Cooked Pumpkin

Here's an easy way to transform an uncooked pumpkin into puree for baking.

Select a small, dark-orange sugar pumpkin. (Big jack-o-lantern pumpkins are too large

and stringy for baking.) Cut the pumpkin in half, discard the stringy insides. Microwave

on high for 7 minutes per pound. Once pumpkin is  cooled, scoop out the flesh and

puree in a food processor or mash with a potato masher.

You can refrigerate fresh pumpkin puree for up to three days and store it in the freezer up to six months.

This will allow you to enjoy the great taste of fall pumpkins well into winter.