October News: The Nobel Pumpkins

Ah yes, fall is here. The bay area is not known for large seasonal variations, yet the leaves are indeed changing color, talk of thanksgiving and Halloween is creeping in, and my roommates are buying pumpkin beers. It is time to stock up on your carotenoids (molecules like beta carotene that make life beautiful and orange) because chlorophyll is on vacation, and we must take advantage of squash, sweet potatoes, and yams.

October also brings the Nobel Prizes. Allow me:
Once upon a time, a very ingenious Swede named Alfred invented dynamite. He thought it was helping makind by creating something that could aid construction of bridges, tunnels, etc. Silly, Silly Alfie. Quickly the man realized that humans found dynamite much more entertaining up each other rather than stupid inanimate objects. Oops. Young Alfie felt bad, so when he became Old And Dying Alfie, he set up a Prize. It was a prize of Super Swedish Superiority: governed by committees and a 'trust.'
And that is how (in my bastardized recollection) the Nobel Prizes started.

So a bunch of stuffy old white guys determine who has contributed to humanity. I think it would be more entertaining if the winners couldn't exchange the currency--so Laureates end up investing 10 million Kronor in Ikea allen wrenches or Stockholm souvenirs.

Liz Blackburn (medicine prize this year) did her work on telomeres (wikipedia it) while at UC Berkeley. The thing is, that happened 25 years ago (common for science Nobels) and now she is at UCSF. So she will not get a Nobel Laureate parking space at Berkeley, which all residents NLs recieve. It is a shame, because parking in such prime real estate is probably worth more than the money. One day I'll park in a NL space and get this ticket: "You're ordinary. Go park in the boonies, you bastard." Too bad I bike to lab everyday.

The other relevant breaking news? There is a shortage of canned pumpkin this year, sound the alarms! Pies are out of reach. Soups, cupcakes, bread, cookies... that subtly sweet earthiness is no longer form in those unchanging orange tin cans! Fall has ended. We must trade our Thanksgiving pies for sackcloth, our fall custards for ashes. Repent to the God of Squash, and He may bless this Gomorrah with the convenience of our darling canned pumpkin.

Or... you can buy pumpkins and make it yourself. It is actually fairly easy, if you time it correctly. Please note the following.

1) Buy sugar pumpkins, pie pumpkins, or sugar-pie pumpkins. They are all the same squash: pumpkins that have softer, sweeter flesh that is best for pumpkins. Keep the normal pumpkins for Jack-o-Lanterns, because they tend to be stringy and tough.
2)Keep in mind that pumpkins are mostly filled with pulp that you don't eat. Pick a pumpkin that feels heavy for it's size, and don't expect a gallon of puree for a pumpkin the size of a marmoset.
3) Give yourself time. The stuff must be strained out--so don't make the puree the day you intend to cook with it. It needs to cool, be pureed, and then strained. I cooked these pumpkins after a party on Saturday and let it drain overnight before making pumpkin cranberry bread on Sunday. (I'd advise cooking BEFORE partying, or you end up in your kitchen late at night wondering what synaptic misfire led to you attacking cooked orange-ness with an immersion blender.)

Pumpkins
Buy a pumpkin. Don't steal, they're cheap. And how do you run out of a store with a pumpkin? Scoop out insides with a spoon. Reserve seeds for roasting. Lay face-down on a foil-lined cookie sheet. Cover with foil. Bake at 375 F for 1.5 hours, or just until tender. (I had two pumpkins, one bigger than a softball and one smaller than a size-3 soccer ball. It took one hour) Take out and let cool, or you will burn your hands (Stirfrycookies, J. of Stupid Cooking, 2009.)

Scoop out flesh into a bowl. Either blend with an immersion blender, or use normal blender/food processor and work in batches. Dump puree into strainer, place over a bowl, and let sit in the fridge, covered, for at least a few hours. Longer is better.

That is it! With my two smallish pumpkins I got about 4 c puree. Once made it'll last a few days in the fridge, and much longer in the freezer. I like this method because it is the least messy and doesn't involve water, so the stuff doesn't need a million cheesecloths to drain. The pumpkin is sweeter and lighter in color than the canned, but it is fairly easy to make, and gives a nice autumnal clarity to whatever you're making. Add it to pancakes or oatmeal, for starters.

A real recipe? Stay tuned--it'll be pumpkin cranberry bread, with a cream cheese drizzle. So much more optimistic than real news!