Interview with Anne Copeland
Author of Pumpkin, Pumpkin:
Folklore, History, Planting Care, and Good Eating
with Patricia Cummings, interviewer
Additional photos by James Cummings
and James Gorham
Book cover with quilt by Barbara Williamson
Like the author, Anne Copeland, I have always loved the color Orange, and pumpkins! I thought it would be fun to interview her to find out a little more about her 129 page electronic-book, in pdf format, that features many pumpkin-themed art quilts.
The interview shared below was done by e-mail on August 15, 2009. I have seen this book, and can guarantee you that it is beautiful, when printed out in its entirety, has a multitude of taste-tempting recipes, and that you will learn more about the subject of pumpkins than you ever thought possible!
Some people like pumpkins so much, they exchange their heads for them! photo by James Cummings, Jackson Inn, 2008.
INTERVIEW
Pat: Annie, your cookbook is amazing! I will be very happy to recommend it, wherever I can, but I think you've under-priced yourself. The price you've set is a steal for all the work you've put into this labor of love, and all of the artwork, recipes and history presented.
Anne: Thank you so much Pat. When I wrote this book originally, I was going through one of the worst periods in my life, emotionally, and every day was an honest struggle. Working on the book, visiting my friend in New Mexico, and having the encouragement of other friends around me helped to keep me to get through that time and maintain my sanity and my life. So it has a deeper meaning for me than most people will ever realize. It is okay for people to not know that. I think the book can stand on its own.
Pat: I printed the book out and will ask Jim bound it.
Anne: Wow, Pat.
So for me, right now, the downloadable, or CD versions, are best. Really, I think as time goes on, more people will use these formats when they buy books. Books take up a lot of space, and when you travel, they are heavy and bulky, and once you have read the book, one is faced with finding a way to get rid of it, unless it is a special book with history in it. So I think the e-books will be a very viable alternative for the future, and I am sure there are other benefits I have not considered.
Pat: Tell me when and how you happened to first be interested in cooking with pumpkins.
Anne: I always had a special relationship with pumpkins. I like everything about them, and this was probably even more true starting around 1975, when I moved to California. As you probably know, we don't have "seasons" in California, not obvious ones like winter and autumn, so we have to find ways to create that artificially. I have always especially loved autumn (my birthday is in November) and the Christmas season, so I was looking for ways to make it more meaningful.
I remember one October - probably around 1975 or '76, I was up in the Hollywood area having Halloween with friends. We had all dressed up like a box of crayons, and each of us was a different color. We walked up and down Hollywierd Blvd. or sort of hopped, since it was difficult to move, but so much fun. Everyone was in costume, and some people even had decorated their cars with costumes!!! After that we went to a market to get pumpkins up in Hollywierd, and there was a store, perhaps because it was Halloween, that had pumpkins for 1 cent a pound. So I really stocked up, and got such a kick out of the fact that I came out with a shopping cart overflowing with pumpkins of every shape and size, and even a white pumpkin!!! Maybe that was the real start.
I didn't want my pumpkins to spoil, so I stored them under the house, where we had a clear story (I think that is the right term - an unfinished space under the house where you could actually enter through a door.) I had my office - a graphic arts and typesetting company - under there. I set all my pumpkins on some of the horizontal wood structure and then I went out another day and bought more, on sale. The end result was that I had some 32 pumpkins, with the white pumpkin, two blue ones, and a green Hokaido pumpkin. I was starting to work on the book, and it became a challenge to see how long the pumpkins would last without rotting. A year later, almost all of them were still good.
Pat: Is cooking with pumpkins a family tradition?
Anne: No, my mother made pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving and I think she made pumpkin bread a couple of times. Mom was a great cook, in my mind, and always made nutritious and generally pretty meals too.
Pat: Have you actually test-driven every recipe in your book?
Anne: I personally tested about 2/3 of the recipes and a lot I actually created myself. Others were tested by friends to help me out and they gave me good reports on what worked and didn't. My friend, Louisa, in Deming, NM helped me the most, as she was a gourmet cook and the one with all the antique cookbooks from South Africa.
I am not a precise cook, and I like to experiment a lot, so I tended to create things in different ways from time to time. I did use recipes I found from friends or ones I had collected over the years, and I changed all of those recipes, especially with regard to spices used. I like spicy things - lots more cinnamon, nutmeg, etc. and it often seemed to me that a recipe didn't have adequate spices in quantity and in variety. And sometimes I added ingredients or took ingredients out to make the food more to my own taste.
Pat: If you could say what you like most about pumpkins, would it be their texture, color, or taste?
Anne: Pumpkins to me are very symbolic of abundance. They come to fruit at a time when other fruits and vegetables are dying out for the winter. They do represent that change of season I talked about - at least for me. There is sort of a mysterious pleasure that feels somewhat ancient about picking a pumpkin, preparing it for decorating and/or eating, thinking about the possibilities in the seeds - how the following year, one of those seeds could turn into "the great pumpkin," and an overall association of other good memories I have of the season..
Some folks like to carve pumpkins. photo courtesy of James P. Gorham, Rhode Island
Pat: Is Halloween your favorite holiday?
Anne: It's a toss-up between Halloween and Thanksgiving. I like Christmas too - that whole time of year actually, and I like that my birthday falls on Thanksgiving every so many years. There's a little sadness about it too because it signals the end of another year, and that always reminds me of how many more are likely left before me.
Pat: Tell me a little about what you do in your "day job" as a paraprofessional educator.
Anne: I generally work 1:1 with a special needs child, or sometimes 2 or 3 of them. I am with them all day, Monday through Friday. I teach them their lessons, take them potty or change diapers, etc., get their meals ready, and watch them carefully while they eat as some autistic or have Downs. Other special needs children also have eating problems so choking is always a concern. I take them out on the playground, take them to their special exercise classes, read to them, do activities and projects with them, accompany them on field trips, take them to the nurse, if they are sick or get hurt, manage them if they are getting violent. I generally see to their every need during the day. In addition, I help the teacher to set up activities, make copies, grade papers, run errands, etc. We meet the children on the bus, escort them safely to class, and put them back on the bus, in the afternoon.
Patrick Gorham likes pumpkins, too! Photo courtesy of James Gorham.
Pat: Do they grow those mini-pumpkins used for decoration, in California?
Anne: Yes. You can buy almost every kind of pumpkin here, and the little ones are definitely available.
Pat: Where can someone order the book, what is your website address, and what means of payment are accepted?
Anne: The e-book is available
with a Paypal payment, from my blog:
Pat: This a terrific book! Good luck with this and all of your future publishing ventures!
Anne: Thank you so much for this
kindness. Peace and many blessings, Annie
Remember: Every self-respecting Yankee eats pie for breakfast! If it's pumpkin pie, all the better!
Copyright 2009. Patricia Cummings, Quilter's Muse Publications, Concord, NH. All rights reserved. Write to: pat@quiltersmuse.com