Freezing Pumpkin
Most of my frozen pumpkin will be made into either bread or pie, so I measure out what I will need before freezing. Three cups for Pumpkin breads and one and a half for a pie. Much easier than freezing a larger amount, and waiting for it to thaw in order to measure out what I would need and have some left over. Old canning booklets gave extremely long water bath times for canning pumpkin and winter squash at home. Modern booklets I have seen do not recommend canning either at home by any means. In Colonial times pumpkin and winter squash were kept by drying and then boiling to soften. I have not tried that. As long as I have a freezer I will use it. Most sugar pumpkins keep here until Christmas in a cool place protected from freezing temperatures. They taste better before the last few weeks, so I process mine around Thanksgiving time. Most Waltham Butternut squash keeps here until Easter but also tastes better a month before that.
