One of the good things about coming from a family of green thumbs is that despite living in a flat with a garden that is most notably absent, I often get to enjoy the pleasures of home-grown produce thanks to my wonderful and generous kin.

The latest delivery was this rather spectacular pumpkin that, in addition to the usual fear of losing one's digits, came with a rather specific challenge. Weighing in just shy of five kilos, it certainly wasn't a wee thing, and as others, too, benefited from this timely overabundance of produce, the question was: how to use up such a large quantity of pumpkin without becoming cucurbita-phobic in the process?

Predictably, it all started with soup, and this chunky version; with the addition of kale and a good punchy harissa, was an especially nice variation on the traditional blend.

From there, thoughts turned to morning tea, and so it was time to try out this delightful brown butter spice cake, with its beautiful treacly flavours and deliciously light crumb.

To make the most of some other wonderful produce I had stored, dinner no. 2 was a simple, Moroccan-inspired dish of braised pumpkin and lamb.

And of course, a gourdy feature week wouldn't be complete without satisfying one's craving for the quintessential pumpkin scone - studded with raisins and some cinnamon spice, just for good measure.

That got me just over halfway...

The final savoury was this stunning North African squash and chickpea stew, which started with a quick and simple homemade stock and finished in a richly spiced bowl of nourishing comfort.

And as it wouldn't be a true TPB post without some mention of everyone's favourite frozen treat, I opted to cap things off with a dash of pumpkin spice ice cream sandwiched between a couple of gingerbread sugar cookies. Perfect.

So if you're ever stuck for ideas on what to cook using pumpkin...