Nothing Says October Like Pumpkins! - Trivia and Recipe Ideas

Nothing says October like pumpkins! Harvested in autumn, these cheery orange orbs shout, "Fall is here!" Popular as decorations, pumpkins sit atop hay bales and porches, while some are painted or carved into Halloween jack-o-lanterns. But that's not all!

From the practical side, pumpkins are healthful and nutritious, the quintessential autumn fruit. Yes, pumpkins are fruits. It's elementary my dear Watson, fruits have seeds and vegetables do not.Take a look inside of a fresh pumpkin, and you'll find seeds. This is a dead giveaway that this thing is a fruit. And a delicious fruit it is! Low in calories and high in fiber, the popular pumpkin is a good source of Vitamin A, Vitamin B, potassium, iron, and protein.

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Have a big harvest of pumpkins from the garden, like we do, and wondering how to cook them besides baking a pumpkin pie. The possibilities are endless! 


Here are 10 pumpkin recipe ideas from around the web to help get you started.  

1.  pumpkin bread
2.  pumpkin soup
3.  pumpkin waffles
4.  pumpkin chili
5.  pumpkin butter
6.  pumpkin stew
7.  pumpkin chai latte
8.  pumpkin ice cream
9.  pumpkin brownies
10.  pumpkin fudge

Some of these recipes call for store-bought canned pumpkin, but can easily be modified to use your garden fresh pumpkins.

Enjoy!

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Now for a little pumpkin trivia to help you impress your friends and family at your next potluck, or autumn gathering. 

• U.S. farmers produce over 1 and a half billion pumpkins each year. That's a lot of pumpkins to be spilling out of boxes and crates at farmer's markets and grocery stores! 

• You may already know that pumpkin seeds are edible, roast them in the oven and enjoy the "popcorn of autumn", but did you know that pumpkin blossoms are edible as well? Click here if you'd like to see how to cook pumpkin blossoms.

• Where does all of that canned pumpkin come from? Morton, Illinois. Morton is the self-proclaimed pumpkin capital and also the home of the Libby canned pumpkin factory.

• Want a great natural facial? Pureed pumpkin makes a wonderful face mask. Use two tablespoons of pureed pumpkin, fresh or from a can (not pumpkin pie mix, you don't need all of the other spices and ingredients), mix with a bit of honey and a dash of milk to make a paste. Gently apply to face, relax for approximately 15 minutes, then gently wash your face with cool water.