Peanut Pumpkin

Went to the Farmer's Market this past week with about 40 kindergarteners and their teachers (and a few extra helpers). Had such a great time with all of the kids and watching them notice all of the different produce available.

We spied an odd looking pumpkin and was told how delicious and easy it was to cook it up.

It's not a very pretty pumpkin. It's got all of these brown crusties on the outside of the skin that look like peanut shells. The farmer explained to us that as the pumpkin grows, the sugars from the inside of the pumpkin leak out through the skin and then bake in the sun.

That caught my attention. Sugar! Coming from a vegetable! Might be able to get Amber to try some because she heard the farmer say "sugar". Asked the farmer how to cook it and we bought one for $1 and took it home for dinner.

Cut the pumpkin up into bite sized pieces.

Watch the sugar leaking out. Feel the texture.

Toss it all in a pan on the stove with some butter and brown sugar. Stir occasionally until soft. Then serve.

It was so yummy. It had this fantastic texture that was kind of thick and still smooth. It was comparable in taste to an Acorn Squash. I actually enjoyed this better than the acorn squashes I have baked. Would definitely buy one of these again to cook up. 

The hubby suggested adding it to meatloaf. So you may be seeing this pumpkin again (I have three quart bags in the freezer of the remaining pumpkin).

Meet Me Monday

Where is your hometown?

Mine is Port Washington, Wisconsin.

No, we do not have our own cow in our yard. We do not all live on a farm. This is nothing like the tv show Step By Step. But that was fun sending random tourists all over town to find the roller coaster from the opening credits of the show.

It's a small fishing town (10,000+). We pride ourselves on our ancestry. We carry the nickname, "The City of Seven Hills". Not the ideal place to push a stroller unless you don't want to join a gym.

It's the town that you can't wait to get away from and then spend all of your moments trying to find ways to come back and visit.

http://www.ci.port-washington.wi.us/
http://www.visitportwashington.com/

Farmers

This past week, I was visiting with my family and heard that the small farmers of Wisconsin are going bigger and corporate. As I was driving across this beautiful state I was noticing all of these beautiful farm houses and barns. And I was hit by this thought the farmer is right up there with the soldier. They both do a job that the average person would not be willing to do.

Without the local farmer where would we be? Food prices would skyrocket or become scarce. Or we would all have our own plot of land for vegetables, a cow and some chickens.

Support your local farmers, thank them for the job they do that we are not willing to do. It takes all different kinds of people to make this world go round.

Driving down the highways of Wisconsin.