(The canning jar is to put the zucchini’s size into perspective.)

Is it not just amazing how overnight they can get so HUGE! I’m glad I found this one while it was still edible. I was able to get enough grated zucchini off of it to make four loaves of zucchini bread.  I tried making Lemon Zucchini Bread and I recommend it if you want to try something a little different. The lemon zest tasted really good in it. My family gobbled that small loaf up in no time .

It is already beginning- I am having to get creative to keep up with the zucchini bush that has grown into a monster! What are some of your favorite ways of using up the never ending zucchini? I need all the suggestions I can get right now as I already have three more that needed to be harvested before they look like the giant in today’s photo.

Last month I blogged about my family’s little outing to a pumpkin patch. One little bit of info I left out in that post was concerning two cute little pumpkins that I picked up for 50 cents each. I just loved the color of them- a creamy white and orange plus the sign said they were edible which ended up being the driving force behind me buying them. Well, and the fact that they have a rather interesting name!

Over the weekend I finally got around to baking them. I was quite impressed as I was able to get a total of two cups of cooked pumpkin out of those little guys. I of course saved the seeds as well thinking that if would be a lot of fun to try growing them next year.

One cup of pumpkin went straight into my family’s favorite treat for this time of year- pumpkin bread. The other cup went into the freezer to be saved for future use (more pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie, soup, butter, pumpkin roll….I could go on and on!)

People are always intrigued when I tell them I cook my own pumpkin for my recipes instead of buying canned and they always end up asking me how I go about doing it so I thought I would share that here today for anyone else that might be interested.

How to Cook a Pumpkin

Start by cutting the pumpkin in half and removing all the seeds and strings. Then place the pumpkins cut side down in a baking dish that has about an inch or so of water in it. Place the dish in an oven that has been set at 350°F. Bake for about an hour to an hour and a half or as long as it takes for the pumpkin to become very soft. You want it to be practically falling apart. Remove from the oven and set aside until it is cool enough to handle. Then remove the pulp from the shell (it should scrap off very easily) and place in a food processor and process until you have a nice creamy consistency.

After that it is ready to be used in your recipes or you can freeze it for later like I like to do.