This season, my family and I explored the South Seattle pumpkin patch of Carpinito Brothers' Farm, the 2021 National award-winning pumpkin patch. While my kids ventured to find their selections of most unique, most round, most orange, and largest pumpkin, my aunt and I settled for the sweet baking pumpkins. To be honest, we are more of sweet-potato-pie people but, as this season comes once a year, we figured we would get into the pumpkin-spice spirit and make a nice pumpkin pie for this year's holiday table. Check out Sally's amazingly simple recipe for a seasonal pumpkin pie.
Pumpkins (Nan Gua), in TCM theory, have the same health qualities as any other squash: clears damp, resolves phlegm, support digestion. However, the pumpkin is warmer in nature than other squash so it is better at expelling cold and increasing blood circulation. The pumpkin is a prime example of eating local and eating naturally with the seasons in the PNW. As the weather gets colder and cold/flu symptoms are rampant, pumpkins are the local resource for food as medicine.