Homemade Pumpkin Puree

Fall Mini-Series - Post #2: Pumpkin Puree

I don't know about you but I could hit repeat on the fall season and stay here forEVER! Don't get me wrong, I appreciate all the others (the glistening snow and Christmas decorations ... budding flowers and the smell of freshly cut grass ... barefeet pitter-patter and the SUN) BUT there is a peace that fills my soul seeing the slowly changing colors of the leaves, the aroma of hot apple cider, toasted marshmallows over a campfire, cool fall breezes, and my old, oversized, chunky knit cardigan!

Today's post overall really couldn't be any easier, but it does take a little bit of time.

Homemade Pumpkin Puree

1 pie pumpkin (not your ordinary jack-o-lantern pumpkin)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut pumpkin into quarters. Spoon out seeds (set aside if you are up for lightly salted roasted pumkin seeds, yummmmm!) and stringy fibers. Place quartered pumpkin cut side up in a 9 x 13 dish. Bake for about 1 hour. Remove from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes. Scoop out pumpkin flesh and place in food processor. Blend until smooth. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to one week or freeze. 

Now I will say I've heard from multiple sources (one being my sweet sis, who knows her homemade make from scratch stuff) that homemade pumpkin puree may carry too much water and need to be drained. A couple suggestions to remove any excess water from the puree would be cheesecloth OR 2) a coffee filter lined colander. So far I haven't noticed any excess amount of water in the pumpkin puree that I made, but only time will tell when we try it out in some pie!

Cost Comparison
Homemade Cost - $2.49 for 12 ounce
Store Bought Cost - $1.99 for 15 ounces, Libby's brand

And of course I couldn't go without taking advantage of
the pumpkin seeds. Just rinse them and spread them out in a
baking dish, sprinkle them with salt and roasted them
right next to the pumpkin quarters!

Time - 15 minutes active participation
            1 hour and 15 minutes total time

Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice

Welcome to the Fall Mini-Series - Post #1!

After a few weeks off to get things tidied up and back into a somewhat normal routine {not sure if that ever really happens with a family of 6 .... but I sure like to try every now and again :)}, I decided with fall fully upon us it would be fitting to add a little pumpkin pie spice to the mix and cross another item off my list! So simple, I am not sure why it's taken me this long but here it is ... short, sweet and to the point since I have been a slacking and need to make up some ground!

It really is just a combination of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves. and allspice ... so kinda like a taco seasoning you can go heavier on the flavors you are head over heals for and light on the ones you are not.

Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice

1/4 cup cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground allspice

1 teaspoon ground cloves

Combine all the ingredients. 

Since I am all about multi-functional, I began to wonder what would be some other great uses for pumpkin pie spice ... oh world wide web, you amaze me! Thanks to The Kitchn here are 7 other ways!

Cost Comparison
Homemade Cost - $0 for 1 ounce
Store Bought Cost - $4.89 for 1.12 ounces McCormick brand
Time - 5 minutes