Pumpkin and Squash

I have posted about our pumpkin adventures here and here. We have updated and refined the process over the years. This year we only had a few pumpkins but also had banana squash, hubbard squash and butternut squash. We cooked and combined all of these for our "pumpkin" this year. Most store bought canned pumpkin is not actually pumpkin, many other squash have similar flavors but smoother consistency.

In our usual routine we de-seeded and cut up the squash. 

The best and easiest way to cook the pumpkin is...in my pressure cooker! Usually used for canning we have found it is great for cooking large quantities of things like potatoes and squash too. The pan is large and it cooks easily.

Once cooked we run it through Kitchen Aid mixer food mill attachment (I love this attachment). We can then freeze the puree and are set for another year.

Fair Time

This year we entered more items in the AV Fair than last year. I entered two quilts and we entered canned goods and fresh vegetables. Warning lots of pictures!

Here are my two quilts:

Cartwheels Quilt

Easy Strawberry Fields Brick Quilt

In fruit and vegetables we had 15 entries.

Japanese Eggplant 3rd place

Yellow Cherry Tomatoes 1st place

Large Tomatoes

Yellow Pear Tomatoes 3rd place

Tomatillos 3rd place

Sunflowers

Roma Tomatoes

Red Pear Tomatoes on vine

Red Cherry Tomatoes 1st place

Yellow Zucchini Squash

Cantaloupe 1st place

Hubbard Squash (very ugly) 3rd place

Zucchini Squash green

Watermelon 2nd place

Pumpkin

Canned goods we had 8 entries

Apple Butter

Tomatillo Salsa

Nectarine Jelly 2nd place

Orange Marmalade 

Pomegranate Jelly

Applesauce 1st place

Apricot Jam

Raspberry Jam 1st place

Pumpkin Pie

Things have been quiet around here lately since we have been getting ready for the little ones arrival. However I decided to make a pumpkin pie yesterday with a real homemade pie crust. I tried this recipe. It made three crusts which you freeze, I still have two in the freezer. The crust was fairly simple and came out pretty good, better than the rolled up store bought ones. I will definitely use the other two crusts at some point, I like the idea of having them ready to go in the freezer. As for the pie... enjoy the picture because the pie is already gone!