Mmmm...pumpkin puree!

So far this fall I've done up 8 pie pumpkins into puree.  I bought 3 of them in Amish Country when hubs and I took our little Anniversary trip there last month.  While I was baking them, oldest son came home from helping an older couple from church with several pumpkins--one of which he was told was a pie pumpkin. I quickly cut it open, gutted it and popped it in the oven with the other three.  It wasn't really a pie pumpkin--just a small pumpkin, but it worked out fine.  I usually just cut up the Jack-O-Lantern pumpkins, but I may never do that again...at least not for pies. I'm sold on the pie pumpkins.
Anyway, I picked up four more pie pumpkins at Walmart last week and baked them last night.  Let me tell you--Walmart is NOT the place to buy them.  They were a little "juicier" than the ones from the Amish farmer (actually, he was a Mennonite) and the shells...oh, the shells were a story in themselves!  Two of the pumpkins had such thick shells that *I* couldn't cut into them with my sharp knife, so I called my oldest son---the one who looks like a football player.  *He* had trouble cutting them open, but he didn't give up (like his Mama).

After scooping out the goodies,

 I stacked them up. Check it out.

*NORMALLY* the shells are flimsy and collapse when you scoop out the pulp. They should NOT be able to hold their shape like this. It was bizzare!

Then I had all this wonderful pumpkin meat (pulp).

So I puree'd it.

Then I measured it and packed it into bags for the freezer.  I had 7 bags--2 cups each.

 Actually, I kept one bag in the fridge to make a
pumpkin pie. 

Or maybe some pancakes and muffins.  I haven't decided.

But with all those pumpkins comes pumpkin seeds.   I'm so glad I saved some out of the first batch to use as planting seeds for next year. (I sure don't want any thick-skinned, juicy pumpkins growing next year!)  Then I roasted about a quart of pumpkin seeds for eating from that batch.  I have at least that much this time, too.   I just boiled them in salt water,

dried them, then slow roasted them in the oven to dry them out.

Now the guys have something to take for snacks while hunting.

Next week I'm going to help our youngest son bake his Jack-O-Lantern pumpkin to make Pumpkin Butter for Christmas gifts.  He's so excited.