Take Time and Pumpkins

In an effort to use local produce, I decided to bake with fresh pumpkin. Pumpkin Bread sounded like a good idea, and I was going to give it a try. The whole process took about 6 hours and gave me insight into why people use canned pumpkin instead.  Here is the time breakdown:

1/2 hour shopping for a pumpkin, more flour and ginger at the local market. The pumpkin was easy, but I had some difficulty deciphering the Cyrillic writing on the other two.
1/2 hour researching a recipe that actually used fresh pumpkin, and learning how to cook pumpkin.
1/2 hour cutting and scooping out the pumpkin. Some pumpkins are easier to cut than others, but all require a sharp knife and muscle.

1 hour baking the two halves at 175 degrees C.
1 hour cooling the pumpkin outside.
1/2 hour scooping and mashing the pumpkin from the skin. I don't have a mixer or food processor, so it was all by hand. The result didn't look nearly as smooth as the canned variety.
1/2 hour mixing up the ingredients for batter. The brown sugar I bought was very stubborn and wanted to stay in lumps.
1 1/2 hours baking the bread in a loaf pan. The finished product was edible and very moist!

I know you are thinking, "Who has 6 hours to make a loaf of pumpkin bread?" Well, I do, and I naturally didn't sit and watch the baking and cooling and more baking. I was able to do laundry, clean, and write a blog at the same time. Still...

I have one cookbook, The New Better Homes and Gardens: How We Cook Today. You will be surprised to find that it does not contain any recipes that use fresh pumpkin. Neither does the information section for cooking fresh vegetables even mention "pumpkin". I have to conclude that no one uses fresh pumpkin as a vegetable or dessert today. That must be because we either don't have time to cook, or don't want to be put through all that work when there are cans available. ( I must say that there are no cans of pumpkin available in Sofia that I know of.)
My apple pie made from scratch with fresh ingredients and lots of care, was certainly the best pie I have ever made, but then I haven't made many.

This is a case of having either money or time, but not both. If we are working full time we have money, but little time. Equally, when we are not working we have lots of time, but little to no money. Time is a precious commodity today. When you have it you have to choose how to spend it, don't waste it or fritter it away. I felt that my 6 hours were well spent because I created something, learned and tried something new. Many would disagree, and never be able conceive wasting 6 precious hours on pumpkin bread.
I have lots of pumpkin left over, so I am already looking up more recipes that use fresh pumpkin.   For some of you, that is yet another good reason to use canned pumpkin!