If you’ve been around Island Vittles for a while, especially if you’re a fan of my Facebook page, you’ll probably know that I’m not a huge fan of pumpkins as an edible.  Oh, I have couple of favouites — my Mom’s pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving, and a pumpkin/peanut soup warms my soul — but I have to say that, as a food blogger, I’ve come to dread October and the “creativity” of some bloggers who work it into everything from coffee to a dessert dip made with puree and cookie dough. (The single most disgusting recipe I have come across in 3 years of blogging — no, I’m not sharing the link here, cause that would just be mean.)

Aside from the fact that too much of anything always becomes vomit-worthy in the end, the other reason for my pumpkin despair is the amount of farmland North Americans take up growing jack o’ lantern pumpkins.  Land that could be used to grow food, not ornamentals.

I wrote the following article a couple of years ago, for a local Pender magazine that has since folded, but I’ve pulled it out of my archives to nag encourage you to recycle that pumpkin into your favourite dish. Continue reading →