Time out from cooking for a girl from Pumpkin Town....

Not really Pumpkin Town...my hometown is actually Circleville, Ohio....home of the Circleville Pumpkin Show. The oldest and largest fall festival in Ohio and also claimed to be (by Circleville natives and others) "The greatest free show on earth". Above is a photo of the "pumpkin" water tower visible from my parent's house (5 miles outside of the city).

The Circleville Pumpkin Show is a 4 day festival held in downtown Circleville the third week of October from Wednesday to Saturday. The streets of the city are closed to allow for booths, rides, displays, crafts, and over 300,000 visitors. For a city with a population of 12,000...that is a lot of visitors!

There is so much to see and do. In the center of the town is the pumpkin tower. It displays more than 100,000 pounds of pumpkins, squash, and gourds. There is a contest for the largest pumpkin. In 2007, there was a record winning pumpkin. This pumpkin weighed in at 1524.5 lbs! (See photo below)




My favorite display is the was once called “The World's Largest Pumpkin Pie”. (Rumor has it a group in California made one bigger, but we don't like to talk about that in Circleville. :) )
This huge pumpkin treat is baked annually for the Pumpkin Show by Lindsey’s Bakery on Main Street in Circleville, Ohio. This pie is 14 feet in diameter and weighs over 400 pounds. Want to try and make it at home? :)

According to the ladies at Lindsey’s, the recipe is as follows: 360 pounds of sugar, 795 lbs. of pumpkin, 60 lbs. powdered milk, 75 gallons of water, 60 doz. eggs, 1 lb. salt, 1 lb. spices, 400 lbs. flour.

15 people to mix
Bake 10 hours - cool 6 hours.



That is a lot of pie!! The first time we went to the pumpkin show my husband asked if they slice the pie and serve it. Yuck! I doubt it. The pie sits out for a couple weeks before it is feed to local live stock. Besides, I'm not sure I would want to eat a pie that has been sitting out for 300,000 people to hold their faces over :)


On the topic of pumpkin treats, there are a variety of interesting foods available at the Pumpkin Show that go beyond pumpkin pie. Such as....Pumpkin Burgers, Pumpkin Pizza, Pumpkin Chili, Pumpkin Pancakes, Pumpkin Donuts, and Pumpkin Ice Cream to name a few.

My favorite pumpkin treat is the Pumpkin Roll. This year my mom bought a whole frozen one for me to bring to my husband (who was working) and for us to enjoy for weeks after the Pumpkin Show. :) (Thanks, Mom!)




I have great memories from childhood to high school years at the Pumpkin Show. Now I enjoy seeing old friends who return to visit and running the Pumpkin Classic. A 5 mile run held on the Saturday morning of Pumpkin Show.

I encourage anyone who likes fall festivals to visit. :)