My Little Pumpkin


My little pumpkin can be used as a term of endearment but what I really love is the Pumpkin itself. 


These cute and sometimes giant round veggies are probably the number one sign that Autumn has started, and have become the mascot of the season. There are literally more than a 101 ways to use and cook a pumpkin. Just this week I am featuring the pumpkin ravioli dressed with shaved asparagus and carmelized pumpkin on the dish.  

 There are so many little know facts about pumpkin. I think the biggest myth about pumpkin especially in the United States is that its only used for jack -o- laterns and pumpkin pie. Actually until Irish immigrants arrived people used turnips and potatoes for jack-o-laterns. The traidtion of cutting them into face started in Ireland hundreds of years ago. 

 The word pumpkin originates from the word pepon (πέπων), which is Greek for “large melon", something round and large.[7] The Frenchadapted this word to pompon, which the British changed to pumpion and later American colonists changed that to the word that is used today, "pumpkin".[1]

 Here is a great video about pumpkins.

  • Pumpkins are a member of the gourd family, which includes cucumbers, honeydew melons, cantaloupe, watermelons and zucchini. These plants are native to Central America and Mexico, but now grow on six continents.
  • The largest pumpkin pie ever baked was in 2005 and weighed 2,020 pounds.
  • Pumpkins have been grown in North America for five thousand years. They are indigenous to the western hemisphere.
  • In 1584, after French explorer Jacques Cartier explored the St. Lawrence region of North America, he reported finding “gros melons.” The name was translated into English as “pompions,” which has since evolved into the modern “pumpkin.”
  • Pumpkins are low in calories, fat, and sodium and high in fiber. They are good sources of Vitamin A, Vitamin B, potassium, protein, and iron.
  • The heaviest pumpkin weighed 1,810 lb 8 oz and was presented by Chris Stevens at the Stillwater Harvest Fest in Stillwater, Minnesota, in October 2010.
  • Pumpkin seeds should be planted between the last week of May and the middle of June. They take between 90 and 120 days to grow and are picked in October when they are bright orange in color. Their seeds can be saved to grow new pumpkins the next year.
To learn even more about Pumpkins go here

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