Preserving Pumpkins...

This year we decided that it would be wonderful if we bought pumpkins that we could use for cooking and baking instead of just carving and throwing them away a few days later... so after a blog that I follow posted instructions for how to preserve pumpkin (and it seemed really easy) I decided that I could do it:) So here are some basic instructions for turning this...

...into this:)

First, you cut the pumpkin in half and remove all of the seeds and guts. You may find that it is a little hard to cut through a pumpkin... you may need to microwave it for 4-5 minutes to make it easier to cut:) Second, you cut it into wedges and place the skin side up in a casserole dish with 1 1/2 cups of water. Bake at 350 until you can easily poke the pumpkin with a fork... 2 hours or less- depending on how big your wedges are:)

After the pumpkin is cooked, the skin can easily be removed- just scrape off with a spoon:) This is what you will have left of the pumpkin...

Take the cooked pumpkin and run it through a food processor, blender or mash by hand... I used a processor to get the smoothest of pulp:) Because pumpkin tends to separate (water from pulp) after it has been mashed, I used a clean towel to strain it... you can also squeeze it out some of the water to make it go a little quicker:)

Put the strained pumpkin into freezer bags... I put 2 cups of pumpkin in each bag- perfect for pies and bread:)

We are really looking forward to using up this pumpkin:)

Crock Pot Apple Butter

This is a recipe from a very dear older lady that used to give my family apples when I was a child, Stella Ells; isn't that a beautiful name, Stella? Anyway, I have found that one of the easiest things to do to apple butter is to burn it. But, by cooking it in the crock pot, it seems almost impossible to do this. We just made a trip to Stuckey's and my goal was to make apple sauce and apple butter. This was a great website that walks you through making both the applesauce and the apple butter. I think this is just about fool proof. Another invaluable resource to the home canner is the Ball canning book. If you don't have one, get one!

2 quarts of cooked apple pulp/sauce
4 cups of sugar
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves

Put on ingredients in crock pot and cook on high for 4-6 hours. I did mine for five and it was perfect. Stir well and often. Sooooo good. I will definitely keep this recipe for our family apple butter.

Note: 1.5 times the recipe will fit into both of my larger crock pots. I think they are 5.5 quarts.