The Great Pompion Search!

So, my adventures in making historic receipts was put on hold for an unusually busy week, including a 4 year old's birthday and a bout of the flu going through the house.  Luckily both did not happen on the same day. 

But I'm VERY excited because this month's theme will be of that noble squash, the GREAT POMPION! (Or the great pumpkin if you are confused by the reference.) And, as you can see above, there are a multitude of varieties currently on my kitchen counter, which my husband will be very surprised to see when he gets home this evening.

Even with the busy week I've been doing some historical research on pompion receipts that were popular pre-19th century.  Back when there was a HUGE variety of squashes, each with their own particular taste, texture, and ability to keep during the winter months. 

So, in an endeavor to cover as many pompion receipts as possible this month, myself and my son went on the great pompion search at several farm stands and CSA stands this morning in hopes to find a great variety.  It was an arduous task, but we pressed on being fortified by iced coffee, apple cider donuts and gold fish crackers.  And, in the end, we prevailed!  A vast variety (most being advertised as "Decorative Goards") was available to us, and I tried to get as many different ones as I could.  A few I recognize as heritage breeds (like the Hubbard, the Boston Marrow, and the Delicate) as well as some every fall favorites (note the Acorn Squash and Sugar Pumpkin).  There are a few that really might just be for decoration, and if so I'll use them as such, but I thought they looked interesting and will do more research into what they are.  There are two more I'm currently still on the look out for, but I think that this is certainly enough to start. 

So, I hope you all are ready for a pompion banaza!  I hope my family is!



PS.  On our journey to farm stands near and nearer, we came upon some cranberry harvesting.  Always a fall favorite in the area we live in.  It's small, but the machine in the center is pushing the floating cranberries into a huge net.  To the right (out of shot) is a big truck where the cranberries were being loaded.  My son got a big kick out of it!