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When picking a fresh pumpkin for your recipes, chose a sugar pumpkin over the common pumpkin used for jack-o-lanterns. This pumpkin will be smaller and tends to have a more burnt orange color.

You want to look for one that is firm and has a smooth, dull, hard skin. Make sure there are no soft spots and get one with an intact stem – this will help it keep longer before you cut it.

If the pumpkin feels heavy for its size, then it will have more flesh, and therefore will make more pumpkin puree for your recipes.

Pumpkin season is October through December, but I’ve noticed that grocery stores stop selling them after Halloween. You’ll have to investigate your local grocery stores to see if they’ll have them out for longer. Or, take your business to your local pumpkin farm. You can find a listing of farms at the University of Illinois’ Pumpkins & More website: www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/pumpkins/pumpkinfarms.cfm.

One of my favorite things about jack-o-lantern carving is pulling out the pumpkin’s pulp. I love the way the seeds squish and squirm about in my hands. I get to experience this same pleasure when preparing pumpkins, squash and gourds for something I’m cooking. However, this festive pulp can do a real number on your plumbing if you don’t dispose of it properly (when you’re done playing with it, of course).

“The slimy pulp coats the inside walls of your pipes and garbage disposal,” says Paul Abrams, spokesman for Roto-Rooter, “then it hardens and chokes your drains.”

Roto-Rooter recommends carving pumpkins far away from the kitchen sink. Do this fun family task on a thick bed of old newspapers. Then, when your masterpiece is complete, you can just roll all the newspapers up, along with all the left over pumpkin parts and through it away in the trash. Never put the sticky, stringy pumpkin pulp down the drain, even if you have a garbage disposal.

Pumpkin is a winter squash and shares much in the way of interior look, feel and taste with fellow winter squashes such as acorn, butternut and buttercup squash. In fact, in savory recipes such as soups, stews and casseroles, they are practically interchangeable. However, when it comes to desserts, such as pies, sweet breads and cakes, you’ll want to stick to the traditional pumpkin or branch out into buttercup.

Buttercup squash is dark green, short and has a broad, stocky stem. It is also has a mild, honey-like flavor that works well with desserts.