In North America, pumpkins are synonymous with Halloween and the ceremonial jack-o'-lantern carving.  Yet, the humble pum;kin's culinary potential is on the rise and the availability of small, sweet pumpkins for cooking is increasing along with an awareness of their versatility in the kitchen.

Classified botanically within the gourd family, pumpkins are technically a fruit, closely related to cucumbers, watermelon, and other squash.  Their English name is a derivation of the Greek word "pepon", meaning large melon.  Pumpkins are native to Central America, cultivated for centuries before Europeans arrived, and were an important staple for American Indian tribes who used them in numerous ways, including processing dried pieces into flour, drying and roasting the seeds, eating the blossoms and weaving strips--pounded flat and then dried--into durable mats.

In your kitchen, pumpkins can be died and steamed as a side vegetable, mixed with fruits such as apples, pears or rhubarb; used in pot pies, souffles, salads, and soups; combined with grains for truly delicious casseroles; or made into cakes, breads, muffins, custards and -- you guessed it pumpkin pie.

For a simple start, substitute pumpkins in any receipt that calls for winter squash or sweet potatoes.  In addition to being versatile and delicious, pumpkins are low in calories and high in beta-carotene, an antioxidant that your body uses as Vitamin A.

With those kinds of credentials, it's time to get pumpkins off the porch and into the kitchen.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

For cooking, avoid the large jack-o'-lantern varieties--they're thin-walled, stringy and tasteless.  The best cooking varieties are small but heavy for their size, about 5 to 7 pounds.  Make sure they have at least an inch of stem (the longer the better) and have no blemishes or soft spots.  Shape is not important.  As a rule of thumb, for each pound of raw, untrimmed pumpkin, you'll get approximately one cup of puree.

CANNED PUMPKIN

Pumpkin that has been pre-cooked and canned is a tremendous convenience for use in any receipt that requires puree, plus it's available year round.  For the best flavor, look for solid-pack pumpkin puree with no added spices or sweeteners to use in your recipes.

STORAGE

You can store dry, unwashed pumpkins up to one month in a cool, dry place such as a spare room or covered porch.  The flesh tends to become stringy at temperatures above 60 degrees.  And, if you can spare the space, they may also be refrigerated for up to one month.

JACK-O'-LANTERN

Ever look at the spooky, orange faces of jack-o'-lanterns all aglow on Halloween night and wonder, "Why do people carve scary faces into pumpkins on Halloween?" The tradition actually came from teh Irish, who brought it across the Atlantic to the US during the Irish potato famine of 1`845-1850.  They got it -- along with most other Halloween customs--from their ancestors the Celts, who occupied present day Ireland, England and northwestern France before the Common Era.

Pumpkins were unknown in Ireland at that time, so turnips were the vegetable of choice for the carving of Halloween faces.  When the immigrants discovered pumpkins upon their arrival in the New World, turnips were soon abandoned as a carving medium and the pumpkin embraced because of its larger size and ease of carving.

DID YOU KNOW?  FUN FACTS ABOUT PUMPKINS

• As of 2004, the world's largest pumpkin weighed in at a whopping 1,446 lbs.
• During their growth peak--usually August--giant pumpkins can gain as much as 40 lbs. per day.
• Pumpkins are 90% water.
• The world's largest pumpkin pie was more than 5 feet in diameter and weighted 350 lbs.  Now that's one big pie!
• Folktales once propagated the myths that pumpkins could remove freckles and cure snakebites.
• In early Colonial times, pumpkins were used as an ingredient for pie crusts more often than for pie filling.

WE HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS INFORMATION -- WE'VE GOT OUR PUMPKINS PLANTED AND WATCHING THEM GROW--THE GRANDKIDS CAN'T WAIT UNTIL THEY CAN PICK THEIR SPECIAL PUMPKIN FROM "THE PATCH"