A couple weeks ago, we spent some time at a Pumpkin Patch. I took home two small sugar pumpkins to cook with later. I have a terrible tendency to leave vegetables until they rot, so I was bound and determined to do something with these.
After roasting the pumpkins for an hour and a half each, they were perfectly cooked!
I immediately cooked with 2 cups of pumpkin and put the rest in 2 cup measurements in the fridge for later. Look at all this!!
I initially made Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread and I was able to make a loaf and 12 9 muffins! A-MAZ-ING!!!
(I top everything off with Cream Cheese Frosting - 1-8 ounce package cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter, 1 cup confectioner's sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)
The next night I made Pumpkin Chili. I added a can of corn, a can of beans, a can of green chilies, extra chili powder and some cumin. Along with a little beer bread, this is quickly becoming my favorite meal.
Even better the 2nd day!!
I also took the seeds, dried them and roasted them with some butter, sugar, cinnamon and salt. These are called Cinnasweet Pumpkin Seeds. Many of the reviews of the recipe warned that you should bake them for 1/2 the time. I baked them for probably 5 minutes too long and they were burnt. I baked them for 7 minutes at a time for a total of 28 minutes. Next time I'll just do 20 minutes max. They could have been really tasty :(
I did have some success with my Pumpkin Pancakes for breakfast though!! Make sure you make small ones or they are too doughy. They were soo flavorful!!
Jason is a pumpkin pie lover. I never really "got" it. I think the texture always threw me off. But, I promised him a pumpkin pie so pumpkin pie it is!! And I am now a pumpkin pie lover. It is soooo good. Along with homemade whipped cream and homemade pie crust, I'm thinking of digging into it for breakfast....
All this and I STILL have 2 bags of pumpkin left! One bag is for Elena. Everyday for lunch, I mix a scoop of pumpkin with a scoop of our homemade applesauce. It's really good! I'm going to use the other one to make the Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread!
I Love it! The only thing I have made is Pumpkin Bread...Have you ever made a Pumpkin soup? I am looking for a good recipe???
ReplyDeleteWendy
http://heavencents.blogspot.com
I think I may have to cook our jackolantern now...you've inspired me! What a great source of Vitamin A for the kids :)
ReplyDeleteGood gravy, this is awesome! I've bookmarked this page and will be revisiting it often this Fall :). Thanks for the great compilation! (and for linking to Tasty Tuesday, of course :-D).
ReplyDeleteI haven't made pumpkin soup yet!! I am a bit of sweets-aholic so I made mostly sugary things. I think I'm going to head out and buy a couple more pumpkins. I found a ton of different options for pumpkin soup on Tasty Kitchen! http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/?s=pumpkin+soup&search_for=Recipes
ReplyDeleteWendy - I literally just ran across this blog post about pumpkin soup! I'm going to try it next week!
ReplyDeletehttp://trainingupkaitlyn.blogspot.com/2010/11/creamy-pumpkin-soup.html
Thank you for encouraging me to actually cook the pumpkin sitting on my counter top, instead of letting it rot like the other one I had! I've not cooked a pumpkin before, but you've made it look easy. I'm just off to pop it in the oven - thanks!
ReplyDeleteIt is so easy to cook a pumpkin!! I hope yours didn't give you too much trouble :) I feel silly for letting mine go to waste last year. It was such an overwhelmingly large item, I thought for sure it would be difficult!
ReplyDelete