Invitation to Weekend Wokking: Pumpkin

photo courtesy of Teczcape

Tigerfish of Teczcape graciously allowed me to use her pictures taken at the Half Moon Bay Art and Pumpkin Festival in California, for this post. Aren't they gorgeous? Pretty in orange! :)

Why do I need the pictures? Because I want to invite you, dear readers, to join me in this month's Weekend Wokking. Can you guess the special, secret ingredient for the month? Hee hee... the pictures gave it away! It's the Pumpkin! :)

If you are cooking any dishes, savory or sweet; or if you are baking something delightful or scary; as long as it contains pumpkins, please do join us in the Weekend Wokking community. Email me anytime between now to November 3, and we will learn together on November 5, many different ways we can prepare and serve the pumpkin! (My email address is at my side-bar on the left of this blog :)

photo courtesy of Teczcape

When you think of pumpkins, now that it is becoming more available, do you think of its nutritional benefits? Please do!

What's so good about pumpkins, anyway?
(The following information is taken from the Associated Content site.)

Pumpkin meat is very high in carotenoids. They're what give pumpkins their orange color—but that's the least of their benefits. Carotenoids are really good at neutralizing free radicals, nasty molecules that can attack cell membranes and leave the cells vulnerable to damage.

Pumpkins are also high in lutein and zeaxanthin, which scavenge free radicals in the lens of the eye. Therefore, they may help prevent the formation of cataracts and reduce the risk of macular degeneration, a serious eye problem than usually results in blindness.

Besides carotenoids, lutein, and zeaxanthin, which are all antioxidants, pumpkins have a lot of common nutrients, like iron, zinc, and fiber. Iron, of course, is needed by red blood cells. Zinc deficiency may be related to osteoporosis of the hip and spine in older men. And fiber is important for bowel health.


Have I convinced you to cook pumpkins, then? Join Weekend Wokking!




This is a foodie event, launched by Wandering Chopsticks, to see the many different variations we can make of one ingredient. Wouldn't it be great to see a variety of cuisines and to see how each of us handles that one ingredient? This month's ingredient is the Pumpkin!

Here are the rules:

1. Entries for Weekend Wokking must be written specifically for the event, and the posts cannot be submitted to other food blog events. Exceptions include entries in contests.

2. Entries are encouraged to be original recipes created by the submitter, but if you made someone else's recipe, please include a link to that person's original recipe. You are allowed to revisit your recipes, provided that the photos and post are new and created specifically for the event.

3. Submissions must include the words Weekend Wokking and a link back to this post. If the round-up is hosted by someone else, submissions must include a link to this post and a link to that round-up's host. Use of logo is encouraged, but not required.

Please email your entries between now and November 3. If you do not have a blog, just send me your recipes and a photo of your dish and I will gladly post it for you. Am truly excited and looking forward to all your recipes!

Happy Pumpkin Hunting!