Post-Halloween Pumpkins

Halloween is over.  You've taken the kids trick-or-treating, carved your pumpkin, shoveled the sidewalk (huh?!!) and now what?

Well, food-wise, there's all that left-over candy.  We don't get many trick-or-treaters, so we always buy what we like because we know we'll have plenty left over. 

But what about pumpkins?  As you know, they're not just for carving.  They're a tasty, nutritious food that is very versatile. 

The versatility is evident in the recipes from these two articles I've run across.

The first is from the Washington Post and discusses the writer's experimenting with smoking pumpkins.  He even includes a Pumpkin S'more recipe.  Actually sounds pretty good.  Read this article here.

The second article is from the Patriot Ledger in Massachusetts.  In the article, a nutritionist talks about the health benefits of adding pumpkin to your diet by doing things like adding pumpkin puree to oatmeal or brownies.  This adds flavor, vitamins, fiber.  Read this article here.

So visit your local farm stand, dig a couple of pumpkins out of the snow and have fun doing something creative with them!

Fruits & Veggies

Jake and I took our weekly trip to Penn Vermont Fruit Farm (Rt. 113 & Rolling Hills Rd, Bedminster).  There are lots of places around to buy fruits and veggies--Penn Vermont is right up there with the best of them.

This time of year, the main reason we go is for their many varieties of apples.  Fresh, juicy--so tasty.  They also have some pears (although not as many as apples). 

In the market for pumpkins, squash or gourds?  They have plenty of them--in all colors, shapes and sizes.  On Saturdays and Sundays, they run hay wagon rides to the pumpkin patch for a fun way to spend some time on a nice fall day. 

We picked up some incredibly brilliant purple cauliflower that tastes great.  Super fresh.  And now they have their own apple cider--a little on the sweet side, but so good. 

So if you're in the Bedminster area, stop in at Penn Vermont for some fall goodies.  You'll be glad you did!

Eating Jack

Like most families, we'll be carving a big orange pumpkin into a Jack-o-Lantern very soon.  Jake gets very excited about doing that--he's already asked if we can roast the seeds to snack on (that's my boy!). 

Many people forget that pumpkins aren't just for carving...they're a nutritious and delicious vegetable that is greatly underused.  Check out my latest post on Bucks County Taste about pumpkins and how to use them for more than just decoration!