by Richard Brautigan
I saw thousands of pumpkins last night
come floating in on the tide,
bumping up against the rocks and
rolling up on the beaches;
it must be Halloween in the sea.
One of my favorite poems.
The pumpkin is our national symbol of the autumn harvest. A plump, round winter squash that gives us jack-o'lanterns and, when cooked, it gives us delicious and healthful dishes. Foods made with pumpkin range from sweet to savory: Pumpkin pie, of course, and pumpkin seeds, as well as pumpkin cakes, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin ravioli and pumpkin soup.
Although pumpkins are native to North America, they are now grown on every continent except Antarctica... I suppose that makes sense. It's a little to cold there. International cuisine includes a Chinese dish in which the leaves of pumpkins are served in soups, and in Thailand pumpkins are steamed with custard inside to serve as a dessert.
You can find much more information on pumpkins at various websites such as wikipedia and the University of Illinois of all places.
These two birds don't have pumpkin on the menu right now but who knows what the future holds!
~Meg
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