Eating the Decorations

One of my favorite things about Autumn is that the seasonal food is excellent for decorating! I love to find interesting looking edible squash and use it to make my home look seasonal until I'm ready to use it to make my dinner taste seasonal. This year I found some really pretty little orange and yellow striped squash (pictured), and acorn squash in an unusual yellow and green pattern that mixed nicely with yellow spaghetti squash. I also procured a gigantic pumpkin that reigned autumnally on my kitchen island for a week or two before I finally got up the nerve to roast it.

Initially I planned to put the whole pumpkin in the oven, but it was nearly too heavy to lift and then I couldn't get the thing wedged into my oven all of a piece, so I resorted to cutting it in half and roasting it in shifts. After about an hour of roasting the pumpkin halves at 350 degrees, I let them cool and then peeled the skin off and pureed the pumpkin. I got FORTY cups of pumpkin puree from the effort! I've been told that puree from large pumpkins doesn't taste as "pumpkiny" as that from a can or from smaller pie pumpkins, however I found the puree I made did just fine in the pumpkin streusel muffins and savory pumpkin soup I have made from it so far. I haven't tried a pie, but pumpkin pie is not my favorite. I know, I'm weird.

If you have pumpkins or squash as part of your seasonal decor, don't forget to incorporate it into your menus before you move on to Christmas decorations! Of course, make sure it was EDIBLE squash that you purchased, not display gourds!