Gotta cook a pumpkin or two boy - gotta cook a pumpkin or two!

Last year I bought some rare Blue Hubbard pumpkin seeds.  They were £2.50 (plus postage) for five seeds.

I managed to get three plants - which I was thrilled with.   We had a drought of a summer here in Norfolk, and my allotment plants had to fend for themselves without any watering from me.

Amazingly I got a really good crop of squashes and courgettes and made lots of roasted mixes for use over the winter,  Most of which I have used up now - so it was time to get cooking again.

I had some stored in the lean too - these are HUGE

Because of their size - I can only lift one at a time -

I needed to wait until Pat could help me - and was in the mood too.

I just can't cut through the thick skins myself and he had a job

We couldn't manage all of them - it was too much work for me

Look at this lovely flesh.  I have saved lots of the seeds

Here is what's cooking

Every oven, every tin I possess

Some used more than once - some with chilli powder too

Cooked up a treat

Chilli on the left, olive oil on the right

My goodness they smelt lovely - all this work for this

This is a massive bowl of the scooped out pumpkin which I have mashed

I'll have biceps like Popeye!

Guess how much this pumpkin mash weighs

A whopping 18lbs - yes eighteen pounds.

All bagged up now in one pound bags and frozen.

And I still have more to do!

And it is the best pumpkin flavour I have ever tasted!