Halve a 4-5 pound pumpkin, cover cut sides with plastic wrap, and place cut sides up at least 1 inch apart on paper toweling on floor of microwave oven, allowing at least 2 inches between pumpkin halves and oven walls. Microwave on high setting 20-25 minutes, rotating halves 180 degrees when half the time is up, until fork-tender. Wrap each half in foil and let stand 10 minutes. Scrape the flesh off and use instead of buying canned pumpkin.