Here's the recipe.  You can tweak it however you want.  I usually leave out the mushrooms and water chestnuts, though I might add 'em in this year... maybe.  Anywhos, hope you enjoy it!!! 

Disclaimer: this is not MY recipe, I got it from one of my mother's old cookbooks. 




1 small to medium pumpkin


1 onion, chopped

2 tablespoons veg. Oil

1 ½ to 2 lbs ground beef

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 (4-oz) can sliced mushrooms, drained

1 (10 ¾ oz) can cream-of-chicken-soup

1 ½ cups cooked rice

1 (8 oz) can sliced water chestnuts, drained



cut off top of pumpkin and thoroughly clean out seeds and pulp. Pain on an appropriate face on front of pumpkin with permanent marker or acrylic pen. Preheat oven to 350F. In a large skillet, sauté onion in oil until tender. Add meat and brown. Drain drippings from skillet. Add soy sauce, brown sugar, mushrooms, and soup. Simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add cooked rice and water chestnuts. Spoon mixture into the cleaned pumpkin shell. Replace pumpkin top and place entire pumpkin, with filling, on a baking sheet. Bake 1 hour or until inside meat of the pumpkin is tender. Put pumpkin on a plate. Remove pumpkin lid and serve meal.