The two sugar pumpkins I received in last week’s CSA box had been beckoning to me all week long. “Cook me! Make me into something delicious!” But, what, I wondered? I had already considered the obvious choice, pumpkin pie, but I quickly ruled that out. Since it is just the two of us here, baking a whole pie wouldn’t make much sense. Besides, Robert has this little thing called will power (perhaps you’ve heard of it?) If I made a pumpkin pie, he would probably limit himself to one slice and leave the rest for me to either eat myself or guiltily throw away.

As I was puzzling over what to do with my pumpkins for a fifth day, Robert and my mom both independently suggested pumpkin muffins. I figured that was a sign and, as soon as they said it, pumpkin muffins started to sound really, really good. Last night, I halved and seeded my pumpkins and roasted them in a 350-degree oven until soft. I pureed the flesh and set it in the refrigerator so it would be ready for the morning. I used a basic buttermilk muffin recipe from Joy of Cooking and added to it 1 cup of pumpkin puree and a variety of sweet spices. They turned out very moist on the inside and super-crispy on the outside. I was a little aggressive in oiling my muffin tin because I hate it when they stick so think that is what caused them be so crispy. They were almost like pumpkin doughnuts (and there’s nothing wrong with that!)

I had no idea how much pumpkin puree I would get out of my pumpkins. They looked really small, and I was worried that I wouldn’t have enough for my muffins. Well, I ended up with about 3 cups which was way more than I needed. I decided to use up the rest by making pumpkin gnocchi. The recipe I used has a rather odd set of directions. It seems strange to me to cook the pumpkin puree with the flour over medium heat and then add the egg. Normally, I would mix the egg into the puree and then gently knead in the flour, all off heat. I was skeptical. I cooked a few of the gnocchi, and they were good so, weird directions aside, it all worked out in the end! I froze my gnocchi for an easy dinner later in the week. All they need is to be boiled and tossed in a brown butter-sage sauce.

After the gnocchi were done, I still had pumpkin puree to use up! I chose to make a pumpkin butter. A co-worker made some amazing apple butter the other day so I had butters on the brain I guess. I found a quick and easy recipe and just happened to have all of the ingredients on hand. I made just enough pumpkin butter remaining to fill a small jar. I can’t wait to try it on toasted crumpets or English muffins.

Finally, the seeds! My jack-o-lantern didn’t provide any seeds this year, and I was so disappointed because I love roasting the seeds like my mom always did when I was a kid. My sugar pumpkins relinquished a ton of seeds so I happily set to work cleaning and roasting them. I did something a little bit different this year. I followed this recipe which calls for simmering the seeds before roasting. I’m not sure if it was because of that extra step or simply because I was using the more delicate seeds from a sugar pumpkin this time instead of the hardier seeds from a carving pumpkin, but these seeds really puffed up and became light and crisp.

Yep, it was truly pumpkin mania in my kitchen today. What’s your favorite pumpkin recipe?