I brought three pumpkins back from Ontario, and two evenings ago, I baked one of them. As the fastest way to process a pumpkin is by baking it, I just cut it in half, scooped out the seeds and pulp, and put it in the oven with a little water. But the baking takes an hour and a half, and The Most Important Rule For Cooking that I learned as a child – which it floors me that more people don’t know – is… _{well, the first rule is, don’t use the oven in summertime, but…} When You Use The Oven, Bake More Than One Thing.

In fact, bake three: 

• Meat loaf or chicken or quiche, scalloped potatoes, and custard
• Squash, a casserole, and a cake
• Pot roast, baked potatoes, and pie

With Pizza…

… well, that takes only 12-16 minutes to bake (in a hot oven!), but make a batch of cookie dough to have on hand for times like this. Cut the dough into portions you’d make at any one time and freeze the portions (i.e. if the recipe is for three dozen, cut it into sixths for six cookies each. You could also shape the cookies and freeze them on a tray, then keep them in a tupperware in the freezer ready to go). Thaw and shape the cookies and put them in with the pizza (but watch them; pizza heat is hotter than cookie heat; it’s better to undercook them and then put them in again to finish them off. Which is why they’re called biscuits: cooked twice). You could also add tarts, or store-bought rolls of any kind.