When is a pumpkin not a pumpkin?

What most people tend to think of as pumpkins–those beasts that some folks try to grow to several hundreds, if not thousand, pounds–are not what are used in cooking.

Image from GIFPHY but it wouldn’t actually “gif” for me.

Sure, there are pie pumpkins which are smaller varieties that don’t require elephants to move around, but their flavor is also bland at best. If you want to know what you’re actually getting when you buy a can of “pumpkin” puree, head over to this interesting post on All Recipes.

For us, we usually grow acorn squash or butternut squash (my fav) and use them in place of any and all recipes calling for pumpkin or sweet potato. It works every time.

Our squash harvest for this year…

This one is the earlier harvest; the picture above is of the last of the harvest right before the frost. There are a few kabocha squash in the back.

We roast a whole bunch at a time, and then we freeze the pulp we can’t use right away in 15oz containers to mimic the amount often asked for in recipes (1 can = 15 oz). We’ve eaten the seeds in the past, but mostly, we give them to the chickens who appreciate it.

One of our favorite things to make with the pulp is “pumpkin” pie…me, because it’s dang easy, and the Spousal Unit because he actually likes the taste.

I love a good decorative edge on my pie crusts All baked, plus a loaf of sourdough artisan bread. Bon appétit!

Bet you can’t guess what we’ll be having for Thanksgiving. But it’s nothing special; we have this pie probably every 3rd week.

For those readers in the U.S., what dessert do you have planned for your Thanksgiving meal?