Pumpkin Recycling

[amastewa93]

Hi everyone! With Halloween super close I have been searching for ways to recycle these old pumpkins we used for Jack-o-lanterns this season. After all, on Tuesday everyone will be putting out Christmas stuff, right?! haha.

I recently found a face mask recipe using old pumpkin. Do you all have any other ideas?

[kork13]

One of my wife's favorite cookies is pumpkin chocolate chip. She purees and freezes the pumpkin, and can use it throughout the year to make the cookies.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

The large pumpkins usually used as jackolanterns aren't the best flavor and tender texture for cooking, but I still use them if they haven't been turned into a jackolantern. They are flavorful enough for me. The flesh may be lacking in color(probably less vitamin A) to make a nice pie or pumpkin custard, but I usually add enough allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves that it makes a fairly brown pie no matter what color the pumpkin is. They are okay as a stand-alone vegetable, or made into soup, too. There's no reason not to blend a couple cooked chunks into a smoothie, the way commercial sellers are doing this time of year. You can also freeze cooked chunks for use later. You can work a small amount into noodles when you are making them from scratch; just reduce the liquid you'd add.

The nubby,warty pumpkins are more likely to actually have been bred for eating. It doesn't matter for eating purposes what the shell looks like; it's the inside that counts. I see some Japanese winter squash being sold with the pumpkins this year. Those are pretty long-keepers and not very sweet. You can use them in place of carby foods like potatoes or noodles.

As for the carved jackolanterns, I just chop them and add them to my compost.

[JBinKC]

I process uncarved ones into puree by taking out the seeds and putting the chunks on trays with a 1/2 inch water bath at a 350 F oven for 45 minutes until the skins darken let cool peel off the skins and put the chunks in a blender to puree freeze it in quart bags and over the course of the year make into pies. When making pies use half of the dairy 50% more eggs and 1/8 cup more sugar per pie and use brown sugar unless you are wanting a souffle.

Pumpkins are generally unwanted after Halloween and can be a source of free food just by asking people if they want them. Stores also mark them down significantly on Nov. 1.

[amastewa93]

I also recently read that some local farms will allow you to bring your old pumpkins to them. They can be used as compost or even feed for some of the animals! If the owner of the property allowed it I bet that would be a fun trip for the kids!

[james.hendrickson]

yes, thats what I am thinking as well - just give the old pumpkin to a green thumb or local farmer.

[DaveInPgh]

We don't buy pumpkins or eat them. If we did, I would check to see if there was a local fundraiser for tossing them off a building. I have seen many stories over the years about this type of fundraiser, but not sure if there is any in my area. Fun way to raise money.

[bjl584]

I gave mine to my cousin for his chickens. They love them.

[Milly]

If it has been left out I wouldn't eat it. Even if it is cold outside, the candle would warm it, bugs could play in it, etc.

If I were given your pumpkin, I would throw the seeds in my "volunteer" patch (a section next to my garden where I throw any leftover seeds to help keep the weeds down and maybe even get free food), then take the rest and throw it in my compost bin.

Since we have toddlers in our house and I love pumpkin puree, our tradition is to buy pie pumpkins, finger paint them with non-toxic paint, set them out. After the night of festivities, we wash the paint off the un-punctured skin and process it into cookies, milkshakes, bread, etc.

[Fishindude77]

We toss them out for the wildlife, deer like them.

[StormRichards]

I haven't bought a pumpkin since prior to Halloween. Back when this thread was current.

[disneysteve]

I haven't bought a pumpkin since prior to Halloween. Back when this thread was current.

Yes, there has been a rash of new posters and spammers dredging up old threads. I thought that was under control but clearly it isn't.

[bjl584]

Yes, there has been a rash of new posters and spammers dredging up old threads. I thought that was under control but clearly it isn't.

The rule is, a new member can't see it if the thread is over a year old. This thread was started in October of 2016, so a new member can view it and reply to it.

Milly did something annoying, but technically she didn't break any rules.

[StormRichards]

Milly did something annoying, but technically she didn't break any rules.

Not in this particular post

[Milly]

I apologize, it showed up on the first page I had, so I assumed it was still interesting to people (first forum post ever). It wasn’t an old post (less than a year old), so I figured it was kosher. Now I know that old is considered much sooner than I thought. I also discovered there is a "today's posts" link. I guess I’ll have to re-share my finger painting pie pumpkin idea before people start buying their pumpkins next year =)