If Pumpkins Were Wishes

Some girlhood dreams do come true. We have to be creative enough to accept them in the form they arrive.

As a child, I dreamed of having a dapple grey horse to ride, love and cherish. This Halloween, I instead was given a pumpkin- and it's supposed to be very yummy pie making. We'll see...

My husband was laughing at me because I was carrying around my dapple grey pumpkin (better known as an heirloom strain called Blue Moon).

Here in California, this is the second year I've seen a huge influx of locally grown heirloom pumpkins for sale in the makeshift pumpkin patches that pop up in empty lots chock full of pumpkins and amazing, weird and funky squashes--so I had to share. They come in many exotic colors- grey, white, dark green, even a blend of orange and yellow. A few of those are shown here (though overexposed) at our local Whole Foods display.
When I carve up my dapple grey pumpkin, I'm going to save the innards and actually make something with it in gratitude for the gift of such an unusual pumpkin.

I found an amazing collection of recipes in Edible Allegheny's article "Pumpkin it Up," published out of Pennsylvania. By the way I love Edible Communities around the US- we have several here in the Bay area- check this link to find the local publication near you.

In honor of Samhain tradition, I'll also dedicate this recipe to my Dad who grew up in PA! But I need your help in choosing a future use for the fresh pumpkin.
(Yes, you can vote for two, I'll probably have plenty to work with!)

What should the grey pumpkin transform into? Take the poll at top right and then I'll blog about it next month.