Pumpkin Butter

The first cold days have finally arrived in my part of Texas. We have started using the woodstoves to heat our house. It is a nice cozy feeling being in a warm house on a cold day and seeing the firelight from the woodstove.

Besides using the woodstove to heat my house I also enjoy cooking on top of the woodstove. In the winter I always keep a kettle of hot water on the woodstove to make instant apple cider or tea to help warm me up on a cold day. But besides that I also enjoy cooking on top of the woodstove. I have made pancakes and eggs for breakfast, soup for lunch, and pork chops for supper. You can cook about all of the same things you cook on your stove top on the woodstove. The only difference is that it does not heat up as hot as a normal stove, so it does take a bit longer to cook. Cooking on a woodstove saves money, is a skill to develop in case of situations when electricity is not available, and also it is a very enjoyable nostalgic task.

 

 

Recently, I made pumpkin butter on my woodstove on a cold day. Pumpkin butter taste great on toast, biscuits, and homemade rolls for breakfast or as an after supper dessert with a cup of hot coffee.

Pumpkin Butter

Prepare the pumpkin butter by washing the pumpkin extremely well with hot water. Cut open the pumpkin and remove seeds. Save seeds for a later use. Cut pumpkin into medium size pieces. Place pieces in a large pot with a lid over medium high heat on the stove, or over an outdoor camp fire on a warm day, or inside the house on the woodstove on a cold day. Cook pumpkin until soft.

 

 

I love cooking on top of the woodstove on cold days!

 

Remove cooked pumpkin and place on a cutting board. Use a knife to carefully remove the pumpkin rind leaving as much pumpkin as possible intact.

 

Place cooked pumpkin inside of a large bowl and use a masher or hand held mixer to puree the pumpkin.

 

 

Once the pumpkin puree is done use about 29 ounces of the pumpkin puree add 1 ½  cups of apple juice, 1 cup of granulated sugar, ¾ cup of packed brown sugar, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon of ginger, ¼ teaspoon of nutmeg, and 1/8 teaspoon of cloves.

Pumpkin butter is simmering and steaming. Cook until it thickens.

 

Combine and blend all of these ingredients well and bring to a boil. Then reduce the heat and simmer for about an hour, stirring every 15 minutes to keep it from burning. Cook until the pumpkin butter thickens. Serve the pumpkin butter warm or cold. Store the pumpkin puree in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Store pumpkin butter in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Pumpkin butter can be served warm or cold.