Brother Stout showed how to cut a full size pumpkin in half (CAREFULLY--- top to bottom- and with a sharp knife) in preparation for cooking it to make pumpkin puree. We showed both a fairy tale pumpkin and a regular jack-o-lantern type pumpkin so that people could see the difference in color and thickness of skin.
Scoop out all the seeds and strings and then put the cut side down on a cookie sheet - add 1/2 to 1 cup of water and bake at 300 degrees for several hours. Baking time depends on the size of the pumpkin. You will know it is done when you can poke a sharp knife easily into the skin.
Take it out of the oven and let it cool to touch, then scoop all the soft pumpkin flesh into a bowl. Mash with a potato masher or hand mixer. Scoop 2 cups of pumpkin puree into ziplock bags. (most recipes call for 2 cups of pumpkin). Make with date and a "P", then freeze. When you need pumpkin for a recipe thaw and use this puree.
After this demonstration, various sisters who had prepared pumpkin desserts showed what they brought and talked briefly about their recipe. Then everyone could fill a plate to sample all the yummy items.
Several pie pumpkins and bags of pumpkin puree were given away to some of the people who attended. We all had a great time, but forgot to take pictures.
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