Last year, I discovered that pumpkins are not just for carving. I decided to actually use the pumpkin for what  God intended. (I think if he had meant them to be Jack-o-Lanterns, they would have come carved, cleaned and with a long-burning candle inside).  I read on the internet somewhere that the easiest way of getting to the meat of pumpkin is to bake the entire pumpkin in the oven. What an awesome time-saving idea…I had to try that. It probably would saved a lot of time too if I had remembered to put the pumpkin in a pan before I baked it. (That’s just a hint.)  Laura of Heavenly Homemakers documented the steps I followed (complete with dirty oven–I thought that was funny, I’m much to vain to show MY dirty oven) on her website.   Normally, I only buy one pumpkin because I’m a real cheapskate, but this year a bought several for decorations for my Halloween Themed Baby Shower so I’m planning to bake a couple to make pumpkin puree. I was hoping to can the puree using a hot water bath, but according to the National Center for Home Foods Preservation the only safe way of canning pumpkin puree is by the pressure canning method (that’s not something I want to tackle). So I will be baking and freezing my pumpkin puree. One of my heroes (or I should say “heroines”) Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman uses a slightly different method than I used the last time. She slices and scoops before baking, I do it afterwards. Same outcome. Different steps. Stay tuned.