Pumpkin Talk – Pumpkins Leave No Wasteful Carbon Footprint

What better time to talk pumpkins than now? Because of all the really great farms Quincy, MA is a perfect place to spice up dinner time cooking with the orange delicacy. “Pumpkins are a unique holiday decoration in that they are entirely natural, yet a majority of the nature gets thrown out once you’ve carved them. So, how can you make sure that the entire pumpkin is being used and not put into a landfill?

A simple solution is to compost it! The pumpkin in four or more sections, slicing from top to bottom. Scrap out the pulp that is left and place it first into the compost pile. Check to make sure that no wax from a candle or metal candle holders are left inside. Wax won’t decompose and is not meant for the compost pile.”

Fun Quincy pumpkins fact: a 5 pound pumpkin will yield about 4 1/2 cups of the mashed, cooked pumpkin. One can of pumpkin, 15 to 16 ounces, yields about 2 cups of mashed pumpkin.

One great recipe for pumpkin seeds is the skillet roasted seeds.

For this recipe use 2 cups of pumpkin seeds cleaned of pulp
1/2 tablespoons melted butter
1 1/4 teaspoon salt

Heat a large, heavy bottomed, dry skillet over medium heat. Add pumpkin seeds shake and stir the seeds constantly as they are toasting to prevent burning.

When the pumpkin seeds begin to get browned, start to pop open, and reached their aroma, remove from heat.

Sprinkle toasted pumpkin seeds with salt, garlic powder, onion powder, seasoned salt, cayenne pepper, or your choice of seasonings. Toss to coat.

Another great recipe for those on the go is the microwave pumpkin seeds

For this recipe separate the seeds from the stems.
Use a microwave safe dish.
Mix one cup of pumpkin seeds and 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
Cook and microwave for two minutes.
Remove from microwave and stir.
Continue to cook and 1 minute increments, stirring in between, until desired crispness. Add salt and spices to taste.

Fun Quincy pumpkin fact: Colonists sliced off the pumpkin tops; remove the seeds and filled the insides with milk, spices and honey. This was baked in hot ashes and is the origin of pumpkin pie.

 Print This Post