Delightful Fall Foods: The Pumpkin

It is no doubt that fall is a delicious time of year. The time when social media is flooded with those inviting photos of pumpkin spiced lattes, delicious pies and other beverages and fall foods. So let’s talk about one of the main contributors to awesome fall foods: the pumpkin.

What is a Pumpkin? A pumpkin is a squash plant that grows on a vine and is used for fall foods and recreation. It is also a common object of tradition, such as jack-o-lanterns for Halloween, pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving and pumpkin spiced lattes to kick-off the fall season.

What are the uses of a pumpkin?

• Growing/Picking!

You can grow your own pumpkins or head to the nearest pumpkin patch to pick out your own freshly grown pumpkin for the freshest fall foods. All About Pumpkins has a great guide on how to grow pumpkins depending on growing conditions and intended use of the pumpkins.

Pumpkin patches are fun family activities and often include extra activities for you to enjoy like hayrides, gift shops with fall foods, corn mazes or petting zoos so you can make a fun family day out of it!

• Eating!

Pumpkins are delicious to eat and are low in calories and high in antioxidant vitamins like A, C and E. Primally Inspired has an awesome list of top clean pumpkin recipes for you to try and you can find tons of other recipes all over the internet. You can toast pumpkin seeds for a delicious snack and add it to your collection of fall foods. And if you haven’t already, check out my healthy version of a pumpkin spice latte!

• Carving!

When we’re not using pumpkin in our fall foods, there is the good old Halloween tradition of carving pumpkins and lighting a candle in them to make a jack-o-lantern. It’s a fun activity to do with the family, just don’t give the kids a difficult carving pattern to follow or you will end up doing all the work!

• Chunkin!?

In my quest to learn all about pumpkins, I discovered a new use for pumpkins that I previously did not know about - punkin chunkin. It’s basically launching pumpkins from a catapult or catapult-like device to see how sturdy it is. There is even a Punkin Chunkin world championship! Personally, I prefer eating or carving pumpkins but whatever floats your boat!

Finally, I’d like to leave you with some fun pumpkin facts that I found at http://www.pumpkinfresh.com/facts.htm:

● Pumpkins are 90 percent water.

● Eighty percent of the pumpkins supply in the United States is available in October.

● Colonists sliced off pumpkin tips; removed seeds and filled the insides with milk, spices and honey. This was baked in hot ashes and is the origin of pumpkin pie.

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

● The largest "official" pumpkin ever grown weighed 1,340 pounds.

The joys of fall are upon us and the pumpkin is a significant factor in the delight of fall foods, beverages and activities. I hope you get to enjoy the diverse uses of a pumpkin this fall!