Pumpkin Chips

Pumpkin chips - what will people think up next? This particular recipe was thought up in 1998 by the cooks at Southern Living magazine.

Making these took a joint effort of the Hub and I. Maybe an electric fryer would have helped, which I don't have. But come to think of it, I do have an electric skillet in the basement somewhere. This would have probably helped to keep the temperature constant, relieving one person of thermometer monitoring. We made this bowl of them, ate them in less than a minute and said hmmm let's not do that again. Not that they weren't good, but some things are just better left to the professionals. Frito Lay - they're all yours.

Pumpkin Gifts

How cute are these little velvet pumpkins my daughter gave me for Christmas? The larger ones are filled with beans, the smaller ones sand. And they have real pumpkin stems. She didn't make them but some clever person did. I love 'em.

Look at my new wall decal on the soffit in my kitchen. It could have been a gift or I could have paid for it - sometimes the lines get blurred. But it's a wonderful addition to my kitchen inspiring me to get after it since I do have three cases of canned in the basement, a dozen or so left in the garage, at least 20 pounds in the freezer and 500 recipes left to try.

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Pumpkin Baked Risotto

This recipe actually started out as a butternut squash baked risotto in that same November issue of Everyday Food as the pumpkin carrot cake. Peeled and diced, butternut squash looks exactly like pumpkin and most recipes are interchangeable. It's just a whole lot easier to peel and dice a pumpkin. And between the pumpkin and the kale, it just doesn't get much healthier than this side dish. Karen and I liked it better than the guys, and I ate it for lunch for a week as it reheats very well.

Pumpkin Pie Dip

I made this pumpkin pie dip to take to a baby shower we were having at work for JRo. I'm JLo and she is JRo - works for us. There are several versions of this on the web, each one with fewer and fewer ingredients. I chose this one because I felt it was probably the original.

Readers from or visitors to Ireland will probably recognize this bag that I took the ingredients to work in. Love that store.

I served it with apple slices, sugar waffle cookies and Anna's ginger thins.

The shower was a surprise. The cupcakes are from Georgetown Cupcakes of the TLC program DC Cupcakes fame. They should give us a discount since we made them famous, but they don't.

Everyone liked it (well maybe not Roy, but he at least tried it), especially me. I think it will probably make the top 10.

Citrus-glazed Pumpkin Carrot Cake

This cake recipe came from the November issue of Everyday Food, which was loaded with pumpkin recipes. It makes a large, dense cake with a complementary glaze that serves 16 to 18 people easily. We had it at home for several days, and then I took over half of it work, where it was finished off before lunch and without a group email. Instead of getting stale, several days in plastic wrap only enhanced the moistness. I used citrus I brought back from Arizona for the glaze, which took three times as much liquid as the recipe called for. I used pecans instead of walnuts and toasted the nuts before chopping. I also substituted whole wheat pastry flour for some of the flour to boost the healthy aspects of it.

Here's a funny sidenote, when I went to Martha Stewart's webpage to get the link for this blog, five of five commentors had rated the recipe inappropriate because they were unhappy with the results. They felt it was dry and flavorless. Hmmm maybe this cake should come with a warning - results may vary. Another warning, this cake takes a very large bowl and lots of beating to follow the recipe exactly.

 Everyone (both at home and at work, total number about 14) who tried it liked it, some for the cake, some for the glaze, but most for the combination of both. Here is an interesting comment by David, who said "I liked it because it wasn't overly sweet." When I pointed out that the commenters said it had no taste, he further added "That's because they confuse taste with sweetness."

Pumpkin and Ginger Pickles

Instead of actually canning my pumpkin pickles, I vacuum sealed the jars and popped them in the frig. I used to put up dill pickles with my Aunt Irene and never was good at getting them to actually seal so this seemed like a perfect solution. Also just for fun I can check them during the three months and reseal if they aren't ready. While doing some research for this recipe, I read that pumpkin has the perfect neutral ph to grow botulism, so the addition of the lemon peel is mandatory to make it more acidic. This recipe makes 4 - 6 jars, which I halved to fit in the two containers. I also skipped most of the raisins (3 1/2 cups just seemed way too much).

The recipe comes from this Reader's Digest book about pumpkins and squashes, which I checked out of the library and then found a copy at a library sale.

Andrew and I tasted the pickles after a month. I thought they were ok, but not done; Andrew gagged, which I did not take as a good sign. He doesn't like sweet pickles in general and apparently these in particular. I'll wait until the three months is up to pass judgement.

Pumpkin and Ginger Pickle
Ginger lends piquancy to this beautifully colored deep orange pickle. Its blend of flavors makes this a good accompaniment to turkey, ham or chicken.

1 ounce fresh ginger
zest of 2 medium lemons, removed with a vegetable peeler
2 pounds pumpkin, peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes
2 large garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon cayeene pepper
3 1/2 cups golden raisins
32 ounces dark brown sugar
2 cups cider vinegar

Crush the ginger with a hammer and place it with the lemon in a cheesecloth bag. Tie the bag securely.

Put all the ingredients in a large, heavy-bottomed nonaluminum saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer gently, stirring frequently, until the mixture thickens and the pumpkin is tender.

Remove the bag of flavorings and spoon the pickle in the sterilized warm jars while hot. Seat when hot; label when cold.

Keep for 3 months in the refrigerator before using.

Pumpkin and Shrimp Bisque

I picked this recipe to make in Arizona with my daughter Robin and her husband Roger because it comes from The Herbfarm Cookbook. The Herbfarm, in Woodinville, Washington, is a restaurant they have eaten at and really enjoyed the food.

The recipe is a little labor intensive, but one would expect that from the kitchen of a restaurant the calibre of The Herbfarm. We had the bisque for dinner with Cesar salads. I was concerned with the amount of stock that boiled out during the simmering stage and added some more chicken stock at the end of it. We still only ended up with five servings as a main dish.

I also cut up the shrimp before cooking them. The 16 to 20 shrimp per pound size are very large shrimp that would require a knife to eat soup. Robin, Roger and I loved the bisque; the Hub was ho hum, not being a shrimp fan. Roger commented that the texture was perfect. My sister Judy and I shared the fifth serving the next day without shrimp and it was really good then too.