Out Of My Gourd

We have two enormous pumpkins sitting out on our deck that we have left as is without carving. We have no intention of letting any of that pumpkin flesh go to waste nor the seeds for that matter. I am sure we will roast some and make a few pies but there will still be a tremendous amount of flesh left, so instead of the standard apple butter let’s make it with pumpkin.

Pumpkin Butter

4 cups cooked pumpkin, mashed
1 (2 oz.) pkg. powdered pectin
4 1/2 cups sugar
1 tbsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp. unsalted butter

Place pumpkin in Dutch oven or heavy kettle. Stir in pectin. Place over high heat and bring to boil, stirring constantly. Stir in sugar, spice and butter. Continue stirring and bring to full rolling boil. Boil hard exactly four minutes. Remove from heat. Stir five minutes. Ladle into half-pint, sterilized jars, leaving 1/4-inch head space. Adjust caps to manufacturer's directions. Process for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath after cooking and check seals.