It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

Well, maybe his smaller cousin at least. My pumpkins are fat and orange and the stems are drying out--a sure sign that they are ready to harvest! So this evening I decided to save a medium sized one from an imminent slug attack and hauled my golden treasure inside. It was tricky but it did fit on my antique kitchen scale, and weighed in at 17.5 pounds. This is my first attempt at growing pumpkins, and being a fan of many things girly (pink, floral fabrics, shiny baubles and glittery chandeliers) I decided to grow Cinderella pumpkins. They are gorgeous! I have 10 more in the garden, and while I am not sure that they will make it to harvest--slugs and stem rot seem to like to wage war in my patch--I have one that is THREE times the size of the one pictured. Isn't that exciting?? In any case, these pumpkins not only look lovely and as though they were pulled from the pages of a fairy tale, but they are also good eating. Shortly after its photogenic debut, I hacked this orange monster apart, scooped seeds and pithy flesh, and wedged it all into my turkey roaster. It is now happily simmering away in a 400 degree oven, and in an hour I should have it soft enough to make oodles of pumpkin puree. I plan to bag it in 2 cup portions and hide it in the freezer to be reincarnated as pumpkin bars, pumpkin soup, pumpkin scones, pumpkin spice cookies, and more wonderful treats. I just love harvest time!