It’s true.  I own a cookbook dedicated entirely to pumpkin, and I’ve been using it on a very regular basis for several years.  Pumpkin, as it turns out, can be added to almost anything.  It really doesn’t have much flavor.  It’s more of a textural thing.   I love adding it to pancakes, cake mixes, etc.  Pumpkin cheesecake is like a religion in our house.  So, yes, I love pumpkins, but I honestly don’t know much about them.  Here’s what I found:

Pumpkins are members of the squash family.

Pumpkins are grown in 6 out of the 7 continents (poor Antarctica).

The word “pumpkin” originates from the Greek word “pepon”, which means large melon.

Pumpkin flowers are edible.

Pumpkins are 90% water.

Native Americans dried strips of pumpkin and wove them into mats.

The Irish began the tradition of carving pumpkins into jack-o-lanterns when they immigrated to America.  Initially, they carved turnips, but found pumpkins more suitable and easier to carve.

Pumpkins are full of potassium, Vitamin A and beta-carotene.

Illinois provided 496 million pounds of pumpkin in the year 2008.

The top pumpkin producing states are Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania and California.

In Colonial America, pumpkins were used in pie crusts not pie filling.

Pumpkins are fruit.

So, there you have it.  Some history and fun facts about pumpkins.

“I would rather sit on a pumpkin, and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion”.

– Henry David Thoreau

Best wishes,

Kim Sweeney