I used something new for Thanksgiving this year...a "peanut pumpkin".

[Richard Steele]

One of my housemates bought it as a halloween decoration.
It's a very pink "baby's bottom" sort of color, with lumpy
brown bits that look like someone glued peanut shells to it.

It's a great decoration- has a very "fairy tale" look to it.


Anyway, about a week before Thanksgiving, she was taking down
the Halloween decorations, and asked me if I thought it would
be worthwhile to dig the seeds out of this weird pumpkin and
try to grow our own next year.

I said I didn't know, because anything so odd looking
was likely to be a HYBRID; it might not even have seeds
and if it did they might grow big vines but never produce pumpkins.
But, on the other hand, it wouldn't cost us anything to try...
from what I know of pumpkins, we could just plant a row of seeds
at the edge of our compost heap and forget about them
for a few months. That's how I've gotten the biggest pumpkins.

So, she was in the kitchen digging out the seeds, and she called me in
to take a look at the inside of this thing.
That pale pink pumpkin had the most AMAZINGLY bright orange flesh
I've ever seen. It was so vivid it looked FAKE!

So, we quick-boiled a small piece and tasted it...GREAT RICH squash flavor!


So, I sectioned and baked the rest of the flesh, and that stuff made
the BEST pumpkin pies I've ever made. I used my standard recipe, the pies
tasted just as good, but they were PRETTIER and LIGHTER.

My standard recipe is nothing special- it makes a solid filling that's
orangish brown. This year's pies were more orange, and FLUFFIER.
That Peanut Pumpkin baked up higher and had a texture like it had been whipped.
Everyone at Thanksgiving Dinner gave it a big thumbs-up.

If you can find one of those Peanut Pumpkins in your area, I recommend
that you buy it.

[MagickMuffin]

1. Is this the pumpkin?.?.?

I'm guessing it is by your description. I'll have to see if any Farmer Markets sell them here. I'm glad you decided to make a pie with it and that it turned out so yummy. It will be interesting if it will produce some pumpkins for you some time down the road. You'll have to keep us informed of your success.

[Richard Steele]

4. Yup, that's one. Weird looking, isn't it? Sure was tasty, tho. nm

[TreasonousBastard]

2. Haven't seen one of those yet, but...

there are now over 250 varieties of winter squash, and many of them are much more interesting than the traditional ones.

Around here, the cheese pumpkin, delicata, and fairytale pumpkin are the eating and cooking ones that beat the crap out of the old standbys of butternut and acorn.

Good luck of growing these things next year. Personally, I gave up on growing anything after two years of complete garden disaster but there's no reason you shouldn't get a good crop if their not sterile.

[sazemisery]

3. Got one of these from the food co-op

Very tasty. Made pumpkin cake with one half and ate the rest with salt and pepper. There is nothing better than roasted pumpkin or winter squash. Hope the seeds do well for you.

[hippywife]

5. I didn't see peanut pumpkins!

Who had those?