Dreamed I was roasting chestnuts.

I tried doing that once... not, as the song goes, "on an open fire", but rather in a very hot oven using a cast iron pan. I cut X's in the ends of the chestnuts with a very sharp paring knife and then threw the chestnuts into the pan with a bit of vegetable oil. I did not think that the end product was worth the effort. Even having X'd them prior to roasting them, the chestnuts were still very hard to peel and I thought that they tasted rather bland. Salting them lightly didn't improve them that much.

There are some products (very few, mind you) that I think are better canned than fresh. Canned pumpkin for baking is one of these products. Canned pumpkin typically involves a pureed mix of several different varieties of winter squash to optimize color and flavor. I find fresh roasted pumpkin to be too stringy for baking purposes, even when I use a variety like Sugar Pie pumpkins. I do, however, find fresh pumpkin to be vastly superior to canned pumpkin when used in soups and curries.

Canned chestnut puree also works well in baking. I use jarred chestnuts for very occasional tortes and there is a Christmas cookie recipe Eric likes that calls for canned chestnut puree.

I have noticed during pumpkin season that the store often has a
display marked "baking pumpkins," or something like that. That has
me thinking that the pumpkins we buy to make jack-o-lanterns
aren't grown for baking. Do you buy "baking pumpkins" or the
jack-o-lantern type?

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~Sue~

Do you buy "baking pumpkins" or the jack-o-lantern type?

I buy the baking type, generally Sugar Pie pumpkins. They are delicious in soups and in curries. Jack-o-lantern type pumpkins are stringy and not flavorful.

Do you buy "baking pumpkins" or the jack-o-lantern type?

I buy the baking type, generally Sugar Pie pumpkins. They are delicious in soups and in curries. Jack-o-lantern type pumpkins are stringy and not flavorful.

And the Jacks can be used as an Exploding Pumpkin, talk about, eye popping. ;) Boom!

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The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's

Do you buy "baking pumpkins" or the jack-o-lantern type?

I buy the baking type, generally Sugar Pie pumpkins. They are delicious in soups and in curries. Jack-o-lantern type pumpkins are stringy and not flavorful.

And the Jacks can be used as an Exploding Pumpkin, talk about, eye popping. ;) Boom!

Scary!

I think spaghetti squash are in the same family as pumpkins, and I love baking them and serving the innards like pasta.

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The mind is a weird and mysterious place

Do you buy "baking pumpkins" or the jack-o-lantern type?

I buy the baking type, generally Sugar Pie pumpkins. They are delicious in soups and in curries. Jack-o-lantern type pumpkins are stringy and not flavorful.

And the Jacks can be used as an Exploding Pumpkin, talk about, eye popping. ;) Boom!

Scary!

I think spaghetti squash are in the same family as pumpkins, and I love baking them and serving the innards like pasta.

Ah yes, scary, that was ok, this one is Killer.. And quite instructional too.

I've got the sound track as an mp3..

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The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's

Do you buy "baking pumpkins" or the jack-o-lantern type?

I buy the baking type, generally Sugar Pie pumpkins. They are delicious in soups and in curries. Jack-o-lantern type pumpkins are stringy and not flavorful.

And the Jacks can be used as an Exploding Pumpkin, talk about, eye popping. ;) Boom!

Armand Michaud has witnessed a bizarre phenomenon plaguing New England — exploding giant pumpkins.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95603520

I think spaghetti squash are in the same family as pumpkins, and I love baking them and serving the innards like pasta.

I've never cooked a spaghetti squash. What does it taste like?

I think spaghetti squash are in the same family as pumpkins, and I love baking them and serving the innards like pasta.

I've never cooked a spaghetti squash. What does it taste like?

Mild, like an acorn squash, but much more fun. :~)

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The mind is a weird and mysterious place

Eric hates winter squash of all kinds, so I will have to try and bake acorn squash some day when he is away at a conference.

Eric hates winter squash of all kinds, so I will have to try and bake acorn squash some day when he is away at a conference.

If ya need a place to home some leftovers....
Lori has always said that I am the world's best man to cook for, as there are few things I will not eat.
You can keep the kippers.....LOL.

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

Spaghetti squash is good steamed in the microwave. The hardest part is cutting through the outer shell. It is a tough tough outer skin. Cut it end to end. Not around the middle (equator). Scoop out the seeds. Place in a microwave safe dish with a little over a quarter inch of water. Zap on high a few minutes at a time until soft and done. Scoop out with a fork.
Butter, salt and pepper or a lite spaghetti sauce. And yummm.

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I have an extremely sharp Japanese vegetable knife called a Santoku knife. I can get though butternut squash and acorn squash easily using that knife. Is a spaghetti squash harder than a butternut?

I have an extremely sharp Japanese vegetable knife called a Santoku knife. I can get though butternut squash and acorn squash easily using that knife. Is a spaghetti squash harder than a butternut?

I'll bet that fancy knife of yours cannot get through my thick skull....................just sayin'.

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

I have an extremely sharp Japanese vegetable knife called a Santoku knife. I can get though butternut squash and acorn squash easily using that knife. Is a spaghetti squash harder than a butternut?

I'll bet that fancy knife of yours cannot get through my thick skull....................just sayin'.

I am not an intrinsically violent person.

I have an extremely sharp Japanese vegetable knife called a Santoku knife. I can get though butternut squash and acorn squash easily using that knife. Is a spaghetti squash harder than a butternut?

I'll bet that fancy knife of yours cannot get through my thick skull....................just sayin'.

I am not an intrinsically violent person.

Neither am I.
But when I post as such, I happen to get modded.

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

I have an extremely sharp Japanese vegetable knife called a Santoku knife. I can get though butternut squash and acorn squash easily using that knife. Is a spaghetti squash harder than a butternut?

I'll bet that fancy knife of yours cannot get through my thick skull....................just sayin'.

I am not an intrinsically violent person.

Neither am I.
But when I post as such, I happen to get modded.

As god and nature intended.

I have an extremely sharp Japanese vegetable knife called a Santoku knife. I can get though butternut squash and acorn squash easily using that knife. Is a spaghetti squash harder than a butternut?

I'll bet that fancy knife of yours cannot get through my thick skull....................just sayin'.

I am not an intrinsically violent person.

Neither am I.
But when I post as such, I happen to get modded.

As god and nature intended.

No, God did not intend this search.
I happen to ask his forbearance each night for my doing so.

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

Anyway... spaghetti squash.

I have a boxed set of Shun chefs knives. It has a 8 inch chefs knife, 6 inch utility knife and a 3 1/2 inch paring knife. Also have a Shun carving knife and fork boxed set. They were wickedly sharp when I got them.

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Shun is the brand of my Santoku knife as well. It is a beautiful blade. It was a gift, years ago, from one of my uncles. I've had to have it professionally sharpened only one time and I use it often.