Fall is absolutely my favorite time of the year. I love the smell, the colors, the food. One thing that always comes to mind when we think fall is pumpkins, and everyone loves pumpkin pie right? WRONG!!!! Now it has been decades since I have had a slice but I am just going to keep on passing, the taste and the texture have always made me gag even at the thought. One time I stopped at Starbucks drive thru on my way to an appointment, as I drove off I took a sip and nearly spit it out. I wasn't exactly sure what this disgusting beverage was but I knew it was not the mocha that I had ordered. I was running late so I did not have time to go back and complain but still being coffeeless I decided to stop after the appointment. When I went back I took in the coffee and the lady turned it around and told me that the P.S.L. stood for pumpkin spice latte. I told her that I was sure it stood for "Pretty Shitty Latte." She did not find that very amusing...
Anyway, a friend of mine that I met this summer at our community garden gifted us with some seriously beautiful pumpkins. He put so much love into the food he grew that I felt it would just be wrong to carve up the pumpkins and waste all of that good food. I have been searching the internet for pumpkin recipes and one thing that kept coming up was Pumpkin Butter. Being from a town in PA with a large Amish community I have very fond memories of their apple butter and basically all of their baked goods...the thought is making me crave a half moon pie. So, I thought I would give the pumpkin butter a try. I got the basics from looking at some recipes but put my own twist on this one based on the spices and flavors that I love.
1 small Pumpkin mine was probably about 2 pounds
1/2 C Sucanat
1/2 C Sugar (I mixed because I don't care for the overwhelming molasses flavor)
1/2 C Water
2 Tbs Chinese 5 Spice Blend
10 Drops of Wild Orange essential oil (I used doTERRA EO but I would think that an orange flavoring would work or even orange zest)
To begin I cut my pumpkin in half, took out the seeds, and roasted it at 350 degrees until tender. Then I pulled out from the skin and put in the food processor with about a half cup of water to make a puree. I put the puree in the pan along with all of the ingredients listed above, except the essential oil.
Stir all of the ingredients together and allow mixture to simmer for an hour or more, until it has reached a think consistency and it will not roll off of a spoon. When desired consistency has been reach remove from heat and allow to cool for a bit before adding your essential oil. Stir in EO and then bottle. I froze most of mine as I have read that it will only keep for about 2 weeks in the fridge.
