Guest Post by Monica from The Homespun Heart
One of my favorite Fall decorations is a simple pumpkin! I
recently purchased a 3.4 lb. pie pumpkin at Wal-Mart for $0.78/lb. I thought it would be fun to see how much we could do with just one pumpkin several days in a row to really stretch the value of purchasing it!
Join me as we follow the life of the this small pumpkin…
When I first brought the pumpkin home, it made a lovely decoration perched on my porch.
A few days later, it made a fun greeting for a few ladies I had over for an Autumn in Avonlea gathering.
The next morning, it made a fun vase for our First Day of Autumn breakfast.
And, at lunch, a great hiding place for lunch during our scavenger hunt.
Next, I cooked the pumpkin. (Just half the pumpkin and place cut side down on a baking sheet for one hour at 350 degrees; I got about four cups of cooked pumpkin from the two pumpkins I cooked.)
I used the cooked pumpkin and made some delicious Pumpkin Struesel Muffins.
Pumpkin Streusel Muffins
1/4 c. margarine or butter, softened
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. brown sugar
2/3 c. pumpkin
1/2 c. buttermilk
2 eggs
2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
Streusel Topping:
1/3 c. flour
3 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. cold butter or margarine
For muffins: cream together margarine and sugars. Add all remaining ingredients and mix together. In a separate bowl, cut together streusel ingredients and sprinkle over muffin batter. Bake in prepared muffin tin at 375 for 20-25 minutes. Makes one dozen muffins. Original recipe from Quick Cooking May/June 2000.
We were able to tie the muffins into our homeschooling this week by having an ‘unbirthday’ party (we’ve been reading Ask Mr. Bear!)
Then we toasted the seeds for a snack. Here’s the recipe we used:
Sugared Pumpkin Seeds
2 c. pumpkin seeds (from two pie pumpkins; rinsed and dried on a baking sheet for 48 hours)
1 egg white mixed with 1 Tbsp. water (save the egg yolk for your next batch of pancakes or scrambled eggs!)
1 c. sugar
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. salt
Mix seeds and egg white mixture. Add remaining spices and mix well. Spread on greased baking sheet and bake at 275 degrees for one hour stirring every 15 minutes.
I think I’ll send some in my husband’s lunch tomorrow. After this yummy baking, we took a short walk outside and enjoyed coming into a cozy smelling home!
All that from a $2.68 pumpkin!
How do you like to stretch a pumpkin? I look forward to hearing your ideas!
Monica enjoys blogging about the simple pleasures of faith, family and home over at The Homespun Heart.