Dinner in a Pumpkin

Ah, Halloween is upon us! My favorite holiday, next to Christmas. And along with it, some great traditions...most of which have been passed down to me from my Halloween-loving mom! This is one of them. Every Halloween she would make us this recipe, and every year we looked forward to it with anticipation...now it is so fun to see my family get as excited about it as I did growing up! Try it this year with yours - you'll love it!

Dinner in a Pumpkin

1 large sugar/pie/baking pumpkin (about 6-8 high and around)
1 onion, chopped
1-1/2 lbs. Ground beef
½ c. celery, chopped
½ c. green pepper, diced
1-2 T. soy sauce
4-5 mushrooms, sliced
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
2 c. cooked rice
8 oz. sliced water chestnuts, drained

Cut lid out of pumpkin and hollow it out like you would for a jack-o-lantern. Preheat oven to 350. Brown beef and mushrooms together, drain. Add remaining ingredients, simmer 5 minutes. Put mixture into pumpkin; place lid back on pumpkin. Draw face on it if desired. Line a cookie tray with foil and place pumpkin on it. Put a 1-2-inch thick ring of foil around the base of the pumpkin for support. Bake at 350 for 2-3 hours, or until the pumpkin meat is tender (when you push gently on the outside of the pumpkin, it should feel soft). When serving, scoop out the meat of the pumpkin along with the ground beef/rice mixture. Happy Halloween!