MmWwaaaHaHa!!!

Frightening, isn't it???

     Today, with the Feast of the Presentation, we come to an end of all things Christmas.  So that makes it a very good time to begin a cleaning and clearing out of clutter!  I don't know about you, but around here the fall months with all of their wonderful holidays always result in stuffed closets and cupboards.  When we leave behind the celebrating and look forward to Lent, I am filled with an urge to cleanse and simplify.

     Some of the holiday clutter that was taking up a lot of room in my freezer was my collection of three pumpkins--whole and complete with lids!  After Halloween, we rushed out of town for a few days and I didn't have time to cut them up.  The kids really wanted to cook something with their own pumpkins, so I just stuffed them in the freezer whole.  I'm sure you have never just stuffed clutter anywhere, lol!

     Today, I roasted one of the pumpkins directly from the freezer...whole!  It worked great.  The only thing I would have done differently is to use a pan with higher sides.  The low-edged baking sheet just barely contained the juices of pumpkin.

Also, I think next time I'll remove the candle before baking the pumpkin.  Just sayin'.  Even if it is Candlemas today!




      
     

     The final result ended up both looking and smelling delicious.  I pureed it using my immersible blender.  I now have nearly a quart of yummy smashed pumpkin for baking.

  
     Tonight I will use some of this pumpkin in place of the oil in a boxed cake mix.  With the addition of pumpkin pie spices, we should have a tasty desert that's high in Vitamin A and uses up some more "holiday clutter".


Hope your clutter busting is as delicious and vitamin-rich as mine as been!