Our final pumpkin becomes Liberian

Last year, I forgot about a winter squash that was waiting for us to enjoy it and it grew soft, leaving a smelling mess on a side table in the dining room. I learned my lesson. I’ve been keeping closer tabs on this year’s crop. We’ve used all of butternut squash but still had one pumpkin left. I vaguely recalled seeing an easy pumpkin recipe that I wanted to try in Simply in Season. 

As you read the recipe, keep in mind that the kale is my addition. It’s hard for me to eat a meal without something green. I also want to point out that a Mexican friend of mine told me her family cooks pumpkin in a similar way. My guess is that they use different seasonings. I might try it again and add cumin as well as a little salsa.

Liberian Pumpkin

2-3 cups pumpkin or butternut squash chopped into 1-inch pieces
1 chopped onion
hot chili peppers (chopped, hot pepper sauce or red pepper (my addition)

In large saucepan, sauté in 2 TBSP oil until onion is translucent. Cover and cook until pumpkin is cooked, 10 minutes.

Add 1 cup broth of your choosing and cook for 10 minutes.

Brown 1 cup sausage (I mixed mine with ground beef). Add and cook uncovered until liquid is absorbed.

Serve over noodles or your favorite grain. I made barley, which tasted great with this recipe.

By the way, be sure to go to the Simply in Season website where you can order their book or sign up to receive their recipe of the week.

Last-minute Christmas Gift

 My god daughter and I spent our afternoon doing some holiday baking for friends as well as treating ourselves. A month or so ago I came across a great set of six mini-bread tins mounted on a holder that connects them all for easy handling in and out of the oven. So we mixed up a batch of my favorite nutty pumpkin bread and poured it into the tins.

Lucky for us, we had some left over. Anna had the idea of copying something her mom does; we added chocolate chips and used the rest of the batter to make mini-muffins. After all, the cooks deserve a treat for ourselves.

Treat yourself and your family well and have a Merry Christmas!

Loving the humble pumpkin

On television the other day I saw an advertisement for a show in which people throw pumpkins. Aack! Throw them and not eat them? Watch that beautiful flesh splatter across the ground instead of cooking with it? Oh my, all that Vitamin A going to waste.

I used our final fresh pumpkin of the season for Thanksgiving. I had heard someone on a more food-friendly television network talk about cooking Thanksgiving stuffing in a pumpkin so I decided to try it. It worked beautifully.

I don’t have a favorite stuffing recipe (it’s never been my most-beloved Thanksgiving dish) so I copied one out of a magazine and went to work. My pumpkin was a medium size that could easily sit on a dinner plate for serving. I cut off the “cap” and set it aside then proceeded to remove the stringy insides and the seeds. When it was clean, I filled it with stuffing. I still had stuffing left so I put it into a bowl to use later in the weekend.

With the oven set at 450 degrees for roasting, I put the pumpkin on a cookie sheet then placed it in the oven with the cap on. In 30 minutes, I checked it. The pumpkin was yet soft enough and the scent wasn’t strong enough for it to be done. I also took the opportunity to spoon out three tablespoons of turkey drippings to pour on the stuffing. Next, I returned the pumpkin to the oven, sans top, to cook for another 15 minutes.

That’s when it looked and smelled done. It turned out to be a picturesque addition to the Thanksgiving table. Plus, everyone liked the stuffing! This was so much fun that I might learn to love stuffing so I can roast a filled pumpkin more than once a year.

Next: stay tuned for what to do with that leftover stuffing and pumpkin.

Re-Purpose your leftovers

Even though I found another handful of ripe raspberries today, it’s really pumpkin season. Last week I made one of my favorite pumpkin recipes—a cream cheese, pumpkin dip—to take to a party. The recipe makes far more dip that anyone would need for party of 50 or fewer people, but I forgot that when I put it together. So I came home with plenty left to snack on.

Leftovers often inspire creativity in our house and that was certainly the case with the pumpkin dip. It started out as a sweet dip for celery and carrots, although it’s also quite good as a fruit dip. The party-goers liked it.

Next it became an “icing” for shortbread. That provided a nice afternoon snack until the shortbread was gone.

I followed that with ginger crackers topped with pumpkin dip and fresh raspberries. That was an interesting combination, although I wouldn’t give it a 10.

Finally the dip became a “dressing” for a mint, fruit salad. I did add a little bit of yogurt to cut the sweetness and extend the “dressing” to make a larger salad. It was a hit—there wasn’t a bit of fruit salad or dip left after that final re-invention.

Don’t let leftovers bring you down with repetition. Plenty of folks these days are re-purposing clothing; now you can also re-purpose your leftovers.

Tonight another round of pumpkin begins with Liberian Pumpkin. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

Fresh pumpkin – it’s easy to use

Yesterday I was reading a gardening magazine that I quite enjoy when I came across an article about a farm family that is dedicated to growing organically. I scanned the article and photos then arrived at some of their recipes. Ah, pumpkin pie. Let me see how they make it I thought. I began to read the ingredient list. It began with canned pumpkin. What? A farm family dedicated to organics who makes their pie from a can? Please say it isn’t true.

I grew up not liking pumpkin pie because the only kind I ever saw came from a can. When I learned how easy pumpkins are to grow, and how much nutrition they contain, I tried making a pie from my homegrown pumpkin. Either my taste buds changed or the ingredients did it for me because I enjoyed the pie.

I’ve since discovered many ways to enjoy pumpkin. I’ve tried pumpkin filled ravioli, pumpkin pasta, pumpkin bread, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin cake and pumpkin coffee cake. (Check out that recipe at http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/pumpkin-coffee-cake/Detail.aspx. It’s easy and so moist. I substituted yogurt for most of the sour cream.)

I do understand the need some folks have for the convenience of a can and according to the Mayo Clinic (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/pumpkin/AN01754), that’s not all bad. The nutritional Vitamin A, potassium and iron are comparable. They point out, however, that you should carefully examine the ingredients in the canned pumpkin to be sure you aren’t getting a lot of high-calorie additions.

How do you get pureed pumpkin to create with? It’s very easy.
1) Cut the pumpkin in half.
2) Use a spoon to remove the seeds. Save them for toasting in the oven if you like.
3) Find a pan large enough to hold both halves, or use two pans. Put ½ inch or so of water in the pan. Place pumpkin cut side down and cover with foil.
4) Bake at 400 degrees until the pumpkin is soft when you prick it with a fork. Large pumpkins might take an hour.
5) When cool enough to handle, use a spoon to remove the flesh. Place in food processor with a spoon full or two of water from the pan. Process until you get a smooth puree.
6) Now you can cook with it! If you don’t want to use it all immediately, measure it and freeze in plastic bags with the amount marked on the outside. Then you can enjoy pumpkin even when the season is past.

I promise that if you start with a good pumpkin, you won’t want to go back to canned filling the next time you make pumpkin pie.

Eating a healthy breakfast

I attend a church that is blessed by the presence of a number of caring nurses who have recently started a health ministry program. Like many churches, we typically follow our Sunday morning service with coffee and doughnuts. Of course, doughnuts aren’t the healthiest choice so this past Sunday, our health ministers offered us something different.

What was on that menu? We enjoyed plain and vanilla yogurt to which we could add blueberries, raspberries, bananas, raisins or granola; turkey sausage links; nutty pumpkin bread (with pumpkin from my garden); and two juices (one with pomegranate) that didn’t have sweetener added. Oh yes, we also had chocolate chips to put into the yogurt—an attempt to interest the children in actually trying it.

The positive reactions from those present demonstrated that sometimes it just takes a taste or two of something healthy to introduce someone to a new, more positive, habit.

Thank you Cindy, Theresa and Lu!