When Tom arrived at his doctor appointment late afternoon one Fall day he noticed that the receptionist seemed overwhelmed and in need of a little cheering up.

Seeing the small pumpkin on her desk, he said, “I wonder how it would work to scoop out the guts of a little pumpkin like the one there and fill it with chopped apples and raisins, maybe some brown sugar and cinnamon. If you baked it, I’ll bet it would be really good.” She looked up with a smile on her face. “I’ll try that! I think my husband and I would really like it!”

We tried it ourselves and it was delicious. Just the other day we made it for our New York family and they loved it. too.

Spiced Apples and Raisins in a Pumpkin Pot

1 sugar pumpkin

4-5 baking apples, peeled and chopped

1/2 c raisins

1/4 c chopped walnuts

1/3 c brown sugar

spices to taste with traditional pumpkin pie spices (cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves)

2 T butter

 

Preheat oven to 375°. Cut the top off the pumpkin and scoop out the guts, as if you were preparing a Jack-o-lantern.  Mix together the apples, raisins, and walnuts with the sugar and spices. Stuff the pumpkin with the apple mixture. (Any stuffing that doesn’t fit into the pumpkin can be saved for making applesauce or filling for apple pie, fritters, or other apple dessert.) Replace the pumpkin top.

Place in a baking dish and bake for 60 to 90 minutes, until the inside of the pumpkin is fork tender. Scoop the contents into a bowl, including the pumpkin flesh. Fold the pumpkin into the apple mixture. Dot with butter. After it’s melted, fold the mixture together one more time. Serves 4.

 

Enjoy!

Ginger