I hope you aren't all sick of pumpkin posts yet. So by now, you probably know I'm a pumpkin hoarder. I was feeling kind of bad about all the cans of pumpkin taking up space in my cabinet and figured I needed to put them to good use.
The problem was knowing which recipe to tackle first.
I had seen a few of these pins on Pinterest and since I love apple butter, I thought pumpkin butter would be fun to try.
Can you see those dots?? All over my wall. And my shirt. And my floor, stove top, counter top and slowly burning the life out of my arms as it splattered.
I pulled myself together though, which is no easy feat when pumpkin puree is erupting like Mt. Vesuvius from your stove top. I eventually just shoved a lid on top of the pot for the remainder of the time it cooked. Consider yourself warned.
The second important thing I need to share with you is that while I was waiting for the mixture to simmer for about 40 minutes (and after PumpkinGate 2011), I was scrolling through the comments section and discovered that canning pumpkin butter IS A BIG GIANT NO NO in the canning world. Once my frugal and thoughtful gift idea died a slow and painfully explosive death, I realized I'd be left with a lot of pumpkin butter. Pumpkin butter that must be stored fresh and eaten within approximately 5 days. Now I love pumpkin, but YIKES. In the end, I pawned several jars off on friends/family and put the rest in freezer jars that went right into my freezer. Crisis averted. Whew.
PS - in that mug is a latte I made with a homemade pumpkin spice syrup. Recipe HERE.
So the moral of this story is, when making pumpkin butter - don't double the recipe, be prepared to be scalded with explosive pumpkin puree, and be armed with a sponge and ready to wipe up splatters.
Also, to combat my epic canning failure with the pumpkin butter, I decided to make a batch of apple butter. (Which CAN be canned!) So many of you asked for the recipe on Facebook, so here is the information you need. I found it on my favorite FAVORITE blog, My Baking Addiction. The recipe is HERE, and it is amazing. Rich, sweet, and full of apple flavor. Your house will smell like a big apple pie. Make it. Now. It's a lot less dangerous than the pumpkin butter.
Crockpot Apple Butter: Printable Recipe
PS - Don't forget to check out our latest giveaway - we've teamed up with The Letter 4, and you can win a diaper strap, a pacifier clip and an adorable knitted baby hat all handmade with love by me and Jamie! Awww. We love you guys!!
The problem was knowing which recipe to tackle first.
I had seen a few of these pins on Pinterest and since I love apple butter, I thought pumpkin butter would be fun to try.
The recipe was from SkinnyTaste.com and looked pretty easy. My little sister Mikaela lives in Utah and she loves pumpkin. AND she recently celebrated a birthday. I figured I would double the recipe, can some pumpkin butter and mail it out to her. What a great sister I would be. And? I had every single ingredient on hand already. Thoughtful AND frugal. WIN.
I got to work.
I put all my ingredients in a big saucepan, since I was doubling the recipe. Check out the recipe for the details (and nutritional info: Low fat! Low cal! WIN AGAIN)
There are a few important pieces of information I must share with you. Pumpkin butter is no joke. You better treat it right, or it will CUT YOU. Ok, it won't cut you - but it will start to splatter and pop and burn you. I don't know if it was because I doubled it, or because I put it in a big pot, or what - but when I was bringing it to a boil like the recipe states, it started splattering wildly all over my kitchen.
I pulled myself together though, which is no easy feat when pumpkin puree is erupting like Mt. Vesuvius from your stove top. I eventually just shoved a lid on top of the pot for the remainder of the time it cooked. Consider yourself warned.
The second important thing I need to share with you is that while I was waiting for the mixture to simmer for about 40 minutes (and after PumpkinGate 2011), I was scrolling through the comments section and discovered that canning pumpkin butter IS A BIG GIANT NO NO in the canning world. Once my frugal and thoughtful gift idea died a slow and painfully explosive death, I realized I'd be left with a lot of pumpkin butter. Pumpkin butter that must be stored fresh and eaten within approximately 5 days. Now I love pumpkin, but YIKES. In the end, I pawned several jars off on friends/family and put the rest in freezer jars that went right into my freezer. Crisis averted. Whew.
PS - in that mug is a latte I made with a homemade pumpkin spice syrup. Recipe HERE.
So the moral of this story is, when making pumpkin butter - don't double the recipe, be prepared to be scalded with explosive pumpkin puree, and be armed with a sponge and ready to wipe up splatters.
Also, to combat my epic canning failure with the pumpkin butter, I decided to make a batch of apple butter. (Which CAN be canned!) So many of you asked for the recipe on Facebook, so here is the information you need. I found it on my favorite FAVORITE blog, My Baking Addiction. The recipe is HERE, and it is amazing. Rich, sweet, and full of apple flavor. Your house will smell like a big apple pie. Make it. Now. It's a lot less dangerous than the pumpkin butter.
Crockpot Apple Butter: Printable Recipe
PS - Don't forget to check out our latest giveaway - we've teamed up with The Letter 4, and you can win a diaper strap, a pacifier clip and an adorable knitted baby hat all handmade with love by me and Jamie! Awww. We love you guys!!
