Potluck

By Mary Emma Allen

As I travel around, I spy piles of pumpkins at farm stands, look at them waiting to be gathered in fields, and begin to see them adorning homes. I know it’s pumpkin and jack-o-lantern time of year.  Although we think of pumpkins with carved faces for Halloween, we know they are ideal for tasty recipes, too.

Children carve or paint laughing and scary faces on pumpkins to display for Halloween.  They even put candles into the carved ones. (“Be careful of the flame and dripping wax,” Mother always warned.)  Making jack-o-lanterns was a high point of my childhood and for my daughter and grandchildren.

Pumpkins in History

Using pumpkins for food dates back to the natives of the Americas.  They grew pumpkins and squash and developed many methods of preparing them.  Then they taught these foodways to the early settlers.

Supposedly, the natives of Central America originally grew pumpkins; then they were adopted as a food by the natives of North America.  The various methods of preparation included baking, boiling, making it into a soup,drying it, and grinding pumpkin into meal which they used for making breads.

For winter use, they cut the pumpkins into rings and strips and hung them to dry.

The “Big Pumpkin”

I recall the “Big Pumpkin” of my youth, which my sister used as a Halloween costume.   We cut a hole in the bottom, instead of the top, scooped out the seeds, and carved a face.  Then Sister draped herself in a sheet as a ghost.  We placed the pumpkin over her head.

I used a variation of this idea for my story, “Mama’s Prize Pumpkin,” in my children’s anthology, Tales of Adventure & Discovery.  I drew a picture to accompany the story, which also appears in a coloring book and on posters.

Pumpkin Recipes

It’s difficult to have a favorite pumpkin recipe.  Here’s one for:

PUMPKIN BREAD handed down in our family.  Beat 2 cups sugar with 1 cup vegetable oil; add 3 eggs, one at a time, beating after each. Beat until fluffy, then add 2 cups cooked pumpkin.

Sift together 3 cups flour, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon cloves, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ½ - 1 teaspoon nutmeg.  Mix into other ingredients at low speed. 

Divide into 3 greased, floured loaf pans (approximately 7 ½ x 3 ½ x 2 ¼ inches).  Bake at 325 degrees F. for 60 minutes or until inserted pick tests done.  Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans. 

Cut and serve with whipped cream or whipped topping. Some like to put cream cheese icing on this and serve like a cake. 

(c)2008 Mary Emma Allen

(Mary Emma Allen has been researching and writing about food and food history for more than 40 years.  She also writes for children and conducts writing workshops for children and adults. For more about her workshops and children's stories, e-mail: me.allen@juno.com. )