By MARY ANN LIENHART CROSS

Extension Educator Purdue Extension

Mary Ann Lienhart Cross.

GOSHEN — Many foods come to mind when it comes to cooler weather and cooking. I know with our unseasonably warm weather traditional fall foods may not be at the top of your list. A food that should not be thought of as just a fall food is pumpkin.

The pumpkin falls into the category of winter squash and the many varieties of squash are all members of the gourd family, native to the new world. Gardeners know to recognize the plant by the trailing vines, large leaves and beautiful yellow-orange blossoms. Summer squash varieties are eaten while soft and immature: most winter varieties are allowed to mature, and as they do, they develop a hard outer skin.

Many times when I share information with you in this column I encourage you to cook with food closest to its original form for best value of your food dollar and for the most nutritional value. With suggestions in the kitchen there are always exceptions and preparing pumpkin recipes is one of them.

If you have small pie pumpkins by all means plan to use them. Figure out the easiest way to remove the seeds so that you bake the pumpkin and the meat becomes soft. You can then remove the skin and prepare your recipes. A challenge can be getting it cut to remove the seeds. If the pumpkin is small and fits in your microwave, rinse it off, prick all over with a fork, place in the microwave and heat on high for five minutes or so. As the skin becomes soft it will be easier for you to cut so you can remove the seeds. You will just have to experiment to determine how long you will have to heat it.

When it comes to preparing pumpkin recipes the best way is to use canned pumpkin. Most of us don’t grow pumpkin and there is just no reason to go to the trouble of buying pie pumpkins and preparing it fresh. The canned version is just as nutritious as fresh pumpkin.

Make sure to add pumpkin to your shopping list, you will find it in the aisle with all of the baking supplies in most stores. Pumpkin is a nutrient-dense food and 1/2 cup can boost your fiber, potassium and vitamin A consumption. Read the label and make sure all the fiber has remained in the product. The healthiest options have about 3 grams of fiber per serving. When it comes to vitamin A, 2 tablespoons of pumpkin provides 95% of the daily value of vitamin A.

Pumpkin can be added to your morning hot oatmeal, added to smoothies, used as a thickener in tomato sauce, makes for a great cold or hot soup as well as the base for many baked goods. A favorite to make all year long is pumpkin pie. Pumpkin pie is one of the fastest pies to make especially when you use canned pumpkin. I really like using the plain canned pumpkin and following the recipe on the can or my own ideas verses using the canned pumpkin pie. This next suggestion some of you might not like but this suggestion will save you calories and time. Pumpkin pie is wonderful without the crust, really it is! All you need to do is grease the pie plate, pour the pumpkin pie mixture in and bake it, let it cool, slice and enjoy. For the greasing part of the pie pan I suggest you use homemade pan grease which is equal amounts of flour, solid shortening and oil mixed together till smooth. Spread on with a brush or your fingers. Store the pan grease in the refrigerator.

Here is a recipe that you might want to try as it uses some sugar substitution so it is a good recipe to use for your diabetic cooking.

Light Pumpkin Pie

2 cups canned pumpkin
2 eggs or 1/2 cup egg substitute
3 T. brown sugar
12 sweetener packets (aspartame or sucralose)
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ginger
12 oz. evaporated skim milk
10” unbaked pie shell (optional)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine first eight ingredients beginning with pumpkin and ending with evaporated milk. Pour into pie plate, or pie shell if using. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce oven to 350 degrees and continue baking for another 45 minutes or until knife inserted into center comes out clean. Refrigerate pie. Serves 10.