I LOVE just about everything pumpkin for the myriad excellent reasons that you shared + the beauty and the actual taste of the fruit (did not know it's a fruit!). But a big nope to the pumpkin spice push, especially since it piggy-backed much earlier this year (on the Home Depot/Lowe's Christmas decorations in late August!!); it has me a bit suspicious about a seemingly unavoidable pumpkin spice mandate. But like my sister said a few days ago..."don't be putting that nasty spice anywhere near my margarita!" Yup, it's still super hot in Austin and any mention of spice apart from brisket rub or salsa doesn't sit too well. Cheers!
So apparently fruits are derived from flowering plants, hence why pumpkins are considered fruits. I think another example is that seeds are generally located inside of the flesh.
Oh I can go on about the creeping invasion of Christmas! I thought I was decorating way too early last year after I was "let go" from my job but by the time I started putting stuff up for Halloween it was already Christmas time in September!
I've actually started trying pumpkin-spiced items to see what may be decent, but for the most part most things just don't appear to work. I think it's an issue of it just being a myriad of different spices so it's like throwing everything in and seeing what works. I do enjoy pumpkin-heavy items with it so I guess that's where my enjoyment mostly goes. I didn't realize that most pumpkin-spiced lattes had actual pumpkin in it. Strange but meh people seem to enjoy it 🤷♂️ but your sister may be onto something. And cheers to you as well!
I will quote from an item that popped up in my Facebook feed: “Don’t throw away pumpkins after Halloween. Find woods or a field near you, smash them open and leave for the wildlife to eat. Pumpkin is safe for them and the seeds act as a natural dewormer.” Who knew?
That's very interesting! The seeds seem to have a lot of antimicrobial properties due to the oil content. It could be that the specific compounds in the seeds may prevent predation of seeds? That would be interesting to look into a bit more!
I did some Googling: “Seeds of pumpkin and cucumber (Cucurbitaceae) have been used in tropical America for centuries as a treatment of tapeworm infections. From there the popularity of this remedy spread to Europe. The active component, cucurbitine, was identified as an amino acid (3-amino 3 carboxy pyrorolidin).”. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2202332/
Very interesting! Usually when you see a compound like that it's a good idea to see what other plants may have that compound, or if it may be similar to synthetic deworming drugs. Shared molecular structures are a good way of examining similarities in biochemical/pharmacological properties between different molecules!
That'd be worth looking into in the future, maybe having a section on seeds!
Oh my gourd, indeed! A squash by any other name. In the tropics we grow green skinned pumpkins, better tasting flesh IMO, but fine for anyone who wants to. Lots of heirloom varieties at Baker Creek Rare Seeds https://www.rareseeds.com/jarrahdale-pumpkin
All those squash varieties we love are also of the genus curcurbita
I do believe that more recently my family has cooked with some of the green varieties and the skin is certainly thinner, which is good since it tends to be nutrient-dense. It is interesting how many different varieties there are.
Thanks for the link, I think some of my searches actually brought me to that website so that's pretty neat!
I LOVE just about everything pumpkin for the myriad excellent reasons that you shared + the beauty and the actual taste of the fruit (did not know it's a fruit!). But a big nope to the pumpkin spice push, especially since it piggy-backed much earlier this year (on the Home Depot/Lowe's Christmas decorations in late August!!); it has me a bit suspicious about a seemingly unavoidable pumpkin spice mandate. But like my sister said a few days ago..."don't be putting that nasty spice anywhere near my margarita!" Yup, it's still super hot in Austin and any mention of spice apart from brisket rub or salsa doesn't sit too well. Cheers!
So apparently fruits are derived from flowering plants, hence why pumpkins are considered fruits. I think another example is that seeds are generally located inside of the flesh.
Oh I can go on about the creeping invasion of Christmas! I thought I was decorating way too early last year after I was "let go" from my job but by the time I started putting stuff up for Halloween it was already Christmas time in September!
I've actually started trying pumpkin-spiced items to see what may be decent, but for the most part most things just don't appear to work. I think it's an issue of it just being a myriad of different spices so it's like throwing everything in and seeing what works. I do enjoy pumpkin-heavy items with it so I guess that's where my enjoyment mostly goes. I didn't realize that most pumpkin-spiced lattes had actual pumpkin in it. Strange but meh people seem to enjoy it 🤷♂️ but your sister may be onto something. And cheers to you as well!
I will quote from an item that popped up in my Facebook feed: “Don’t throw away pumpkins after Halloween. Find woods or a field near you, smash them open and leave for the wildlife to eat. Pumpkin is safe for them and the seeds act as a natural dewormer.” Who knew?
That's very interesting! The seeds seem to have a lot of antimicrobial properties due to the oil content. It could be that the specific compounds in the seeds may prevent predation of seeds? That would be interesting to look into a bit more!
I did some Googling: “Seeds of pumpkin and cucumber (Cucurbitaceae) have been used in tropical America for centuries as a treatment of tapeworm infections. From there the popularity of this remedy spread to Europe. The active component, cucurbitine, was identified as an amino acid (3-amino 3 carboxy pyrorolidin).”. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2202332/
Very interesting! Usually when you see a compound like that it's a good idea to see what other plants may have that compound, or if it may be similar to synthetic deworming drugs. Shared molecular structures are a good way of examining similarities in biochemical/pharmacological properties between different molecules!
That'd be worth looking into in the future, maybe having a section on seeds!
Oh my gourd, indeed! A squash by any other name. In the tropics we grow green skinned pumpkins, better tasting flesh IMO, but fine for anyone who wants to. Lots of heirloom varieties at Baker Creek Rare Seeds https://www.rareseeds.com/jarrahdale-pumpkin
All those squash varieties we love are also of the genus curcurbita
I do believe that more recently my family has cooked with some of the green varieties and the skin is certainly thinner, which is good since it tends to be nutrient-dense. It is interesting how many different varieties there are.
Thanks for the link, I think some of my searches actually brought me to that website so that's pretty neat!