Cheese Pumpkins

I'll admit I've never heard of a Cheese Pumpkin before (I usually buy sugar pumpking) - so I looked them up at a seed company website. Here is what they said: "Cheese pumpkins are a group of pumpkins that are hardy, productive and is superior to most field pumpkins. They have a unique smooth tan skin, moderately deep ribs, a deep orange sweet flesh and they are good keepers. Fruits are medium-large, about 6 to 8" high and weigh 6 to 12 lbs. Pkt. (5 g)"

The Boston Globe (back in 2005) published this info - followed by an intriguing cooking suggestion
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This pumpkin makes a fine pot of beef stew
October 5, 2005

Some varieties of pumpkin -- not the ones you carve and set on the doorstep -- can be used as a stewpot. The eating pumpkins go by the names ''cheese pumpkin" and ''sugar pumpkin." Using one of these bright orange rounds means that the pot becomes part of the meal. In this dish, a beef stew infuses the orange flesh with aromatic spices, and when it's time to ladle the stew onto plates, wedges of the vegetable go beside the meat.

An 8-pound cheese pumpkin can hold enough stew for a table of eight. This is an ideal dish for a weekend evening, after a day of apple picking or leaf raking. Both pumpkin and stew are partially cooked before the orange orb becomes the pot. You can do this initial cooking a day in advance.

Cheese pumpkin (its botanical name is moschata) is squat and has a pale outer shell with deep vertical lines (available at Wilson Farms in Lexington, 781-862-3900). It is more often part of a beautiful display of fall fruits and vegetables than part of dinner. Smaller and more familiar sugar pumpkins are often used for pies, soups, or purees. They also make good baking vessels, though they're smaller (use two for this stew), and the baking time should be adjusted accordingly. Bring the whole pumpkin to the table to serve it. It will feel a little like cutting into the fall centerpiece.
-- DEBRA SAMUELS