Got some extra oranges? We’ve got some ideas for you to use them before they shrivel up and get thrown away.

I found that oranges make a nice glaze for homemade pound cake. Mix some fresh orange juice with some confectioner’s sugar in a saucepan and you have instant glaze. The juice of an orange adds flavor to muffins, breads, and sauces.

The rind of an orange can be candied and used as a sweet treat for kids at parties or anytime. Use oranges to garnish your pork roast, roasted chicken, or soups. Zest the rind over frothy drinks like cinnamon.

Mandarin orange slices are a favorite in Asian salads and in yogurt. Oranges are not typically used on hot cereals, but you can scoop out the flesh and use the orange as a cup. Remove the seeds and mix the pulpy flesh with other fruit and pour it back into the orange rind for a nice fruit cup. Use the orange to flavor rice or bread pudding and also use the orange rind as a cup. Your family will love the new look.

Oranges can also fragrance your home. Thin slices of oranges can be dried, covered with a varnishing medium, and used in a fruit wreath. Fruit wreaths can be hung with other dried fruit, and herbs to work better than a store-bought air freshener.

Oranges come in many varieties. You can have navel oranges, blood oranges, or just ordinary oranges. They flourish most months of the year as long as the frost doesn’t get them. Most people enjoy an orange in some form.

The most common use for oranges is juice. Fresh squeezed orange juice with or without pulp provide plenty of Vitamin C. you can even get orange juice with added nutrients like calcium and Omega-3 fatty acids to enhance health.

The best oranges have smooth thin skins and are heavy with pulp and juice. Oranges with hard, bumpy skin could be dry inside. You may wonder how an orange can be dry, but the flesh inside is less than juicy or tasty. It actually looks flaky and shouldn’t be eaten.

Oranges are good for box lunches and snacks. Carry one around with you to eat anywhere. Don’t forget a wet wipe, though. The juice will be sticky and peeling the rind can stain your fingernails.

Oranges keep for a long time on the counter at room temperature. When the rind starts to look wrinkled and withered, their time is about up. The fruit will get soft and start to shrink until it actually looks rotten. Don’t let your fruit get this far gone. Use those oranges for other things.

What You Need:

2 C all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. fine sea salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
15 TBSP unsalted butter, soft but not melted
1 1/2 C sugar
3 lg. eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/2 C buttermilk, at room temperature
3/4C pumpkin puree
1 tsp. fresh (not dried) sage, chopped very fine

How to Make It:

Sift the flour and baking soda together into a large mixing bowl.
Add the sea salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves to the sifter and sift together into the flour.
Place the butter into a separate large mixing bowl.
Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until very creamy.
Leave the mixer on low speed and continue mixing while slowly adding the sugar.
Continue to beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Place the eggs in another bowl and beat slightly.
While continuing to mix the butter and sugar slowly add the beaten eggs until incorporated into the mixture.
Pour the vanilla into the buttermilk.
Alternating back and forth starting and ending with the dry ingredients add the flour mixture and the vanilla mixture to the butter mixture.
Place the pumpkin puree in a separate large mixing bowl and add the sage.
Add 1 C of the batter to the pumpkin puree and carefully fold together until just combined.
Fold the pumpkin puree mixture into the rest of the batter.
Bring up the oven temperature to 350 degrees.
Coat a Bundt pan thoroughly with soft butter.
Pour the batter into the Bundt pan.
Bake 40 minutes or until lightly brown on top.

10 Servings

What You Need:

1/2 C brown sugar
4 tsp. unflavored gelatin
1 TBSP instant coffee
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 C boiling water
1 pt. vanilla ice cream
1 C pumpkin puree
1 9 in graham cracker crust

How to Make It:

Place the brown sugar into a mixing bowl.
Sprinkle in the gelatin, instant coffee, the ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg.
Toss carefully to combine.
Very carefully pour the boiling water over the top.
Stir until completely dissolved being sure to stir from the bottom up.
Add the ice cream one spoonful at a time stirring after each addition.
Fold in the pumpkin puree until completely mixed in.
Place the mixture in the refrigerator 5 minutes or until chilled enough to mound when scooped out with a spoon.
Place the mixture into the graham cracker crust.
Cover and refrigerate two hours or until firm.

8 Servings

This is a different twist on an old favorite. Try using 1 tsp. of pumpkin pie spice instead of the individual spices to save both time and money.

What You Need:

1 1/2 C half and half cream, very cold
1 C pumpkin puree
1/2 (4 oz.) container whipped topping
1 C pecan pieces
1 C gingersnaps, coarsely crushed
1 1/2 TBSP pumpkin pie spice
1 prepared graham cracker crust

How to Make It:

Pour the half and half into a large mixing bowl.
Add the pumpkin puree and whisk together for 1 minute.
Allow the mixture to stand uninterrupted for 5 minutes.
Fold in the whipped topping with a rubber spatula.
Add in the pecans and gingersnaps and blend until all ingredients are incorporated together.
Sprinkle in the pie spice and mix well to incorporate.
Pour them mixture into the graham cracker crust.
Place the pie in the freezer for one hour until firm.
Allow the pie to set 10 minutes at room temperature before cutting.

8 Servings

The pie needs to soften slightly before cutting but be carefull that you don’t leave it out too long or it will become mushy. Store any leftover in the refrigerator.

What You Need:

1 9 in. pie shell, unbaked
1 1/2 C pumpkin puree
1/2 C + 6 TBSP sugar, divided
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cloves
1/2 tsp. + 1/8 tsp. salt, divided
3 lg. eggs, separated
1 C evaporated milk

How to Make It:

Place the pumpkin puree in a large mixing bowl.
Add the 1/2 C sugar to the puree.
Sprinkle in the cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and 1/2 tsp. salt.
Fold all together until completely mixed.
Stir in the 3 egg yolks until mixed into the puree well.
Slowly add the evaporated milk making sure to stir while adding.
Be sure the milk is mixed well into the puree.
Bring the oven temperature to 400 degrees.
Pour the pumpkin mixture into the unbaked pie shell.
Bake 35 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center of the pie comes out clean.
Remove the pie from the oven and raise the oven temperature to 425 degrees.
Place the 3 egg whites into a bowl.
Sprinkle in 1/8 tsp. salt and mix with an electric mixer until well blended.
Continue beating the mixture an add 1 TBSP of sugar at a time until blended in.
After all the sugar has been added continue beating until soft peaks form.
The meringue is done when the mixture becomes stiff and peaks form when you lift the beaters up and out of the mixture.
Spread the meringue over the baked pie making sure to go completely out to edge of the pie.
Place the pie back in the oven for 7 minutes or until the meringue begins to brown.
Place the pie on a wire rack to cool.

8 Servings

Meringue shrinks during cooking so be sure to spread it to the very edge of the pie so the pie remains completely covered with the meringue once finished baking. Use a butter knife to form the peaks in the meringue when placing it on the pie.

What You Need:

1 9 in pie crust
1/2 C brown sugar
1 TBSP all purpose flour
1 1/2 C pumpkin puree
1 1/2 C heavy cream
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 C light corn syrup
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1 tsp. vanilla

How to Make It:

Place the pie crust in a 9 in pie plate; prick the bottom of the curst a few times with a fork and set aside.
Place the brown sugar in a large mixing bowl.
Add the flour and toss to combine.
Add the pumpkin puree and heavy cream.
Use an electric mixer on medium speed and beat until completely combined together.
Sprinkle in the salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg.
Stir with a rubber spatula until combined well.
Pour in the corn syrup and mix with the mixer on medium speed.
Add the beaten eggs and the vanilla and mix until smooth.
Pour the pumpkin mixture into the pie shell.
Bring the oven temperature to 350 degrees.
Cover the edge of the pie shell with aluminum foil to keep it from over cooking.
Bake 25 minutes.
Remove the foil so the edges can brown and continue baking 30 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center of the pie comes out clean.

8 Servings

The removal of the foil time can be adjusted according to how your oven bakes. If the oven bakes hot then leave the foil on for a longer period of time if it bakes a little cooler you may need to remove the foil sooner. When testing for doneness if the knife does not come out clean, allow the pie to bake another 2 to 3 minutes before testing again.

What You Need:

1 large pumpkin

How to Make It:

Using a very sharp knife remove the stem from the pumpkin.
Cut the pumpkin into 8 wedges.
Remove the seeds and pulp making sure that the pumpkin is completely clean.
Place the pumpkin wedges into a large roasting pan.
Bring the oven temperature to 325 degrees.
Place the pumpkin wedges in the oven, uncovered and roast 60 minutes.
Reduce the heat to 300 degrees and continue baking 2 hours.
The pumpkin meat should be fork tender and no liquid should be visible under the skin that has formed.
Turn off the oven but leave the pumpkin wedges in the oven with the oven door slightly cracked to ventilate for 2 more hours.
Remove the wedges from the oven and cut away any skin or exceptionally dry pieces of meat.
Place the wedges into the blender or food processor.
Puree until you achieve the smooth texture you are looking for.
Use the puree in your favorite pumpkin dish or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Serving amount depends on the size of the pumpkin.

When removing the dry parts of the meat after roasting remember that even though it is dry it is still tender enough to use. The parts that may be too dry and not usable will be around the area of where the stem was cut away. Also when you puree the meat you will have to scrape and stir the pieces for a few minutes. They are too heavy to move on their own until they begin to liquefy and loose the heaviness.

Once those seeds begin to rear their tiny little heads above the soil, they are ready to go out into the world of the garden. The first month is the most critical. Tiny pumpkin seeds need protection from insects, the sun, and drying out. On cold evenings, cover new seedlings to protect from harsh winds and potential late season frost.

Just when you thought that they were old enough to go it on their own, fungus bursts on the scene. It is not common but possible for all pumpkins. One way to avoid damaging fungal growth is to water pumpkin plants during the morning so that the water has time to soak in and the leaves can dry in the sun of the day.

Fertilizer provides nutrients for the pumpkins and promotes increased growth. Continue watering as much as possible to grow larger pumpkins. Since pumpkins are mostly water (like watermelon) the extra water is carried in the “meat” of the pumpkin.

Bees come to pollinate pumpkins. Without pollination, pumpkins will be small and there will be fewer of them as harvest time. Declining bee populations have led some growers to pollinate by hand. This is a lot of work so pray for the bees to do it.

When harvest time comes, keep pumpkins on the vine as long as possible. Cutting an unripe pumpkin from its vine can stop the ripening process all together.

Pumpkin growing is not an easy task, but it is a rewarding one. With the way that we use pumpkins each year around the holidays, it can become a profitable business.

When fall arrives, there are no shortages of places where someone in need can acquire a pumpkin. Boy scouts and other civic organizations sell from their stock or they buy pumpkins to sell to the public. Either way, they are plentiful.

One way to make a little cash during the months of September through November is to begin and maintain a pumpkin farm of your very own. One doesn’t need a twenty acre setup to grow pumpkins but time and attention along with patience are required.

It seems easy to grow something with such a solid rind but these beauties are temperamental. Unless they get what they want, their growth will be puny indeed. Start with good soil to nourish your pumpkin seeds.

Pumpkin seeds are not put into the ground from the start. They are planted indoors in the spring. These humble beginnings give pumpkin seeds a fighting chance to germinate away from bugs and birds. Most growers plant more seeds than they need in case something unforeseen happens and some of the seeds or small pumpkins die.