• Combine the lemon juice and sugar in a large pitcher, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Add the water and grape juice. Stir and taste for any needed adjustments. Add sugar or water as needed to meet your desired taste.* Serve over ice.

• Fill a sauce pan with several inches of water (enough to cover the eggs).
• Set the pan over high heat and allow the water to come to a rolling boil.
• Lower the heat and let the water reduce to a rapid simmer.
• Gently lower the eggs into the water, one at a time.
• Cook the eggs for 5 to 7 minutes; 5 minutes for a moderately runny yolk, up to 7 minutes for one that is more set.
• Remove the eggs from the water (using a slotted spoon if you plan to cook more than one batch).
• Run under cold tap water for 30 to 60 seconds.
• Set the egg, upright, in an egg cup or a small bowl or ramekin filled with rice, salt, or dried beans, grains, small gravel (cleaned – of course), whole dried corn . . . use your imagination. If you avoid egg spills, you can use your base over and over again.
• Remove the top by tapping gently with a knife around the top of the egg, or if you are lucky enough to have one, use an egg-cutter.
• Eat the eggs while they are warm, scooping out with a small egg spoon, or buttered crusty toast spears.
• If you are doing more than one batch of eggs, return the water to a rolling boil and repeat from step 3, adding water if needed.

• It is very important to bring your eggs to room temperature. If you forgot to set them out to come to temperature and are using eggs out of the refrigerator, place them in a bowl of tepid water for about 5 minutes.
• Bring a large pot of water to 142 degrees (the 2 extra degrees are just to be safe), using an instant-read thermometer to check the temperature. Keep the thermometer in the water to be sure that a constant temperature of 142 is maintained.
• When the water has reached 142 degrees, lower the eggs into the pan. It is very important that the water not drop below 140 degrees.
• For medium to large eggs, leave the eggs in the water for 3 1/2 minutes. For extra large or jumbo eggs, leave the eggs in the water for five minutes.
• Remove the eggs, dry them, and refrigerate them, in a tightly-covered container. Use within the week.

• Using a sharp knife, cut the pumpkin open. Remove the seeds and stringy pulp.

Roasting

• Roasting works best with smaller pumpkins, as they cook more quickly. If you are going to roast the pumpkin, pat the flesh dry. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Place the pumpkin cut side down on a parchment-lined* baking sheet (you will thank me for this when it comes to cleanup.) Roast for 45 minutes to an hour - depending on the size of your pumpkin and the thickness of the meat. Test the doneness of the pumpkin by poking the shell with a fork. If the pumpkin is done, the fork should go in very easily. Remove from oven, cool, and scoop the flesh from the shell. Mash or puree and use as desired.

Stovetop

• Steaming is more successful than boiling pumpkin because the pulp turns out less watery and seems to retain color and flavor better when prepared this way. Simply cut the pumpkin into large chunks and arrange on a steamer tray. Check after 30 minutes of vigorous steaming – it will take anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes. Remove when the flesh is soft, and scrape the flesh away from the skin. Either whip with a hand or electric beater, mash with a fork or a potato masher, or puree in a food processor – depending on how you will be using it and the texture desired.

Pressure Cooker

• If you own a pressure cooker, get it out and use it! For pumpkin - you are talking 3-4 minutes and it is done! Cut the pumpkin into 2 inch pieces. Place about 1 inch of water in the bottom of your pressure cooker. Put the pumpkin into the cooker, making sure that you do not over-fill. You will be cooking this at high pressure. Once pressure is achieved, cook 3-4 minutes, depending on the thickness of the flesh. Release pressure (quick release is fine) and proceed - a quarter of the time! If you have released pressure and find that the pumpkin is not done enough, simply bring the cooker back up to high pressure and cook for another minute or two.
  

Freezing

• Once mashed or pureed, pumpkin freezes very well. If packaged properly and in an air tight container, it should be good until next year (or even longer). We use a vacuum packer to freeze ours, but if that is not an option at your house, zip top freezer bags work well. Lay the packages of puree flat - on a cookie sheet to freeze. Freezing any food flat saves freezer space and cuts down greatly on the time it takes to thaw. If you know what recipes you want to use your puree in, freezing it in the right amounts will make it easy to use. Just be sure to label the packages and include the amount of puree - and if needed, the recipe it is intended for.
• Pumpkin and winter squash can also be grated and frozen raw. Simply shred it using the coarse side of a box grater (or use the food processor), spread it out on a cookie sheet and freeze. When it is frozen, put it into air-tight containers or zip-top freezer bags. I use pumpkin or winter squash when I am making spaghetti sauce or meat sauce for lasagna - it thickens the sauce and adds sweetness without having to add sugar - not to mention the added vitamins. You can toss the frozen squash into cakes, soups, stews, muffins, cookies and so much more.