Happy Thanksgiving!

Pumpkins and gourds...

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Pumpkins...

Cucurbitaceaeis aplantfamilycommonly known asmelons,gourdsorcucurbitsand includes crops likecucumbers,squashes(includingpumpkins),luffas,melons(includingwatermelons). The family is predominantly distributed around the tropics, where those with edible fruits were amongst the earliest cultivated plants in both the Old and New Worlds.

References to pumpkins date back many centuries. The name pumpkin originated from the Greek word for "large melon" which is "pepon." "Pepon" was nasalized by the French into "pompon." The English changed "pompon" to "Pumpion." Shakespeare referred to the "pumpion" in hisMerry Wives of Windsor.American colonists changed "pumpion" into "pumpkin".

Thecalabashorbottle gourdoropo squashorlong melon(not to be confused with thecalabaza) is avinegrown for its fruit, which can either be harvested young and used as avegetableor harvested mature, dried, and used as a bottle, utensil, or pipe. For this reason, one of the calabash subspecies which is longer and slimmer is known as thebottle gourd. The fresh fruit has a light green smooth skin and a white flesh. However the rounder varieties are called Calabash gourds.

The calabash was one of the first cultivated plants in the world, grown not for food but as a container.It was named for the calabash tree (Crescentia cujete).

The word come from Spanish calabaza, possibly from Arabic qar'a yabisa "dry gourd," from Persian kharabuz, used of various large melons; or from a pre-Roman Iberian "calapaccia"

Pumpkin cookies

Preheat 350F (180C) and prepare to make 12 dozens cookies:

? cup (125 ml) unsalted butter
1 cup (250 ml) sugar
1 ? cups (300 ml) pumpkin puree
2 cups (500 ml) cake or plain flour
2 eggs
1 tbsp (15 ml) backing powder
1 tsp (5 ml) cinnamon
? tsp (1 ml) ground nutmeg
? (1 ml) salt
2/3 cup (150 ml) raisin or dried plum or dried current mixed with almond

Take a large bowl and cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs and pumpkin puree, mix well. Blend in the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and raisin (or/and other components). Drop spoonfuls of this delicious mixture onto a greased cookies sheet and bake for 10 min. Cool wire rake for as long as you can resist them.