Pumpkin pumpkins pumpkins!!

'Tis the season for pumpkins! Everything has Pumpkins!! There is pumpkin pies, pumpkin cheese cakes, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin seeds well you get it. Many people, myself included, would go to the store and pick up a can or two of pumpkin purée to fulfill your recipe's requirements. But not me! Not this time! I boldly went where I have never been before! To my in-laws Pumpkin patch, well they to their shed where they keep their ready pumpkins and picked up a farm fresh organic pumpkin, well 2 to be exact. I brought my 2 pumpkins in and stared at them ... thinking... looking... pacing... thinking some more. I finally pulled out my phone went to my google search and typed in "how to roast and pure a pumpkin." I glimpsed at recipes here and there i read instructions, then said "mehh I got it" and got to work. I know it’s not exactly "by the book" but this is the exhausting story of my 1st pumpkin puree journey: (read laugh, shake your head, let me know how to do it better) Step 1: wash mud off the pumpkin (apparently they are not clean when you pick them from the patch) Step 2: decide it is easier to set up a spot in the middle of the living room floor Step 3: set up the living room floor with black garbage bags, 2 cookie sheets and a Roasting pan (because 1 roasting pan will be enough to fit 2 pumpkins right!!??) Oh and a couple of bowls for the waste. Step 4: have my husband cut a whole on top Step 5: He needs to cut a bigger whole because even your 2 year olds’ hands won't fit Step 6: Kiss husband good bye and try to convince your 2 year old to help. (She takes a peek in touching then running away spreading pumpkin guts all over the house!) Step 7: Stop trying to convince 2 year old Step 8: realize that there are tons of tasty looking seed so get another bowl for the seeds. Step 9: scrape the inside and separate the guts and the seeds Step 10: realize you mixed up the bowls and spend a bit more time separating the guts and the seeds. Step 11: realize you can't reach the bottom well and the pumpkin will need to get cut up anyways Step 12: start hacking off chunks of pumpkin as best and as safely as you can and scrape off the rest of the guts. Step 13: place them in the roasting pan, quickly realize there is no way you can possibly fit all of these pieces into the pan :( step 14: deal with that problem later Step 15: You are satisfied with you work and get started on your second pumpkin. Step 16: repeat steps 1 to 15, except kiss the husband well because he is not home yet. Step 17: wash the pumpkins and try to figure out how to place them on the pans and roasters you have Step 18: realize you didn't put foil on your pans Step 19: take everything off put foil and then replace everything Step 20: put them in the preheated oven Step 21: wash the pumpkinseeds obsessively because THEY ARE STILL SLIMY!! Step 22: wonder why you are doing all this work Step 23: Check the oven every 5 to 7 minutes because "they should be ready now" Step 24:"oh they look ready but maybe I should flip them" Step 25: Flip them over, and because you think they will taste a little bit better sprinkle some brown sugar. Step 26: realize you don’t have a food processor and your blende might be too small for all of these pumpkins. Step 27: "ahhh they are burning take them out!!!" Step 28: "oh they are still ok, maybe I need to peel them" Step 29: "ughhghghh why is this so hard to peel???!!" Step 30: "o shoot I should put the other ones in the oven. (Line with foil, place and put in the oven) Step 31: husband comes home sees that the whole house is sticky and you are frazzled laughs and starts getting 2 year old ready for bed. Step 32: wonder out loud "ummm how will I get these crushed I don't have a food processor" Husband jumps up calls his parents at 9 pm and tells them he is coming over to get the food processor. Step 33: scrape the peel off while sobbing a little Step 34 husband is back with the food processor. Step 35: he puts 2 year old to bed, gives you a hug and helps you keep going. Step 36-???: it is a blur of scraping, food processing, toasting pumpkin seeds, cutting pumpkins into small chunks, me sobbing with frustration as it is getting close to 10:30pm and you are not even close to being done, finding containers to put the seemingly endless containers of puree. Finish, sob because you are so tired and everything is still a disaster. Step ??: your husband tells you to go to bed, so you grudgingly listen and go to be. Step 1 (again): you wake up to a clean kitchen and smile a little, give husband a big kiss and sigh because now you actually have to make something with all these containers of puree. Step 2: make a pumpkin cheesecake step 3: make pumpkin cream cheese cake pops step 4: pat yourself on the back. 2 days later: TRY TO BAKE SOMETHING ELSE IN THE OVEN there is lots of smoke, you look and decide it’s time to clean the oven you guess. Finish whatever project, put the self-cleaner on go and sit down, husband is in the kitchen and he is shouting at you that there are flames in the oven, (you don’t really believe him) he gets everything back in order and you say "ok so how much longer until the oven is done the self-clean" He tells you "well I turned it off it’s not safe" you roll your eyes he cleans it and finishes the self-cleaning process. 10 days later you are still looking in your fridge to find 3 large margarine sized containers of pumpkin puree you sigh and wonder what you will make with them and if you should even bother doing it again next year because after all you mom had just told you that the pumpkin puree at the store is on sale for $1. Well I got these for free.... well sort off!!

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