Pumpkin Time

I had a garden for the first time this year. It was so fun and I enjoyed going out to tend my garden. But as the summer wore on, and my little ones got more mobile, my garden became a bit neglected. Nevertheless, I grew three gorgeous pumpkins that have graced my front porch since the beginning of October.

Halloween is over and the time has come for my pumpkins to move beyond their decorative stage and become food for my little family. Today I chopped up one of my pumpkins, roasted it, and pureed it. I got 4 cups of pumpkin puree (yes, just like the stuff you get in the can) out of my first pumpkin.

The Pioneer Woman has a great tutorial on how to make your own pumpkin puree. Although it was a little bit more effort than opening a can (okay, a lot more effort), I felt like it was worth it. As the other two pumpkins meet their maker, my freezer will be chock full of orange delicious-ness. And I think I know the first thing I am going to make with my pumpkin:

PumPkiN SPice ChoCoLate ChiP CookieS

1 box spice cake mix

1 small can pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix, just the pumpkin) (or, about 2 cups of the homemade kind)

1 bag chocolate chips (about 2 cups)

Mix, drop and bake. (10 minutes at 350)

My sister introduced me to these cookies and they are so easy and so delicious! They are also relatively inexpensive if you can get the cake mix when it is on sale for $1 (which it usually is about this time).