Pumpkins ready to use and carve.

Of course Pumpkins signify a lot of things for many people. It can be part of what we eat with joy during Thanksgiving as a Soup or as a Pie/Tart. Pumpkins do mature during the Summer and are usually ready to eat during the Autumn. It is that gap between Summer and Winter which they do fill perfectly. Pumpkins are comfort food when the hotter days are going to colder ones.

Pumpkins do give the feel that Autumn is here and that Winter is about to come.

If we look at Pumpkin symbolisms, we have the Jack the Lantern and the Carved Pumpkin during Halloween... Somehow I have that enduring childish love of carving my Pumpkin for Halloween. It is just the gearing up to Halloween really. I plan the design, do not let anyone to touch my Pumpkin until the big day and then there is the display for kids to be welcomed and have some treats. 

My Cheshire Cat Pumpkin. I tend to create designs which are easy to carve.

However I do admire the intricacy of some carved Pumpkins done during Halloween for some have truly the Va Va Voom factor. On my part I just try to do something decent and not to cut my fingers or hands doing so. Another enjoyement to have with Pumpkins is actually very simple indeed: it is the one to keep the seeds. Of course they will have to be cleaned in order for them to not rot, They need to be taken away from the filandrous or stringy core of the Pumpkin.

Creating Pumpkin and Munchkin, keeping the Seeds on the side.

I will say that a Pumkin Seed can be the start of the next generation of Pumpkins for the following year. If you have a Garden or an Allotement it could be an enjoyement to grow Pumpkins. However one must be warned that they do take a fair amount of space/ground in order to develop fully. But I would also say that the reward is worth it during the Harvest.

Not only that Pumpkin Seeds can also be kept for an entirely other reason for they can be eaten. Those edible Seeds are nutrious and very healthy for you. For a start you can roast them on a baking tray in the Oven. They are so useful in the Kitchen. You can use Pumpkin Seeds to adorn a Salad or a Cake, and there are many other uses for them.

Pumpkin Seeds are a good source of Protein which should not be neglected.

To give ideas to not discard Pumpkin Seeds I will mention to eat them just like that simply roasted. I will add that they can give to a Tuile Biscuit another twist especialy if the Tuile is flavoured also with Honey... It is yummy for Tea Time. Another fashion is to include them in a wholesome Bread Loaf along with either Hazelnuts or Walnuts or the entire three together. That Bread can be sliced and served with Peanut Butter, or a Chocolate Spread for a lovely comforting 'me' time with a large Hot Chocolate.

Your Magic Potion are only Seeds collected from a Halloween Pumpkin, cleaned and you have a little world of possibilities before you. Enjoy!

There is of course the good old Eating or Carving Pumpkin which is wonderful by the way. But there is a lot of varieties of Pumpkin to try out there, from the Gianormous to the Munchkin ones. The colours may also vary. To be honest, those Pumpkins can be a great talking topic when one has nothing to really say during a party which they bothered to attend. A White Mini Pumpkin can become all of a sudden their white flag in disguise the: 'I talk... I can talk... I do talk... Oh, the Pumpkin is White.' And you can reply, yes, it is a Ghost Munchkin Pumpkin.

The White Ghost Munchkin Pumpkin. I am growing them now. They are a lovely novelty in one's Garden.

Pumpkins are definitely a Vegetable I use often in my Kitchen but mainly in Autumn, the same goes for Squashes in general apart for Summer Squashes. My main go to for Pumpkins is the Pumpkin Soup. It is part nostalgia, the souvenirs you can not escape from... My Dad lost his job for a short while about six months but he had to feed three kids so he relied on the allotment we had in order to do so. Potatoes, Leeks, and Pumpkin came from that allotment. And one October we had for Dinner almost everyday Pumpkin Soup... I must confess I do smile now at the memory of it all. But I must confess just as well that I do like a good heart warming Pumpkin Soup.

For me a Pumpkin Soup is very heart warming. I do like mines a little spicy to cut through the sweetness but also I think the decoration is essential: it is the WOW factor.