He tried to hide. Really, he did! He had a nice little mouse family living in a hole underneath him. He was happy in the garden.
But it was not to be. We got him! We had to haul him up with the garden tractor; he was too unwieldy for my trusty wheelbarrow.
We let him and his baby brother cure in the garden for a few weeks – until I had the time to do the cooking.
Then the big day came! Time to do the butchering!
Mon mari got out the trusty machete….scrupulously cleaned, of course.
Fortunately the garden table is sturdy.
Fortunately mon mari needed an 'aggression break'. (Actually, he's been painting the house so any excuse for a break is welcomed.)
Let the butchering begin!
WHACK!!!!!
Finished. Now I get to clean up the mess. (Typical!)
What is it about boys and toys? I have never had a strong desire (or even a teeny tiny one) to own a machete but when mon mari saw this baby it was a 'must have'. It now has a purpose; it's useless in the brambles.
I picked the last butternut squash this morning. Isn't it darling? I call it 'Arrested Development'. This baby will not meet his fate at the point of the machete. I still have 5 the size of the big one that are destined for the oven today, as well.
After cleaning them, and duly saving the seeds for toasting, I cut them in big chunks, cover them with foil and roast them 375F (190C) for a couple of hours.
When the pieces are past fork tender and well on the road to mush, I take the pans out and let them cool. Basically, I bake it until it's the consistency of a purée For most recipes it's ready to use as is. For creamy soups I purée the finished soup in the blender.
I scoop it off the skins and let it sit in a colander for several hours or overnight. It will release quite a bit of liquid. I keep trying to think of a use for it….
I put the drained pumpkin in freezer bags, using 1 1/4 cups to end up with 1 cup thawed. It will release about 1/4 cup of liquid, again, when thawed. (That liquid I use as a substitute for water or stock in whatever recipe I'm making.
The pumpkin in the colander is 1/4 of the Great Pumpkin, about 9 cups.
When it's all roasted, drained, and tucked away I should have 30 – 35 cups of pumpkin purée. I'll use it in soup, soufflés, bread, muffins, timbales and anything else I think of.
Why do I do this?
Christmas.
My two favorite Christmas treats are Cranberry Bread and Pumpkin Bread. That first Christmas we lived abroad I realized that not everything would be easy.
We were in Ireland and there was no pumpkin anywhere: not canned, frozen or fresh. I found cranberries; Ocean Spray, even, but they were pathetic, old and wrinkled. I bought 2 bags in order to get 2 cups of berries (I was desperate) and it cost me about 15 dollars (I was REALLY desperate).
The next year we were in Andorra and there were no cranberries. (Actually, I've never seen cranberries, since. There is a small berry that the Brit's and French call a cranberry but it doesn't look at all like a 'real' one.)
But there were pumpkins. Big green ones at the markets that the tiny little farmer used to prop on his belly to cut with the smallest, sharpest knife: cutting towards himself. I was always terrified he was going to give himself an appendectomy while getting me my pumpkin.
Then we moved to France: no cranberries; no pumpkin. Now you know!
Recipes to follow as I come up with make them.
Very interesting! The pumpkins I’ve seen here have much thinner flesh.
Wow, that’s a huge pumpkin. I will be making pumpkin soup today, with cheese and onion muffins on a side… But my pumpkin is very small, it has maybe 2 kg.
Have a great weekend, Margot
Very cool. I don’t know why, but I shy away from cooking fresh pumpkin..I really need to get off my butt and get to it! Thanks for the pictoral!
all I have to say is WOW! fresh pumpkin for pumpkin bread!
It’s good to see someone actually cooking with pumpkin instead of carving faces into them and letting them rot. Your christmas breads sound beautiful 🙂
How wonderful that you have your own pumpkins! I can just imagine how good that pumpkin bread will taste. I’ve been making batches of butternut squash and apple soup, which is such a New England combination. I’m lucky to have farm stands close by, as I don’t have any winter squash in my garden.
I wouldn’t have minded a go at slicing those pumpkins. Oh, the tiny squash looks soooo cute!!!! I love pumpkin bread too. I don’t come across cranberry bread much because it’s impossible to find it here, except in the dried form, and even then it has loads of sugar added.
Wow! Wonderful pumpkin!
Wow. And thanks for the tips…it wouldn’t have occurred to me to drain the puree before freezing, or allow for it to give up more liquid when thawed later.
While I recognize this was actually a lot of work Katie, It translates here to just great fun. Love that sweet little one. Really interesting what is available where. Want me to send you some cranberries?
I would love to decorate my christmas tree with that teeny-weeny butternut squash!!! We had bought 3 pumpkin for Hallooween but they’re only the size of handball (the biggest we could get).
Kalyn, we could not do a jack-o-lantern with our pumpkins!
Margot, this one is a bit bigger – I could barely lift it…I’m guessing 30 pounds… It’s tasty, though…I nibble as I work
Chris, it’s really easy – except when you have one this big! I didn’t plan on it, trust me…
Lannae, pumpking bread baking next weekend!
Maryanne, I really have a food/garden thing: if I’m not going to eat it, it’s not worth the effort to grow it!
Lydia, I’ve got to finish up the butternuts next. They actually keep a little better than the pumpkin.
Nora, dried just aren’t the same. I’m a cranberry purist – it’s the real thing or nothing! (she says, arrogantly!) Isn’t that baby adorable?!?
Thanks, Pam!
Maggie, I learned the hard way. The first year my pumpkin bread came out like pumpkin pudding.
Tanna, I would jump at the offer – if I thought they would survive transit and customs 😉 It’s actually not a LOT of work just a long time in the doing. I spent two days on it but total time was probably less than 2 hours.
Gattina, I’ve been trying to think of a way to preserve it – it is so cute!
Goodness, that’s a lot of pumpkin! I can imagine how wonderful your kitchen will smell filled with the scent of baking pumpkin bread!
How deeply, deeply satisfying it must have been to butcher that pumpkin – God, am I really saying this? As a vegetarian?!!
What a hoot – may you find, a) plump, juicy cranberries and b) a LOT of pumpkin recipes!
Great pictoral and instructions. You have a way of getting to the heart of things! 😉
You sound did a lot of fun with the pumpkins hehehe… I too have to get rid of the load of pumpkins we’ve harvested in Summer. I have to give them up to the Monarch caterpillars when they’ve arrived. I love pumpkin, but my kids are still too picky with yellow vegetables. I can’t understand that. They love carrots and fresh peas (split from the pods) and potatoes, but not pumpkins! …desperate mother here… hehehe…
Cool Katie! I have never grown pumpkins as I had neighbors who had enough to share or we went to the “pumpkin patch” for an outing. Yours look beautiful! And I can see your SO “hacking” away with his machete! My SO is the same!
Now for cookies! Oh do not get me started! I just bought the ingredients for my Oatmeal Raisin cookies which I love to make during the fall as the smell of cinnamon fills the house! Nothing like a house full of the smell of baking cookies! It is fun because if a neighbor stops by and they say “wow, what are you baking?” I can hand them one!
Lynn, it was a LOT of pumpkin. I don’t think I’m even going to freeze the small one…maybe just roast and eat!
Lucy, I can butcher vegetables – but nothing with a face (to paraphrase Phoebe)… Thank you!
Thanks, Jeni! Just like to share what I learn from my, ahem, mistakes…
Arfi, I knew a woman who wouldn’t eat green…strange, this color thing. I can’t imagine life without salads! Try pumpkin muffins – your kids will convert!
Deb, yeah, he really gets into the annual pumpkin slaughter….thankfully, it’s only temporary!
I’m very envious of your garden. It must be quite large for you to be able to grow even one pumpkin that size!
And oh my, that’s a LOT of pumpkin!! May I recommend squash/sage lasagne? We like to put walnuts in ours but apparently pine nuts are good too.
-Elizabeth
P.S. I wonder if lingonberries might work as cranberry substitutes. Might you be able to find them in Europe more easily?
nothing says holidays like cranberries and pumpkins and I too love both. That is one huge pumpkin you have there I am impressed.
oh yes and machete are great for butchering chickens too, that is what we did with our machete when I was growing up.
Thats a pretty big pumpkin. I look forward to seeing your pumpkin puree dishes.
Elizabeth, the sage, pumpkin and walnut lasagne sounds good – I have walnut trees, too. My garden isn’t really that big but I plant everything together – the pumpin (2 plants, goes in with the beans. I’ll look into the lingonberries, thanks.
Shayne, I remember my father butchering chickens, vaguely… I don’t think I could. The pumpkin was fun, though!
Wow! Lots of work, but it looks delicious.
Sugarlaw – that is exactly right!