Charming Sugar Pie Pumpkins

Are any of these still hanging around your kitchen?

I'm not talking about the large decorative pumpkins intended for Halloween carving and Thanksgiving decor.  I'm talking about the smaller eating pumpkins, sometimes called Sugar Pie pumpkins.  They're very attractive and have been readily available in supermarkets and at farmer's markets for a month or two.  Perhaps you, as I was, were charmed by them and tossed a few in your holiday cart.

These little sweet flavoured baking pumpkins were starting to show up at my local Tahoe City farmer's market as early as the last week in August.  They're charming and delicious, too!

If  you happen to have one still hanging around your kitchen as part of leftover Thanksgiving decor, you're probably thinking about throwing it out.  Most of us have been starting to get our homes ready for the next round of holidays and the last thing we need is last month's pumpkins.

Don't do it.  Don't toss it...sugar pie pumpkins make great eating.  They are quick and easy to roast and mash and are very tasty, too.  Best of all, they last for a good long time, so even if yours has been sitting on your kitchen counter for weeks now, it's probably still great eating!

Roasted and Mashed Sugar Pie Pumpkin

1 small baking pumpkin

3 T grass-fed butter

Freshly ground sea salt and black pepper to taste (generous)

¼ t cinnamon

Pinch of ground cloves

1/8 t Hungarian paprika

Roast the pumpkin in the oven at 400 degrees for an hour or until soft.  Remove from the oven.  Cut the pumpkin in half and remove the seeds and strings.  Put the cooked pumpkin flesh in a bowl, add remaining ingredients and mash.