It's Pumpkin Time!

I met Dr. Mary Dan Eades at the Ancestral Health Symposium and had a nice chat with her.  I mentioned that her pumpkin blogpost is one of my favorites.  So many people had been asking about potassium, and also insisting that everyone needs to eat lots of bananas in order to get enough potassium.  I'm happy to report that she has set the record straight, so I send lots of people over to her site to read about the Great pumpkin.

I harvested my first pumpkin of the season yesterday.  It is a Baby Pam pumkin, and only about a pound or so.  It is curing on the patio, and I will probably "boot it up" next week.  By that time, the green taste will have disappeared.  I love this pumpkin because it is early, tasty and small.  The seed quality is fantastic, but unfortunately, it is not much of a keeper.  I grow it to eat in the summer and early fall, and it tastes terrible by Halloween or Thanksgiving.  I suppose I could have more if I had a root cellar.  Not gonna happen unless I dig a hole in the ground myself.

I also harvested a couple of tatume squashes.  I grow this variety because it is in my summer squash variety pack.  I enjoy it on the grill when immature, but this year, not only did I have a seed snafu, but all the other summer squash plants did well and I was overwhelmed, so I let the tatume's continue to grow.  The first years, I grew a few out, but didn't prefer the flavor to the sweeter varieties.  Since then, like the Mexicans, I have developed a liking for the tatume, and also other overgrown summer squashes.

Here's my new favorite soup recipe.

Squash soup
tatume, chayote or overgrown summer squash (4 cups chunks)
1 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon hot curry powder (my curry blend already contains a bit of salt)
lemon basil

Cut and peel the squash, cut into chunks and cook in chicken broth in a saucepan until tender.  (I usually start my chicken in a bit of bacon fat, and so enjoy the bacon flavor in the soup, too.)  Cool.  Blend the squash, add the curry, and then return to the pan and reheat.  Remove from heat and stir in the cream.  Garnish with lemon basil.
I also make the squash puree, add the curry, and then store it in the fridge.  It keeps well for several days, and I just add the cream after reheating the squash.

Here's Dr. Eades' pumpkin post:  http://www.proteinpower.com/drmd_blog/recipes/waiting-for-the-great-pumpkin-soup-that-is/
Here's another one of her pumpkin posts:  http://www.proteinpower.com/drmd_blog/pumpkins-back/  Check out her picture of Cinderella pumpkins.  I grow these, too, and the first one will be ready in a few weeks.  Even though you aren't really supposed to count the pumpkins until they hatch, yesterday I counted 12 Cinderella pumpkins.