LOCKE - Carving and centerpieces aren't the only uses for fall harvested pumpkins.

While most people use the pumpkins they buy at Grisamore Farms for decoration, the squash make delicious ingredients as well, Susan Bower, one of the farm's owners, said.

“I have customers who make pumpkin cookies,” she said. “There was a girl who used to work here who would make a pumpkin log out of pumpkin and cream cheese. That was delicious.”

Other customers at the farm have their own ideas for what would make a delicious pumpkin treat. Sarah Lemberg cuts hers in half and bakes it face down in a pan like a butternut squash.

“I'm not even sure how long I cook it, but I check if (for when it gets) tender. Once they are done I scoop out the inside and add butter and brown sugar to it,” she said. “I figured it was just another kind of squash, so it might work. It's actually pretty good.”

Most people come in looking for pumpkins to make pies. Pies that are made with fresh pumpkin have a better flavor since canned pumpkins are sometimes just a different kind of squash, Bower said.

“I prefer fresh pumpkin pies - just knowing that it's fresh and more time and effort went into it,” Jeanette Monson said. “The flavor of the pie is completely different when the pumpkin is fresh.”

Fresh pumpkin can be substituted for canned pumpkin in any recipe, Bower said. The pumpkin just has to be prepared first.

First, the pumpkin needs to be gutted. The insides are scooped out like you are going to carve it, she explained. Next, cut the flesh into pieces and boil it like a potato. Once it is cooked, the skin has to be peeled off.

This cooked pumpkin gets very stringy, so the best thing to do is to run it through a food mill. If you don't have a food mill, mashing it can also get rid of the strings. The mashed or milled pumpkin can then be used in any recipe for the same amount as the canned pumpkin, Bower said.

Since there are several different types of pumpkins, picking the right one can make or break a pumpkin recipe.

The small ones are specially grown to have thicker, meatier walls, Bower said. A carving pumpkin, usually one of the larger varieties, has a very thin wall. It would take several of those pumpkins to get enough for a pie.

Another popular pumpkin for pie is the Cinderella pumpkin, she said. This short, stout variety has fewer seeds and thicker walls, like the pie pumpkins, and it gives the cook more to work with.