In addition to pumpkin pie, my two fav pumpkin recipes are for pumpkin cheesecake and pumpkin gnocci.

Also, I cannot resist this thought... & please don't think of me as a party-pooper for it! If you already have pumpkins growing in your garden, by all means research fun things to do with them. But if you haven't yet planted pumpkin vines and are weighing whether or not to do so? My personal view is DON'T! Growing pumpkins, tending them, harvesting them and processing them really takes quite a bit of work. Plus, the satisfaction one gets from this, versus just opening a store-bought can of Libby's Pumpkin isn't really a very exciting pay-off... if you ask me, anyway.

I'd have to disagree with that, Chubby. There are all sorts of good reasons to grow your own. For instance, there are "pumpkin" varieties (horticulturally speaking, pumpkin is a meaningless term) you might want that are just not available in cans of puree---most of which are hubbard squash anyway.

For instance, this year I'm growing Flat Tan Field pumkins---which at least one famous pastry chef considers the best culinary pumpkin you can get. But the only way to get them is to grow them yourself (or hire somebody to do so for you).

Calabrase, the small white African pumpkin I had hoped to get this year, is a similar case in point. It is essential to many African dishes. And, while Butternut can substitute, I'd rather go with the true gelt if I can.

In my experience, pumpkins are a low-maintainance crop. For most people in the U.S., squash vine borer is the only pest they need to particularly watch for. And that would be the same for any winter squash. Other than that, the only thing I do is train the vines to grow in the direction I want them to go. I don't even weed much, in a pumpkin patch, because the vines serve as a living mulch---one of the benefits of a Three Sisters planting, btw.

For those into the locovore movement---as more and more people are--- processing is a requirement, whether you grow your own or buy whole, locally grown pumpkins. So that part of your argument is a wash.

Pumpkins, for culinary use, are a side-benefit to many people who buy them for fall decorating (not just Halloweeen, you understand) and then, rather than waste them, use them for eating. True, jack-o-lantern type pumpkins are not the best for culinary purposes. But why waste food at all if you don't have to? Here, again, processing is required by the user.

Well, I stand corrected, KYH. You definitely raise many great points.

I like pumpkin for a simple pie and some basic baking- and obviously for jack-o-lanterns, but other than that I really have no pumpkin needs.

We grew them when I was growing up and Dad volenteered each year in various duties at the well known "Morton Pumpkin Festival" Morton Chamber of Commerce Morton Illinois IL and one hint he picked up there was to turn/rotate pumpkins every day on the vine to prevent mold growth and "pale sides". As a kid I always found this a pain- with little if no pay-off. But, as I've written elsewhere, I was a 'mater boy, anyway- Ha!

I am trying to grow my own this year this yr! Every yr. I will not allow real carving and make my "Pooh" paint her faces on our jack-o-lanterns, because we use our pumpkin pulp for Thanksgiving and Christmas pies; if it lasts til Christmas NOTHING compares to homemade pumpkin pie!!! So I have planted our own and am very hopeful to have our own pumpkins to harvest this year!

Growing pumpkins is fun - it's keeping your freakin' thievin' neighbors away from the flowers so that the pumpkins will grow. Who cares if you like pumpkin flowers - grow your own and leave mine alone!

Then they have the nerve to ask me for a recipe to batter them!

goola goola

grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr