cooking pumpkin?

[maestramommy]

I was just wondering, can you cook the stringy flesh that the seeds are buried in to make pumpkin puree?

[MamaMolly]

I usually toss the stringy bits. The good stuff is between the string/seeds and the shell, the meaty parts. Last year I was able to easily peel my pumpkin but this year I had one I couldn't even cut! I had to slice the skin off in a line all the way around, then get the knife in and it cut easily.

Some folks bake them but I like to cut it into big chunks and steam it until it is tender. Then I let it cool and use a spoon to scrape the 'meat' right off the shell. Then I use it for baking, soup, what ever.

If I'm making a couscous then I peel it and leave it in chunks or slices and add it to the sauce. MMMMM!

Funny thing, even the squirrels who have had their way with our decorative pumpkins this year have left the stringy bits all over the front stoop. They gnaw off the rind and eat everything but the string and rind shnibbles behind.

FWIW I don't think it would hurt you to eat the stringy bits, I think it would be kind of like spaghetti squash maybe? I just don't think they'd cook to the point of not being stringy.

[brittone2]

Someone here directed me to the Pioneer Woman blog. Look in the cooking section...

I have two pie pumpkins I need to cook/puree. I was just looking at her blog tonight to figure out directions (I like her method because you don't have to peel the pumpkin first, which is the method I was looking for). I think it was an early October post on her site.

[jerigirl]

Someone here directed me to the Pioneer Woman blog. Look in the cooking section...

I have two pie pumpkins I need to cook/puree. I was just looking at her blog tonight to figure out directions (I like her method because you don't have to peel the pumpkin first, which is the method I was looking for). I think it was an early October post on her site.

thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/10/make-your-own-pumpkin-puree/

[Melaine]

Thanks for posting this....I was just wondering about it myself.

[maestramommy]

Rats! All I have are the stringy bits. Our pumpkins were rather moldy after Halloween so we had to toss them. Live and Learn!

[brittone2]

Rats! All I have are the stringy bits. Our pumpkins were rather moldy after Halloween so we had to toss them. Live and Learn!

Yeah, in a cool, dry place squash/pumpkins keep for a long time. Once cut though, they start to decay pretty quickly.