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pumpkin leftovers
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Lifestyle

What To Do With Your Leftover Pumpkins From The Pumpkin Patch

It’s officially fall, which means autumn activities are starting up in full force. Apple picking, hay rides, and of course, pumpkin picking. Nothing says fall more than picking out the best pumpkins at the patch to bring home. It can be tempting to bring home every pumpkin you see, especially the ones that are void of any weird spots and growths. You’re lucky if you find any without any imperfections, to be honest. But why should you have to limit yourself on the amount of pumpkins you bring home? There’s plenty of things you can do with the extra gourds that you don’t use for decorating. They don’t have to get tossed! Here’s what to do with leftover pumpkins.

Pumpkin Spice Lattes

Pumpkin spice lattes are the eternal fall drink. But in this economy, they can cost a small fortune. Why break the bank when you can just use your own pumpkins? Plus, it’ll taste even better homemade. 

All you need is pumpkin pie spice, milk, espresso or coffee, and your leftover pumpkin. Start by heating up your pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice in a saucepan over medium heat. Add in a good amount of black pepper and stir until hot. Black pepper may sound disgusting in a drink, but where else do you think the spice in pumpkin spice comes from? 

Next, throw in some sugar and stir until it’s bubbly. Slowly whisk in the milk, as well as a pinch of vanilla extract for some sweetness. If you’re fancy and have a hand blender, you can use that to make this mixture into a froth. If not, a traditional blender is fine. 

Make your caffeinated component (espresso or coffee) and add it to your frothed concoction. You can add some whipped cream to the top and sprinkle some cinnamon or nutmeg to make it really accurate to a store bought PSL. 

Pumpkin Ravioli 

If you’re a fan of butternut squash ravioli, this recipe is the one for you. You can use your leftover pumpkin as a substitute for squash in any ravioli recipe. TikToker Tieghan Gerard shared her pumpkin cheese ravioli recipe, and the brown butter sage sauce looks so delicious. As a pasta lover, I’m definitely trying this recipe. It’s perfect for fall, too.

Pumpkin Butter

Nothing screams fall vibes more than spreadable pumpkin. If you’re unfamiliar with pumpkin butter, it’s essentially fall in a jar. It’s a pumpkin flavored spread that you can add to anything: toast, crackers, fruit, and even yogurt. 

Making pumpkin butter is actually super easy: in fact, you can make it in just 5 minutes. You just need to combine a bunch of ingredients in a saucepan, including maple syrup, vanilla extract, some spices (such as cinnamon, nutmeg, and pumpkin spice), and your pumpkin. Place this on the stove over medium-low heat and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once the butter has a dark shade of brown, your pumpkin butter is ready! Seriously, anyone can make this. You can even add some fun flavors to your butter, such as cocoa powder to make it a chocolate pumpkin butter.

Pumpkin Sugar Scrub

Maybe you don’t particularly like the taste of pumpkin, but can get behind the smell. There’s plenty of ways you can repurpose your leftover pumpkin without eating it, like using it in a body sugar scrub.

@modhippiehabits

Pumpkin Sugar Scrub 🎃 This is a perfect way to use up the rest of that pumpkin purée! Ingredients: 1.5 Cups Organic Sugar 1/4 Cup Pumpkin Purée 1 Tbs Honey 1 Tbs Coconut Oil 1 Tsp Cinnamon 5 Drops Clove Essential Oil 🫙 Combine all ingredients and transfer to an airtight container. Store in the fridge about a month. Why only a month? If you’ve made any of my sugar scrubs before you’ll see that they tend to be drier; because this has actual produce in the scrub it can go rancid because of the moisture content! #diybeauty #sugarscrub #recipe #zerowaste #lowwaste #slowliving #urbanhomestead #sustainability #naturalskincare #herbalism #dryskin #denver #recipe #pumpkin #pumpkinspice

♬ original sound – Kait

Before you start making your scrub, you’ll need to turn your pumpkin into pumpkin puree. Simply cut open your pumpkin, roast it in the oven until soft, and then throw it into a food processor. For your scrub, you’ll need sugar, manuka honey, coconut oil, and cinnamon. All of these ingredients have benefits for your skin. The sugar exfoliates your skin, manuka honey heals it, coconut oil moisturizes it, and cinnamon brights it, as well as promotes collagen production. On top of that, the pumpkin itself has vitamin A and salicylic acid. 

Mix all of these ingredients together and you’ll have a delicious smelling, skin healing product. According to TikToker Kait Welch, you can use it for up to a month. Just make sure it’s stored in the fridge.

Pumpkin Face Mask

Pumpkin has a lot of benefits for your face skin as well. It can help with anti-aging, brighten your skin, and can even reduce acne. So why not use your extra pumpkin to your skin’s benefit and make a face mask?

@plntglow

Skin-friendly pumpkin face mask 🧡🍂 Super nourishing & moisturizing, while encouraging a more even tone ✨ Skin will feel like buttahhh. #diyfacemask #diyskincare #fallskincare #naturalskincare #diybeauty

♬ fall – z

This mask is perfect if you’re struggling with dark spots and dry skin. Combine pumpkin puree, rice flour, olive oil, raw honey, apple cider vinegar, and ground turmeric. Plnt Glow on TikTok recommends that you rinse this mask after 20 minutes, and apply it up to 3 times a week. 

The pumpkin, apple cider vinegar, and rice flour will exfoliate your skin while the honey and olive oil will hydrate it. The turmeric works to reduce dark spots as well. 

Pumpkin Hair Mask

Your face isn’t the only thing that can benefit from pumpkin. Pumpkin also has amazing benefits for your hair, such as promoting hair growth and maintaining scalp health. The vitamin A in pumpkin actually helps your scalp produce sebum, which provides moisture and strength to your hair. 

@studioanna

Happy Fall babes!! 🍂🧡 Here’s a DIY Pumpkin hair mask to get you in the spooky spirit🎃✨ #diy #hairmask #hair #curls #curlyhair #curly #cute #girls #hairmask

♬ Halloween ・ cute horror song – PeriTune

To make the mask, cut up and boil your pumpkin. You’ll also need some sort of deep conditioner, coconut oil, olive oil, and pumpkin seed oil. Mix it all together and then apply to your hair. StudioAnna on TikTok suggests leaving in the mask for up to 40 minutes to reap the full benefits, and then rinsing it out. 

Amanda Brucculeri is the fall editorial intern for Spoon University, where she covers food news and emerging trends. Beyond Spoon University, Amanda works as the podcast editor for Boston University News Service, where she oversees a team of reporters covering news through audio. She also writes for the city column of The Buzz Magazine, and is the host of a true crime radio show on WTBU student radio. She is currently a junior at Boston University, majoring in journalism with a minor in public relations. In her free time, she enjoys curating playlists, trying new restaurants, and watching movies.