Knowing is Half the Battle: Hey There Pumpkin Ya Looking Good!

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A humble squash can carry a season, and we prove it with a tour that starts in the kitchen and ends at the zoo gate. We talk through the edible side first—why pumpkin belongs in both pie and risotto, how roasted seeds punch above their weight in flavor and nutrition, and when a silky puree can replace cream to make pastas and bakes feel richer without the heaviness. We share easy ideas for turning a single pumpkin into multiple meals, from cozy soups and chili to a stuffed shell that doubles as a showpiece on the table.

Then we look at what happens after the carving party. Instead of tossing the remains, we walk through smarter paths: feed scraps to chickens, pigs, or goats when appropriate, or chop and compost to loop nutrients back into the soil. We swap stories about zoos turning pumpkins into enrichment—otters poking and elephants joyfully stomping—and step into the jaw-dropping world of giant pumpkin records that stretch past two thousand pounds. It’s a reminder that food, fun, and community can sit on the same vine.

Of course, we couldn’t skip the folklore and creativity wrapped around jack-o’-lanterns. Whether you carve a friendly grin or a jagged scowl, the porch becomes a tiny gallery and the neighborhood a nightly stroll through warm light and imagination. We even nod to pumpkin’s cameo in horror lore and the enduring appeal of dried gourds as long-lasting décor. If you’re hungry for fall recipes, curious about sustainable habits, or just love the craft of making something simple feel special, you’ll find fresh ideas here.

If this conversation sparks a new recipe or a better way to use up your leftovers, share it with a friend, subscribe for more curious deep dives, and leave a quick review to help others discover the show.

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Uh hoy hoy.
Oh hello my friend.
Uh I thought I'd take this timetoday to tell you about our
friend here at ITEL Stories, thepumpkin.
Alright, man.
Is that cool with you, bro?
Indeed.
Alright.
The pumpkin has many uses.
The uses of the pumpkin is whatthis is about, Owen, just to uh
you know, let you know.
So it has many uses.
Uh you can bake sweet and savorydishes, make roasted seeds, or

(00:22):
create puree Asian stocks.
Uh they can also be repurposedby feeding them to animals,
composting them, or even usingthem in the fall themed
decorations uh or crafts of theseason.
You know.
That's pretty interesting rightthere.
Uh obviously some of thefavorite uses is pumpkin pie.
I mean, everybody likes pumpkinpie.
You like pumpkin pie, Owen?
I'm pretty sure you do, right?

(00:44):
Okay, alright.
Just double checking.
Uh, as far as savory dishes thatare listed, uh pumpkin soups,
which I've never had.
Have you ever had a pumpkinsoup?
I cannot say that I have.
Okay.
Uh risotto?

SPEAKER_01 (00:55):
Um I've had risotto, but not pumpkin risotto.
Oh boy.

SPEAKER_00 (01:00):
I'm I'm slacking on my fall cuisine here,
apparently.
Well, it's very American.
I mean, pumpkins are from here,guys.
So uh stews, chili, or stuff ituh inside the shelf of a baked
dish as well.
That's another thing you can do.
I often wonder what you use whenyou do that.
Is it like the guts minus theseed that you st use?
I don't know.
That's a question I should havehad answered before uh I did

(01:22):
this pumpkin thing.
Now, as well, you can use it fora puree.
Blend cooked pumpkin to makepuree for baking smoothies or
creamy pasta sauces, which, youknow, that makes sense to me.
As well, you know, you can useit to feed animals.
Uh you can feed cooked or rawpumpkin to livestock, like
chickens, pigs, and goats.
And you know, here I in the PDX,I uh well, sort of, I'm here in

(01:43):
the PDX, but nonetheless, Iwatched the news.
Was it the airport?
Well, no, that's they that'sjust like the I know, yeah.
No, a PDX airport is the thing.
But no, it's uh see, see, youjust don't know.
No, no, no.
No, I well that's the Iunderstand.
I'm sorry.
No, that's what they call likethe area kind of like the poorly

(02:03):
surrounding areas PDX.
So Yeah, I'm I'm behind thebehind the times.
Apparently so.
Yeah, nonetheless.
So and back to pumpkins.
Okay.
Uh, you know, it can uh oh, theyfeed the animals at the zoo
pumpkins this time of year.
Uh there's a couple conteststhat go on in Oregon, and uh the
winning pumpkins and remainingpumpkins go to the animals at

(02:24):
the zoo.
The otters really love them.
That's kind of crazy.
And the elephants, the rhino,you they they put them out there
so they can crush them.
The elephants seem to reallylike to squish them.
That's a thing.
So uh pumpkins, and another funuse.
Uh elephants uh love to squishthem.
Okay, they're good squishers.

SPEAKER_01 (02:41):
Well, they'd love this one.
Do you know the largest pumpkinever recorded in terms of
weight?
I have no idea, my friend.

SPEAKER_00 (02:49):
I I couldn't even guess.

SPEAKER_01 (02:50):
I don't know the pumpkin's name, but apparently
twins Ian and Stuart Patton inEngland.
So they do grow elsewhere.
Uh 2,819 pound pumpkin.
It's still very small comparedto an elephant, but yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (03:07):
That's more squishing.
That's way, way bigger than Ithought.
I was gonna go like 800 poundsor something, was my guess.

SPEAKER_01 (03:15):
That even seems quite large.

SPEAKER_00 (03:17):
I know, I thought it was head.
Yeah.
Right.
I thought I was up there,pumpkin head.
Yeah.
Wasn't that like a horror movie?

SPEAKER_01 (03:27):
I think that was uh I've never seen it, but I think
that was uh Jennifer.
Or no, that was Wepricon, right?
It was Jennifer Anderson's firstmovie.
There's some like famous person,I think, that was in Pumpkin
Head, but I could be wrong.
I don't know.
Oh yes, it was a horror movie Ihave not seen, so very
informative.

SPEAKER_00 (03:44):
Yet another use for the pumpkin, the almighty
pumpkin horror movies, you know,scare tactics.
That that takes me todecorations, you know, as well.
The uses.
Uh you can use it to make ajack-o' lantern, you know, and
that and that's really that'svery artistic owing.
You know, it's up to you whatyou put on that pumpkin.
You know, you can have a smiley,happy jack-lantern, you can have

(04:04):
a creepy-looking, toothless,sort of jagged whatnot
jack-lantern, right?
You can have all sorts of thingsgoing on.
Yeah, there's there's many, manythings owing McMichael.
These are Owen the Mick, McMichael is uh, you know, he's
Scottish and he's you know, he'snot from there, but the UK,
that's the original source ofHalloween, although they did not

(04:25):
have pumpkins.
So moving on.

SPEAKER_01 (04:27):
So they do now.

SPEAKER_00 (04:29):
Yeah, they do, yeah, obviously, right?
Yeah, that's a thing.
So I don't know.
Those are uh those are the usesfor the pumpkin people.
If you want to, ooh, oh yeah,also you can decorate them, uh
you can like a gourd of sorts,you can dry them like a gourd
and do things of that nature,like small pumpkins.
Owen's a big fan of gourds.
People don't know this about myphone.
Huge fan, huge fan, big fan, progourd.

(04:52):
He's an advocate for gourds, hedoesn't understand why they're
so cheap.
Gourds for all, apparently.
They should be, yeah.
Nonetheless, nothing, norelation to goiders, people.
Okay, don't want that creepyout.
Yeah, all right.
Well, hey guys, uh, now that youknow about pumpkins, I hope you
have a great fall season.