksgiving sale.  Great food security.  I gotta try the atole! 

[woodeye]

Your method of using discarded pumpkins sounds great, macmex. Good job!

[heavyhitterokra]

I can vouch for George's Atole recipe. That is some good stuff!

[macmex]

Well, last night I finally finished processing that whole pumpkin. It had exceptionally thick flesh, and, as I expected, not as fine a flesh as a really good eating squash.


Still, as I worked, scooping it out, I thought I could have enjoyed it as a winter squash vegetable, just fine. By the time I was finishing up on the second half (had to bake each half separately due to their large size), I stopped being as careful to get every smidgen of flesh out of the skin. My wife reminded me that we have A LOT of frozen squash in the freezer.

I left some flesh in the skin, which would go to the poultry this morning. They will consume every last bit of it, as if it were candy. This is in line with how squash like this were traditionally used in New England. My mentor, as a teen, told me that he and his family had raised rutabagas for winter chicken feed too.

I almost forgot to mention, this pumpkin also yielded a good many seeds. I don't grow such seeds out because of the likelihood of crossing (back where it was produced), but my wife particularly adores roasted pumpkin seeds.



The picture doesn't show it, but there was nearly a pint of seeds in that pumpkin. They were quite large and thick shelled. 

[heavyhitterokra]

Baked pumpkin seeds are the bomb! Especially the bigger ones. Congratulations on your winter find! I can relate to your excitement there, as I'm a sucker for a stray, leftover pumpkin myself.