Pumpkin Leather

This pumpkin leather recipe from Family Fun magazine tastes exactly like fruit roll-ups. It only contains two ingredients - pumpkin pie mix and applesauce, but takes 10 hours to cook. You spread it thin on parchment paper and cook it at 140 degrees. This was a problem for my oven because the lowest setting is 170 degrees. Sometimes I left the door ajar, but that wasn't working either because it just made the oven work harder trying to keep the temperature at 170. It worked out fine but still took almost the whole time.

I originally made this as a snack to take to Disneyland for the girls, but when we got there Mads had had teeth work and was off sticky stuff and Sophie didn't feel good and was off food in general. All the adults agreed it tasted ok and was amazing exactly like a commercially prepared one. And here's a picture of the adorable Sophie after getting her hair done at the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique.

Kabocha No Nimono

According to the poster of this recipe on Food.com, "This is the most common (and delicious!) method of cooking pumpkin in Japan. The usual hard-skinned variety of pumpkin/squash is best." I made a half batch because I'm running out of pumpkin. In case you aren't from the DC area, we didn't have a winter this year so my natural cold storage unit (the shed) was actually hot in the winter sun. My pumpkins, sitting in their hay beds, were roasting instead of chilling.

The recipe was easy to make, and would have lots of different uses. The paper towel lid was odd, but the author said it was important and not to skip it. The pumpkin ends up with a slight salty/sweet taste. I enjoyed it as a side dish.

Salmon Macaroni and Cheese with Pumpkin

This recipe is not for everyone. If you don't love every ingredient individually and together, you should probably just skip this one. For one thing, 12oz of Gruyere cheese and 9oz of smoked salmon are too pricey for a mistake. I made a half batch, and both the Hub and I liked it, but didn't love it. It was too close to tuna noodle casserole for my tastes. I think the mac and cheese part gets a little lost with this type of cheese and the addition of pumpkin and smoked salmon.

Sugar Pumpkin, Feta and Cilantro Quesadillas

This quesadilla recipe from Bon Appetit was excellent for lunch one Saturday afternoon. I was the only tester, the Hub not being a big feta fan. I cooked my pumpkin on top of the stove and threw in some onions too. A quesadilla maker helps to melt the feta slowly and crisp the tortillas without having to turn the whole thing over.

Apple Pumpkin Japanese Chicken Curry

Both the Hub and I liked this Japanese curry recipe from the blog Caper Berry. It has some vague ingredient descriptions like bowl of pumpkin and 4 to 6 pieces of curry base. (I used a cereal bowl of pumpkin and green curry paste.) Their sauce looks thicker than mine and if I made it again, I would probably thicken it up with cornstarch or flour. The flavor was perfect though and the apples, pumpkin and carrots complemented each other.

King of the Squash Family by Linden Staciokas

This is an interesting article I saw in the March issue of Ruralite, the magazine we get from Tanner Electric. It's the electric company that provides the juice to our vacation home in Washington state. At first I thought it odd to see an article about pumpkins in March, but then I thought this is exactly when people are planning their gardens. It has some great tips on planting, pollination, dealing with pests and diseases, harvesting, storage, processing and freezing. It even has a recipe for pumpkin cookies.

Balsamic Glazed Pumpkin with Walnuts

Always on the lookout for recipes to use fresh pumpkins, I found this pumpkin side dish recipe from the blog eCurry on Tastespotter. It uses cumin seeds, balsamic vinegar and red chili peppers to season sauteed pumpkin and toasted walnuts. It was just a little too hot for my taste buds, but the amount of pepper could be easily adjusted to tone down or ramp up the heat. Easy to make and on the table in less than 15 minutes, it's a great way to use pumpkin as a vegetable.

llll