Australians love to eat pumpkins more than any other nationality. There is something magical about them. It is hard to look at a pumpkin and not smile, and what would Cinderella have done without one.
Pumpkins are good for both your body and your spirit. What could be more fun to plant, nurture, harvest, eat and enjoy than a pumpkin?
Pumpkins grow well just about anywhere, although on our beautiful Tamborine Mountain they almost grow too well, I have to cut my plants back after 2 or 3 pumpkins have formed otherwise they may take over.
I have read that there is a variety called “Beaudesert Blue” a local that I will have to find.
But I don’t actually plant pumpkins they just grow each year from the compost that I spread around, it’s always a nice surprise to see what varieties I get, and I like them all, each variety has its own characteristics and uses.
The Europeans and Americans love them too, not for eating though, but to be turned into Halloween Lanterns or fed to the cattle.
Pumpkins here have achieved iconic status thanks to some rather famous Queensland pumpkin scones.
Lady Flo's Pumpkin Scones (An Australian food icon)
Ingredients
- ½ cup (125g) unsalted butter
- 1 Tblsp butter
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- 1 cup mashed pumpkin (cold)
- 2 cups Self raising flour
Method
Beat together butter, sugar and salt with electric mixer.
Add egg, then pumpkin and stir in the flour.
Turn on to floured board and cut.
Place in tray on top shelf of very hot oven 225-250c for 15-20 minutes.
Florence "Flo" Isabel, Lady Bjelke-Petersen (born 11 August 1920) is an Australian politician and writer.
Her husband Joh Bjelke-Petersen was the longest serving Premier of Queensland.
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| Jo and Flo Bjelke-Petersen |
Flo as she was known to all, was justly famous for greeting visiting journalists and dignitarties with a cup of tea and a batch of freshly baked pumpkin scones.
Flo Bjelke-Petersen was preoccupied with home duties until well after Joh Bjelke-Petersen became Premier in 1968.
In the 1970s, however, she assumed an increasingly public role, as part of the Queensland National Party's increasing promotion of a Bjelke-Petersen "personality cult."
Flo Bjelke-Petersen was a member of the Australian Senate from 1981 to 1993.
Her homely sayings and her recipes for pumpkin scones were quoted in the media.
When Joh Bjelke-Petersen was knighted in 1984, Flo Bjelke-Petersen became Lady Bjelke-Petersen, and was officially known as "Senator Lady Bjelke-Petersen."
She was frequently, but incorrectly, referred to as "Lady Florence" or "Lady Flo". (This usage suggests she is the daughter of a peer rather than the wife of a knight.).
Although the name "Lady Flo" is incorrect, it is universally used in the media and among the general public.
In Canberra Lady Bjelke-Petersen was well-liked by politicians of all parties, even those who loathed her husband. Her speeches were usually about local Queensland issues and seldom political in content. She retired from the Senate in 1993.
She has published a cookbook which included her recipe for her trademark pumpkin scones.
Next week I will tell you more about the very versatile pumpkin and more delicious pumpkin recipes.