Not so fast lindac!

If the squash is larger than the microwave (or you don't prefer that method), you can actually bake it whole in the oven (425 degrees). After about 20 minutes, the flesh should begin softening and you can take it out and slice it into halves, quarters etc. Put it back for another 40 minutes. You can also just leave it uncut until tender (90 minutes or more). Be careful to avoid scorched fingers.

If your squash is larger than the oven, enter it in a contest:)

I forget about baking it whole. But I prefer saving (or giving away) raw leftovers. But in a pinch....good reminder. Years ago a local grocery store would sell chunks of hubbard squash, in a Styrofoam tray, shrink wrapped in the produce section.
So now what do I do with that giant schmoo on my front steps? And how long will it last as a decoration before I need to cook it?

I peel winter squash by slicing into 1 -1 1/2 inch slices, using a large chef's knife, then using the knife to remove peel from each slice by placing it flat on the cutting board & slicing downward all the way around.

Well, I know that if "properly" stored, a Hubbard can last 6 months or more. Is your front step "proper" storage? Well, here it's in the high 50s in the daytime, low 40s at night, so it would last until it froze, LOL.

I like the "drop it out the window" method, now that's interesting. Of course, you tell me that after I move to a single level house, geez.

Annie

They had some of those small cream and green striped squashes that lindac92 posted above, at the supermarket, in a big pile of organic squash. It was labeled "sweet dumpling". I picked one up to try, along with a kubocha.

Sweet dumpling!!....but the one on my front steps....the schmoo is a cushaw....don't know how long it keeps. I know that the marina del chiogga don't keep long at all.

I use Nannygoat's methods of parbaking first, or baking all the way. I usually do this so that I can use it later in the week, so I can let it cool down because I'm not using it right away. But as per my usual distracted cooking techniques, parbaking has often turned into baking all the way because I forget to take it out. Not so much now that I am in an apartment so am usually not far from my kitchen even when doing other tasks. Unless I got down to talk to my landlady . . .

LindaC, I haven't grown cushaw, but my handy dandy chart for storage of such things say it should last at least 2 months at 50F. Now, I don't know if you have a 50F storage facility, but someplace cool it should keep for a while.

Annie

Thanks annie....now somewhere I have a recipe for sweet potato muffins that I'll just bet would work with squash. Maybe I need to start another thread with recipes for winter squash. My mother had 2 ways....baked acorn with butter and brown sugar or mashed butternut....where she boiled cubes of squash, drained it and mashed. Yep watery and icky!

I love pumpkin but loved it more when I could eat gluten. I find it doesn't hold up with gluten free replacements for baking. Still a sore spot with me. Oh well. I just made a Jamaican pumpkin soup - very basic - chicken stock, pumpkin, scotch bonnet, nutmeg, butter and s&p. I prefer Jamaican pumpkin for meal dishes. I use sugar pumpkins for baking though. I have half of one (JP) in my fridge which I want to run through the food processor (slices) to make pumpkin chips. Just experimenting with that one.

I've just hacked in half and roasted. After reading that some thick skinned can build up pressure and explode in the oven. Once a bit soft i cool then cut off and out of the 'skin' into chunks, then roast again with some other veg...onions, celery etc then freeze in portions for winter soups and chowders. At least pierce with a knife in a few places me thinks if roasting whole.

No winter squash for me this year. I think that August drought may have prevented mine from going wild without tending like years past. I just was not paying attention at the time...I'll just pick up a few at the farmers market for my winter soups. I used up last years frozen crop in pup food recently.

OMG I guess I need to get an ice pick or something to pierce mine now. Squash exploding in the oven, now that would be an experience!!

Pumpkin Spice is in the air, and in candles, and in soaps and even in beer. And dare I bring up 'Pumpkin Spice Latte,' whose sales have reached stratospheric levels . . . and nobody knows why.

That aside, I love pumpkins to the point where I'd grow them myself, if only I'd quit stuffing my cheek pouches with (roasted) pumpkin seeds.

Speaking of which, so far this week, I've roasted a couple of sugar pumpkins, butternut squash (my favorite for batidos, butternut & pear soup, and butternut ice cream). I also like Kabocha, but I haven't had it in years.

Btw, people with exploding pumpkins :) should simply poke the pumpkin all over with the point of a knife, before baking. I go into more detail in this 2013 thread on roasting a pumpkin and its uses: Fresh Pumpkin Recipes

Sol

LindaC, I'm told that in the south, cushaw is a favorite for squash pie. My grandma made squash much like your mother, I think. Either mashed and plain or with butter and sugar, baked. Sometimes acorn squash stuffed with fresh pork sausage or some venison mixture, but not usually. It's no wonder I didn't like squash until I was an adult...

Sol, I even saw pumpkin spice latte at McDonald's today, advertised on their board out front. I didn't stop to try it, LOL.

Annie

Be strong Annie.

PSL is almost 400 calories per serving.

Sol

Why should pumpkin flavored coffee be considered a treat???
And then there's the whole litany of pumpkin flavored beers and ales.....just say NO!!

Cookie, there is a scrumptious pumpkin cranberry upside down cake on the elana's pantry website. It is definitely on the sweet side (I reduce the agave nectar in the topping to help), but I find it work making once a year. I do appreciate a pumpkin beer or ale in the fall :)

400 calories for a cup of coffee? Oh, wow. I guess I'll have to live without it. Now, I did hear that Trader Joe's is open in Grand Rapids and that they have a pumpkin spice biscotti. I could have a couple of biscotti and a cup of black Costa Rican coffee and still not make 400 calories!

And, in keeping with the original posting, I read that Trader Joe's has about 40 pumpkin spice items in the stores right now, including ice cream, biscotti, waffles, coffee, chai tea, yogurt and pumpkin spice flavored pumpkin seeds. That one confused me a little.

Annie

Annie, it's over the top! We stopped at TJ's tonight. Pumpkin everything everywhere! It's almost nauseating.

As I said upthread, it's called pumpkinvasion. I was offered a sample of pumpkin spice chocolate caramels. Although the salt overpowered all the other flavors, chocolate and pumpkin do NOT have an affinity for each other. Utterly revolting.

Haha, we like chocolate chips in our pumpkin bread although the caramels do not tempt me at all. The pumpkin in chai tea eludes me. It is not only TJ's though; I saw pumpkin milano's at the grocery store. I can only wish that gingerbread will some day be as in vogue during the fall season.

This makes me think of when we were in Florida one year camping in our motor home. It was Thanksgiving and I made two pumpkin pies and took one and gave it to a couple from Germany that was camping in a tent nearby. They came over later and asked for the recipe. I showed them the can (plain pumpkin) and I think they said they didnt have that in Germany. Love pumpkin pie but buy the canned pumpkin......just easier. :)

We don't have canned pumpkin in Australia either. I use either an aged butternut or Kent/Jap pumpkin, cubed and steamed. I might try baking it this year to see if it makes a difference.

We have a very hard, long keeping pumpkin here called a Queensland Blue. Personally I don't care for it that much because the flavour can be very hit and miss: sometimes it's lovely, sweet and flavourful roasted and other times it's like wet cardboard. Kent/Jap on the other hand always tastes good. But back to the Queensland Blue :-) It's as tough as old boots and many joke (with some foundation in truth) that it's best cut up with an axe.

Does anyone eat plain pumpkin?

Peter Piper? (ducking....)

Several years ago I was reading a book (novel) that many times referred to Koreans as 'pumpkin eaters'. It was some historical, period-type adventure saga but can't remember the name of the book or the author. (I perceived the term to be somewhat derogatory, FWIW.)

...anyway, a quick Google using the terms 'Korean' and 'pumpkin' yields a good number to hits for different and savory recipes that utilize pumpkin...pumpkin seeming to be a generic term for about any kind of winter squash. Which is pretty much how I consider it, i.e., pumpkin is just another winter squash but far from the bestest of the lot.

And, as we know, there are a number of supposedly 'Japanese' winter squashes...

http://www.kitazawaseed.com/seeds_winter_squash.html

IMO, substituting about any of the orange winter squashes for the pumpkin in a pumpkin pie recipe makes for a better product...creamier, richer texture, I find.

I would agree with you....but "pumpkin" does come in a can, already measured and pureed....and it's soooo easy to toss together a pumpkin pie.
But botanically...all pumpkins are curcurbits as are squashes....so a pumpkin is a squash but not all squashes are pumpkins

Tish, your bread sounds delicious! I'm sure it does not leave a harsh chemical aftertaste like the TJ choco-"pumpkin" combo.

Trader Joe has granted your wish for ginger products: Trader Joe's Mini Ginger Pumpkin Ice Cream Mouthfuls.

So I was looking at mail order catalogs. Sur La Table has pumpkin spice baking mixes out the wazoo, so it's not just the McDonald's and Oreos end of the food aisle. Another catalog had a pumpkin and squash cookbook, so I went on Amazon to see if I could see inside. It was one of those pretty books with blah recipes and lots of white space, but I found another pumpkin book that was cheap (and not pretty), so I might get that just to see what what it says. As I said, I love pumpkin.

thanks Tishtosh. I promised my daughter we could make something today and I have 1/4 Jamaican pumpkin in my fridge to use up. I was going to make it with dinner tonight but I would probably be the only eating it. This way I can hide it in a dessert.

BTW, I am currently making pumpkin chips. Jamaican pumpkin sliced by food processor, olive oil, cumin, garlic powder, dash of nutmeg, salt and pepper. Baked at lower temp. Absolutely delicious. Kicks my sweet potato chips to the curb.

My fav. cookie ever:

1 cup butter
1/2 cup br. sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin (plain, not pie filling)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt

- cream butter and sugar, add pumpkin, egg and vanilla
- add dry sifted ingredients - drop on ungreased sheet
baked at 350 - 10-15 mins

Frosting:
3 tbsp butter
1/2 cup br. sugar
1/4 cup milk
-
combine and bring to boil, remove from heat, add icing sugar to thicken
to good spreading consistency (kind of runny, not too thick) and apply when cookies are cooled.

Thanks for the recipes, Cookie8.

So....

If someone gave you canned pumpkin pie mix what would you do with it? I feel like Mikey--give JC the pumpkin! I had totally forgotten about it until Cookie8 said not to use it in the cookies. :)

It's organic and the ingredients are: pumpkin puree, cane sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves and allspice.

When I accepted it, I was thinking it might be fine in a quick hot (temperature) dip mixed with cream cheese and maybe something for heat (flavor), but I haven't had the people to feed cream cheese to.

Any ideas?

It could work in bread pudding, brulee, coffee cake or smoothy recipe.

Someone brought a pumpkin "crack" cake to work and it disappeared instantaneously. I vaguely recall that the recipe said to fill a baking dish with the pie filling and empty a box of yellow cake mix (can be gluten free) over it . Then pour one cup of melted butter over that and garnish with chopped pecans. Bake at 350 for about an hour.

I would donate that can of pie filling to the food bank.

Nannygoat, thank-you for the ideas. I could not make that cake (everyone knows my pumpkin cake and don't want anything else), but I really appreciate your sharing it.

Linda, I didn't think of that! Truly I didn't. And we do have a can collection barrel.

LOL, I am on total pumpkin overkill. Not my words though, I love it.

Just made the pumpkin cranberry upside cake. Looks great. And also experimented with a pumpkin mac and "cheese". I used nutritional yeast in place of the cheese and the pumpkin gave it a great cheddar look. I know, sounds ugh. Will find out how it is received. I might even try the crack cake this weekend.

If you do, please share.

It was pretty good, although I admit I was horrified when I heard the ingredients. Not sure I would have tried it if I'd known beforehand:)

plllog, I doubt if it's something you'd try, but I remember being at a party where a sweet dip was served... I remember it being a can of pie-spiced pumpkin that had been folded into either whipped cream or cool whip. I think they used cubes of angel food cake for dipping -- or maybe it was pound cake. :O)

PM, I'm so glad you shared! It's amusing the way you said it (you made me laugh!), but I can also see that being something kids would love! I think the angel cake would hold together better, don't you? For Halloween, it could be anything though. Chocolate, or spice cake or whatever. I wonder if one could mix it with chocolate ganache instead to make ichor?

Finally tried sweet dumpling. Cut it into wedges and drizzled with olive oil. Tossed half with smoked Spanish paprika & salt, the rest with just salt. Roasted at 375 for about 30 minutes. Butternut is still my favorite, but it's nice to have other options.

I was at the plastic surgeons office this week. In addition to the usual stuff, he has a skin care center there. The special of the month was a pumpkin facial and a pumpkin facial peel. Enough already!

To be fair, pumpkin skin care products are a real thing. The special might be seasonal, but the products aren't.

Shut up with the pumpkin and squash....My daughter visited today and helped me "portion out" 2 huge squash ( read whack them with a cleaver!)..I sent more than half home with her and have a dish full in the oven....more in the refrig, and more outside.
Speak of overload!! Making my dinner of squash.. .will roast more and save for soup maybe tomorrow....freeze some....maybe I should rub some on my face before I freeze it.
Just grateful I didn't have to toss it out the window to crack it!

Today because of a predicted freeze tonight, I had to pick everything in the garden, including the winter squash. All these were from one massive plant. According to the person who gave it to me the plant is called a "Long Island Cheese Squash"

Note the yardstick in the foreground for scale.

Also called Long Island Cheese Pumpkin....or as I knew them as a kid...milk pumpkin. Makes great pie! Very old heirloom variety....and also a good baking squash.
Cook them mash and freeze....or give away a lot!!
Oh....and save some seeds!

Supposedly, this is another pumpkin shortage ahead. Canned pumpkin, that is. So, if you want pumpkin pie for Christmas, you need to get the canned stuff now. Or, better, get some cooked winter squash in the freezer.

2015 Pumpkin Shortage

I really can't believe that. Around here there is a great abundance of pumpkins and squash. It was a very good year for growing them. The stores are piled with Halloween pumpkins and bins of squash and there are displays of Libby's canned pumpkin stacked at the ends of the asiles.

"Pumpkin crops are down by about a half this year and the harvest concluded this week, much earlier than normal.

That won't make it hard to find the pumpkin
you'll need for a jack-o-lantern on Halloween. But don't wait to get
your canned pumpkin to make pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving.

Libby's, the unit of Nestle that has an estimated 80% of the canned pumpkin market, says that it
thinks it will have enough canned pumpkin to make it through
Thanksgiving, but the short harvest means it will be tight."

2015 pumpkin shortage

Around here....Yeh, same here....winter squashes seem to be in good supply. This is the first year in a long time that I haven't grown my own. I'm really the only one in the family that realllly likes them so wasn't much point in growing them. Neighbors get a CSA box and don't eat winter squashes so I'm getting their allotment as it turns out.

However, the Libby's crop is hugely concentrated in a small area of Central Illinois and, supposedly, there was too much rain at the wrong time and that has adversely affected the crop. OTOH, here in central WI, we had lots of rain, too. Mighta', musta' been the timing of when the rains hit??

I am feeding my puppy canned pumpkin for digestive issues and this thread inspired me to try some plain pumpkin. Now, in response to the OP question, I DO.

There was a joint fox hunt this morning with guests from several other hunts from various places on the east coast, including one couple that had come from New Jersey. After the hunt we hosted a tailgate brunch. Since the weather was predicted to be cold and wet, I decided to make a squash soup, to use up some of the Long Island Cheese Squashes shown above. Since some of the members are vegan, I decided to (mostly) follow gardengrlz's Thai Coconut Curry Squash Soup recipe from above.

The soup was a great success! Thanks GardenGrlz!

My as-made version of the soup was:

Thai Curry and Coconut Cheese Squash Soup
Recipe source: GardenGrlz

1 large Long Island Cheese Squash (like 20 lbs large)
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 tsp red curry powder
1 large sweet onion (chopped)
1 large red onion (chopped)
2 red jalapeno peppers (chopped fine)
1 Tbsp ground ginger paste
1 1/2 teaspoons Thai red curry paste
4 cups water
2 Tbsp Better than Bouillon Vegetable base
1/2 tsp salt
ground black pepper
ground white pepper
2 cans unsweetened coconut milk

Cut squash into wedges, scoop out seeds and cut off tough outer shell. Cut into 1" cubes. Place in large baking pan, lightly coat with olive oil, and curry powder, and bake in a convection oven at 400 deg F for 45 min to 1 hour

In large stock pot, saute onions and jalapenos in little olive oil until
tender. Add ginger paste and continue to stir and cook for another
minute or two. Add cooked squash, coconut milk, red curry paste, vegetable base and water. Puree carefully in pot with an immersion
blender, and bring to a simmer. Simmer soup for about
15-20 minutes. Add salt, black pepper and white pepper to taste.

The amount made nearly filled a 6 quart crock pot.

I got hit in the face with the pumpkin mania today. I guess it had been some weeks since I went to Trader Joe's! Good grief! Pumpkin tortilla chips?? And TJ's are the ones who have the good canned pumpkin (for the dogs) that's just pure pumpkin (though maybe some butternut or other squash that's called pumpkin).

I purchased TJ canned pumpkin for my pup and ended up nabbing several cans for myself. It's great on plain yogurt sprinkled with cinnamon. The consistency is perfect--not too thick or thin.