It’s Pumpkin Lovin Day

Happy National Pumpkin Day!

 Pumpkins are used as a symbol of Fall. We decorate with it, we carve it and we eat it, in honor of  this VERY special season.  

According to pumpkin-patch.com, here are 10 little known facts about our favorite orange squash!!

1. Six of the seven continents can grow pumpkins. Antarctica is the ONLY continent that that can't.

2.  The "pumpkin capital" of the world is Morton, Illinois.  The city is the home of the Libby's corporation.

3. What started out as a tradition involving carving turnips, the Irish gave us our modern tradition of carving pumpkins. When they immigrated to America, pumpkins were a plenty and they were also easier to carve.

4. The largest pumpkin pie ever made was over five feet in diameter and weighed over 350 pounds. It  used 80 pounds of cooked pumpkin, 36 pounds of sugar, 12 dozen eggs and took six hours to bake.

5. In early colonial times, pumpkins were used as an ingredient for the crust of pies, not the filling.

6. Pumpkins were once recommended for removing freckles and curing snake bites.

7. The largest pumpkin ever grown weighed 1,140 pounds.

8. The Connecticut field variety is the traditional American pumpkin.

9. Pumpkins are 90 percent water.

10. Native Americans flattened strips of pumpkins, dried them and made door mats. They also used pumpkin seeds for food and medicine.

Source: pumpkin-patch.com

Here is a recipe to help you celebrate the pumpkin today!!

PUMPKIN SOUP

Ingredients

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage, or 1 teaspoon dried

1 small onion, very finely chopped

Three 15-ounce cans pumpkin (unsweetened)

Salt and freshly ground pepper

6 cups reduced-sodium vegetable or chicken broth

1/2 cup heavy cream, sour cream, or plain low-fat yogurt

Preparations

Melt the butter and olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. When the butter has melted, add the sage and onion, and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is completely soft, about 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in the pumpkin and cook another 3 minutes. Season well with salt and pepper. Stir in the broth and bring the soup to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to low and cook 10 minutes. Stir in the cream just before serving and reheat for 4 minutes. (Makes 4 to 6 servings)

Variations

The soup can be made several hours or a day ahead of time. If you use vegetable broth, the soup will be vegetarian.

Source: babycenter.com

A cool idea for carving your pumpkin from Country Living Magazine

These carved pumpkins provide the backdrop for a cute and spooky village scene.

Step 1: Carve a hole in the bottom of each pumpkin, scoop out the pulp, and return the cut pieces.

Step 2: Print out house templates. Resize on a copier, scaling the images to fit your pumpkins.

Step 3: Cut out stencils as directed on the templates and affix to pumpkins with masking tape. Trace on the designs with a felt-tip pen.

Step 4: Remove stencils, then carefully carve along the drawn lines of the houses' windows with an X-Acto knife. Fill in the designs using a fine-tip brush and black flat acrylic paint; let dry. Affix a battery-operated votive candle in the base of each pumpkin with adhesive putty.

Read more: Pumpkin Decorating Ideas - How to Decorate Pumpkins - Country Living

Enjoy your great pumpkin day!!!