Holidays: All about Pumpkins
By Terry
Pumpkins at the Jumeirah Essex House Hotel.
The official bloom of Thanksgiving? The pumpkin, of course. So in honor of this noble gourd, equally agreeable embellishing a tabletop, a soup or a pie, we bring you Overnight New York’s pumpkin fast facts and show how two hotels, the Jumeirah Essex House and New York Hilton, displayed the big orange guys this year.
+ Cucurbitaceae — the family of squashes, melons and gourds from which pumpkins, like cucumbers and watermelons, hail.
+ 7000 to 5500 B.C. – the years the earliest pumpkin-related seeds date from. (They were discovered in Mexico.)
+ Pepon –the Greek word for “large melon,” believed to be the genesis for “pumpkin.”
Giant pumpkin at the New York Hilton Marketplace restaurant.
+ 1.5 billion pounds — the amount of pumpkins produced in the US each year.
+ 1,810 pounds — the biggest pumpkin ever (certified by Guinness). An Atlantic Giant, it was grown by Chris Stevens of New Richmond, Wisconsin in 2010. Caveat: it was white, not orange.
+ Vitamin A and beta-carotene — pumpkins are high in these.
+ Saturated fat – pumpkins are low in this (unless you add heavy cream to your pie).
Happy Thanksgiving!
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Thanks for the pumpkin nuggets. An 1,800-pound pumpkin — hard to imagine. And further evidence of how much English owes to Greek, pumpkins too.
Comment by Daniel — November 24, 2011 @ 9:36 pm
Thanks, Daniel. Happy Thanksgiving!
Comment by Terry — November 24, 2011 @ 9:50 pm