The great pumpkin

Planning a Halloween feast, or just looking for something to do with your fall porch decorations after the big night? I asked Sandy Bishop, one of the owners of Bishop’s Pumpkin Farm in Wheatland (www.bishopspumpkinfarm.com), for some tips:“The little sugar pumpkins are the best for cooking—they’re usually smaller, and are sometimes called a pie pumpkin. You can cook with any of the varieties; there’s just a little more sugar in those.

“We have our bake shop here, and the pumpkin-apple muffins—that mixture is really good. Of course, pumpkin pies made from fresh pumpkin are, I think, a lot better than the can.

“It’s also fun to cook a whole pumpkin. You can stuff it with a meatloaf mixture and bake it, and present it whole and serve in slices. It does take quite a while, but you can parboil the pumpkin in a big pot for 15 minutes or so in boiling water, until it’s just starting to be a little bit tender. Then stuff it and bake for 45 minutes to an hour.”