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The Great Pumpkins

October 2nd, 2009

When I was at my mom’s on Tuesday we harvest the two pumpkins that were on the Cinderella vine. There were two pumpkins growing right next to each other on the vine, and I think these are the only two that set.
Pumpkins_in_wheelbarrow
One weighed 23 pounds and the other 16, now those are some numbers that will help bump up my harvest total! These pumpkins are going to grace my mom’s porch on Halloween for decoration and then they’ll be made into pumpkin pies, which is of course my favorite way to eat pumpkin!

What’s your favorite way to enjoy pumpkin?

27 Comments to “The Great Pumpkins”
  1. Andrew Odom on October 2, 2009 at 7:01 am

    My dad makes a pumpkin cheesecake that is simply delicious. It isn’t overbearing in flavor and with the graham cracker crust, goes so well with a hot cup of coffee. It is one of those desserts that is as good for breakfast as it is anytime.

    Lately he has even adapted the recipe for those concerned about weight and calorie intake substituting the flour with whole wheat flour and the sugar for stevia or splenda.

    Reply to Andrew Odom's comment

    • deedee on October 2, 2009 at 2:16 pm

      do you have the recipe for that? it sounds great!

      Reply to deedee's comment

    • Susy on October 2, 2009 at 2:29 pm

      A agree with DD, sound delicious!

      Reply to Susy's comment

  2. Daphne on October 2, 2009 at 7:27 am

    Pumpkin pie, pumpkin cake (with cream cheese frosting), pumpkin casserole (which is a bit like pumpkin pie but less sugar and the flour is in the casserole not in a crust), on quesadillas with black beans, cheese and salsa.
    .-= Daphne´s last blog ..Thank You Blotanical =-.

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  3. Dave on October 2, 2009 at 8:23 am

    NIce! Did you have any trouble with vine borers? All our pumpkins got gored by them making smaller pumpkins. I still got about 4 pumpkins a little smaller than a volleyball.
    .-= Dave´s last blog ..Completely Random Gardening Updates =-.

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    • Susy on October 2, 2009 at 2:29 pm

      We didn’t have any vine borers at my mom’s house. I do get them here occasionally.

      Reply to Susy's comment

  4. Teresa O on October 2, 2009 at 9:08 am

    I recently found your blog through another blog, ah the joys of blog networking. Great posts. Pumpkin pie is my absolute favorite way to enjoy pumpkin, but beyond cooking, pumpkins make fantastic decorations for fall. From the little ghost pumpkins turned into candle holders to fat, round jack o’lanterns to sugar pie pumpkins transformed into containers for flowers.

    Oh, did I mention…I just love pumpkins.
    .-= Teresa O´s last blog ..Blotanical Congratulations =-.

    Reply to Teresa O's comment

    • Susy on October 2, 2009 at 2:31 pm

      I too love pumpkins, they’re so fun and festive as decor and warming and comforting when eaten.

      Reply to Susy's comment

  5. Jaspenelle on October 2, 2009 at 10:55 am

    Pumpkin pie with homemade whipped cream tops the charts as my favorite dessert but my second favorite pumpkin dessert is a Pumpkin Roll, I make it ever Yule with my own pumpkin puree (rather then the canned stuff sugguested here.)
    .-= Jaspenelle´s last blog ..Feline Friday: ma crib is phat yo! =-.

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  6. Teri on October 2, 2009 at 10:57 am

    I love this photo. The pumpkins are beautiful!
    .-= Teri´s last blog ..266/365 =-.

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  7. Nancy on October 2, 2009 at 11:54 am

    Andrew, I like the sounds of pumpkin cheesecake! We love to make pumpkin chocolate chip cookies…yummmmm
    .-= Nancy´s last blog ..Drying Fruits and Vegetables =-.

    Reply to Nancy's comment

    • deedee on October 2, 2009 at 2:17 pm

      that also sounds like a recipe i wouldn’t mind having… :)

      Reply to deedee's comment

    • Susy on October 2, 2009 at 2:31 pm

      MMM, I was thinking about making some chocolate chip pumpkin muffins, cookies sound great as well.

      Reply to Susy's comment

  8. Rhonda on October 2, 2009 at 12:00 pm

    Pretty much anything made from pumpkin takes great to me! It’s one of my favorite foods. Gotta love pumpkin pie though, so that’s my favorite pumpkin dish. :-)

    Reply to Rhonda's comment

  9. Kathie on October 2, 2009 at 12:17 pm

    I love pumpkin soup with homemade crackers. I always make up a batch of pumpkin butter, too – its just perfect on pancakes or toast.

    Reply to Kathie's comment

  10. Christine on October 2, 2009 at 1:18 pm

    We’re waiting patiently for our Seminole pumpkins to grow. They’re a native variety that the native americans used to grow around here. They’re pretty shade tolerant, and small, so people would train them up oak trees to keep the fruits off of the ground (Florida is so moist that the fruits often rot on the soil as they grow). If we wind up getting seed from them, I’d love to send some off to see how they do in your area if you’d like.
    .-= Christine´s last blog ..It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas =-.

    Reply to Christine's comment

    • Susy on October 2, 2009 at 2:33 pm

      Those sound wonderful! I bet they’d do well here since I have a shady garden. I should start looking into more shade tolerant varieties of veggies to grow.

      Thanks for the seed offer, I’d love to give them a shot. I’d be blogging about them of course so you could see how they do here in NE Ohio.

      Reply to Susy's comment

  11. deedee on October 2, 2009 at 2:19 pm

    i would love it if you guys would post the recipes to the cheesecake, cookies, soup, & butter. they all sound so good… great seasonal food!
    all so much better than the pumpkin pie blizzard i had yesterday from dq! (although it was good!)

    Reply to deedee's comment

    • Susy on October 2, 2009 at 2:32 pm

      I agree with DD, all those recipes sound delicious and I’d love to have them as well.

      Reply to Susy's comment

      • Blackswampgirl Kim on October 2, 2009 at 4:32 pm

        I’ve only made pumpkin soup with canned pumpkin before, but it’s really easy. Take a small onion and dice it, then saute in olive oil or butter. Add the pumpkin, stir in salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes to taste, and cook through. Sometimes I add in a pinch of cumin, or maybe some apple… depends on what I have on hand. If you use fresh pumpkin, I would assume that you would need to thin it with water or broth as you cook it–does that sound right?
        .-= Blackswampgirl Kim´s last blog ..Washed-Out Weekend =-.

        to Blackswampgirl Kim's comment

  12. Pampered Mom on October 2, 2009 at 4:23 pm

    How do we enjoy pumpkins? It’s hard to count the ways – pumpkin soup, roasted pumpkin, pumpkin seeds, pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin smoothies, pumpkin cookies, etc. Of course as a decoration is also high on the list – outside, inside. I *love* pumpkins!
    .-= Pampered Mom´s last blog ..The Gut (and a few good links) =-.

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  13. Blackswampgirl Kim on October 2, 2009 at 4:24 pm

    Soup! But pumpkin cheesecake (use gingersnaps instead of graham cracker for the crust, yum) is a close second. And one of my coworkers was just telling me about pumpkin butter from a local farm here that it supposed to be excellent. :)
    .-= Blackswampgirl Kim´s last blog ..Washed-Out Weekend =-.

    Reply to Blackswampgirl Kim's comment

  14. Tree on October 2, 2009 at 4:39 pm

    I have to find those seeds. We got no pumpkins off our accidental plant. We did get tons and tons of flowers, but not growth. Oh well. I am going to search for Cinderella Pumpkin seeds because I have a thing for Cinderella and well Pumpkin bread, custard, dip, cheesecake, pumpkin soup, and I could keep going.
    .-= Tree´s last blog ..Spouses =-.

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  15. MAYBELLINE on October 4, 2009 at 1:24 am

    What a coincidence! I harvested my Cinderellas too.
    .-= MAYBELLINE´s last blog ..Nuccio’s Camellias & Azaleas =-.

    Reply to MAYBELLINE's comment

  16. the inadvertent farmer on October 5, 2009 at 9:07 pm

    Chilled pumpkin soup or pumpkin pudding, love them both equally! Kim

    Reply to the inadvertent farmer's comment

  17. sue davenport on September 11, 2010 at 11:16 pm

    did you ever post the template for a seed packet?

    Loved the discussion about le Vif d’Etampes. My gardening neighbor (allotment garden) and I are wondering about our Monique, Monique is flat for a pumpkin, a dusty light terra cotta at the moment with unblemished skin. She’s about 10-12 inches in diameter and not spherical…flatter than a usual pumpkin and hidden by many leaves. I did not plant any squash/pumpkin that was supposed to look like this! We are waiting to see if Monique turns redder and if she is a Vif d’Etampes.

    Reply to sue davenport's comment

    • Susy on September 12, 2010 at 7:19 am

      This sounds lovely. I haven’t posted the template yet as I have it in Mac Pages.

      Reply to Susy's comment

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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