"Homemade" Pumpkin Puree

I'm SO excited because I finally found canned pumpkin on the grocery store shelf today. (9/23/10).

I was aware that there had been a shortage as I haven't been able to find any ANYWHERE for months!  And had recently heard that we would have it available for the holidays.  Hurrah! 

I love pumpkin and use it for many things.

It's a great substitute for oil.  I will share some pumpkin recipes soon, but for now, I want to share with you how I recently made pumpkin puree  for my freezer.

I purchased some smaller 'pie pumpkins' from a local vegetable/fruit stand a few miles from our home for $1 each.  They are 'meatier' than a regular larger-sized pumpkin, which contains a lot of water.  (I know - I've baked them up in the past and can testify that these smaller pumpkins produce much more of the solid pumpkin.) In the picture above, I got all that puree in the bowl (about 4 cups) from one small pumpkin that size!

I cut them open, cleaned out the 'gunk' inside, and layed them upside down on a foil-covered cookie sheet, added about 1/4 c. water and baked them for about 1-1/2 hrs. or until tender.

I baked 2 pumpkins together with a large butternut squash. I had baked 1 smaller pumpkin the day before. I let them cool and the peel came right off the fleshy meat.

I put the 'meat' in my food processor, about 3-4 cups at a time, and whirred it until it was the right consistency - butternut squash mixed in with the pumpkin, for color, texture and flavor too. (Did you know the two can be interchangeably used?) I actually added water when needed to make a smoother texture.

And the best part was - I spent $3.50 for 3 small pumpkins and the butternut squash, and ended up with 16 cups of pumpkin!

I placed it in freezer containers then will let it thaw in the fridge for a day before I'm ready to use it.

Isn't it just beautiful!??

Oh my!  I'm thinking...

Paradise Pumpkin Pie...Pumpkin Cake Roll...Pumpkin Sheet Cake...

Ooey Gooey Pumpkin Cake, Pumpkin Dump Cake,

Chocolate Cake Muffins...Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread...and MORE!

Stay tuned for upcoming holiday recipes - you'll

have a hard time choosing which ones to try.

Or maybe you will be like me, and try them all!

Especially now since pumpkin is available once again!