Mumsnet Talk

righty, we have hundreds of the buggers on the allotment. So I'm making pumpkin pie and soup. What else?

oh I am so jealous!

pumpkin and vegetable tagine.

Roast wedges of the stuff rubbed in oil with herbs spices of choice!

pumpkin ice cream?

Pumpkin wedges?

Personnally I could leave on Pumpkin soup

Just out of curiosity, where is your allotement?

I'd use them as I would butternut squash - i.e. in curries / risottos / soups / roasted and maybe even hazard to make a pumpkin-type cake along the lines of carrot cake...

I love the idea of pumpkin cake! will have to pinch that one!

tis in Bristol but I not saying further than that in case pumpkin theives strike
Unless anyone wants to swap veg. We are up to our ears in squashes!

pumpkin cake delicious I did it last year.

also you could do some as a chutney

Pumpkin thieve ? MOI? whatever gave you that idea?

I wish I had a vegetable patch so I could swap! I tried once to grow lettuces, the slugs got to eat them before I had a chance too!

Will you swap your gorgeous home grown pumpkins for some Morrissons frizen brocolis!

[hopeful emoticon]

you probably know this so forgive me if its beside the point but depending on the variety they should store for quite a while if you cure them somewhere warm - like up to Christmas at least I would think

we got them in the kitchen, most still down the allotment. Is the kitchen too warm?
MIL wanted some for 'decoration'!
Who wastes food like that?

IIRC you're meant to cure them at 25C or so for 10-20 days, then store at around 10-15C. 25C is a bit of a joke in our house so we just stick 'em nearish to the burner & hope for the best.

I've picked them from farms and they've gone mouldy within a fortnight, and that was in our outhoouse which is a lot cooler than the house. I'd prep them and either freeze or cook them asap.

Chops, I wonder if they weren't fully mature? Also, they don't really like cold places, not like potatoes etc, outhouses are generally not the best place for them.
Even acorn squash, which are generally considered to be poor keepers, will store for a couple of months IME.

Oh wow! I got completely addicted to a pumpkin soup last year that had tons of chilli in it. It was lush.

I've (Nigella has) got a nice recipe for a pumpkin/salmon and prawn curry if you fancy it?

Riven, you will not belive what happened last night! Dh came back from Tarawih and out of the blue asked me if I would enjoy having a little plot at the local allotments!! How weird is that?

cooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool.
We can talk pumpkins

the pumpkin pie was delicious
<eyes expanding waistline>

Aha, a pumpkin expert! Great. Any advice on growing the things for absolute pumpkin novices? We have 1 lonesome pumpkin left after dd picked the rest to ask me what they were - argh. It's cantaloupe melon sized and just going orange.

Really want to start a couple of little veg plots like this down side of the house.

Makes great salad this one but add toasted pine nuts

well, what I do it plant the seed. Water the seed. And 6 months later go 'argh what shall I do with 4 billion pumpkins'

They are the easiest thing to grow!

I can kill off most plants, but I take your word for it on how resilient they are. Do you grow them outside from the outset or propagate (if that's the right word) inside ?

I start them off inside and plant out after the last frost - they like warmth. We are much farther north, though.

Riven I am very of your pumpkins. We moved this year and bever got any planted - I have sweetcorn coming out my ears instead!

I normally start my pumpkins off inside in a pot with a plastic food bag at a little 'hat' over the top then leave on the window sill. It acts like a little green house, once they are too big for the pot I leave them outside for a few days in the pot and then plant out. A bit of work but well worth it for the pumkins/butternut.

Heated if you don't have the bed - we grew ours in a wheelbarrow one year, they trailed down the sides and looked fab and as long as they are kept watered they will go mad.

lol at the pumpkin on a wheelbarrow: don't you need the barrow to shift the sodding things when they're full grown? I can barely lift some of ours! (haven't tried yet but they are BIG [boast emoticon]

(but probably not very tasty)