Pumpkin Fun

We are way behind in our nature challenges but we will catch up eventually.  Vacation and the flu were the culprits.  So we will start with pumpkins and work our way back then forth but we plan on getting all 10 challenges done.  We have done some of the other challenges as we were on vacation but didn't get done with them so between this week and next week we will light a fire under our nature studies and get it done.

This is our first time in buying a pumpkin and mutilating it.  That is what you call it right?  After all I've heard the word "innards" being used to describe what you will take out of that poor thing.    All in the name of nature study and of course to fill our tummy's.

We set the table up with newspaper which  made clean up very easy.  Then I handled the knife and cutting the pumpkins open.  The boys were in charge of taking all those seeds out.  

Each one had their own pumpkin.  I had gotten one pumpkin first.  Then we were reading online about them and learned that the pie pumpkins are sweeter than the ones you normally see.  Although I have talked to some friends who use them to cook and make some sweets with them.  Of course since I had already gotten one I had to get two of the smaller ones.  

So we cleaned them up and steamed them.  We taste tested them after cooking and the pie pumpkins are sweeter.  Anyway, now we had a huge, huge bowl to of this stuff to make all sorts of yummy desserts.  We got the seeds roasted.  The boys love those.  We also made some pumpkin bread.  Not just pumpkin bread but pumpkin gingerbread.  It smells good.  Oh, the recipe was for two loaves.  I guess I will have to find some friends to share with.  Here's a picture of the loaves and seeds.     

 I also found a recipe for some pumpkin pancakes.  I remember an old friend always making them and I never tried them so now that we have a ton of the pumpkin all ready in the fridge I guess we will just have to try them out.  I am going to also make a mexican pastry with the pumpkin filling called empanadas.  Has anyone tried those?  Oh, so yummy! 

We have decided to try to grow some pumpkins next year in our garden.  We also filled out another notebooking page I made for this lesson and will add it to our nature studies binder.  

These challenges are on Handbook of Nature Study blog.