I know at least one of you out there is a pumpkin-loving fanatic just like I am. Should we start a club? :) There's something soothing and homey about cooking pumpkins that resonates with me come fall. And it helps that are bazillions of yummy baking recipes to pull out in pumpkin season. The aromas of freshly baked pumpkin bread just can not be duplicated by a fall yankee candle. And did I mention that pumpkin is rich in vitamin A and fiber?Thus far I've roasted 3 pumpkins and have a good sized container of pumpkin mash in my freezer. I picked up 2 more little guys cheap to roast up in the coming weeks. Good thing too, we're going through our pumpkin mash fast! In the last few weeks I made two pumpkin bread loaves, a large batch of pumpkin pancakes, and pumpkin oatmeal.
A fun bonus about cooking up pumpkins is that I can get Chloe involved. We both don our aprons and she stands on a chair to help me scrape out the pumpkin guts. Pumpkin roasting is so incredibly easy that the preparation is short enough to keep even my busy toddler's attention for a few minutes time. Plus Chloe's in that loves-to-help-mommy-with-everything phase (let's hope this lasts into adulthood) so she gets overly excited about anything she's allowed to assist with. I caught her stealing my pumpkins so she could pretend to cook and eat them - what a character.Anyways, that brings me to my question for you. What are your favorite pumpkin recipes? Email them to me at aliciamhorn@gmail.com and I'll post them all here by next week.
If you're curious about pumpkin roasting but never tried it, here's an illustrated how-to link to get you started. It's so incredibly easy you'll wonder why most Americans don't roast pumpkins instead of tossing them come November 1. (Aarrrgh - that is a huge pet peeve of mine! Can you imagine how many delicious pumpkins get thrown away because people only use them as decor instead of food?!? We are a decadent society. Think I'll start a pumpkin-snatching group to rescue pumpkins from trash cans. Anyone with me?)
4 comments:
I think that you have the one that I posted on my blog a few weeks ago. I have some other really yummy ones that I'll pass along.
I have to say that we toss our pumpkins after we carve them but that is because we enjoy looking at our creations for as long as they will last. They end up all moldy and nasty - not necessarily great for eating at that point. :)
Love the pictures of Chloe taking one of your pumpkins captive and putting it in her oven. Don't you just love this age?
Rachel: I hear ya on the carved pumpkins. Ours got all moldy and gross after a few weeks. I meant the un-carved pumpkins. Lots of front porches around here have gobs of un-carved pumpkins setting out as fall decor. I've been eyeing a neighbor's house down the street with 3 big ones that never got carved. Guess I'll have to go dumpster diving for those!
And YES, I love many aspects of this toddler age! She's such a copy cat but also manifests more and more of her own creativity. Our babies are growing up so fast!
I love Pumpkin Bars, not any special recipe, I just used the one out of the Betty Crocker cookbook. Can't say that I've ever roasted a pumpkin, sounds easy enough . . . I must say I did buy several pumpkins for decor a couple years ago and someone smashed them and they ended up in the street. Needless to say I wasn't very happy, and I have decided to use other things for fall decor since!
You're so funny Alicia!! You'll have to think of a good acronym for your pumpkin rescue plan, maybe have some t-shirts made up :o) Anyway, I have to admit, I'm ashamed I have NEVER roasted a pumpkin. I think I've only made 1 pumpkin pie in my life and I used (please don't faint) canned pumpkin :o{ I'm not a huge fan of them, but I would love to try it sometime. Actually, the "tour guide" on our pumpkin patch trip gave me the run-down on how to do it and how easy it is . . . but, it'll probably have to wait until next fall. However, your post is renewing my interest in trying!
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