The Great Pumpkin

To compensate for my tired post earlier, I should add that this week was also a week of culinary experimentation (not all of it successful, alas). I decided on Monday to roast some pumpkin seeds so my kids could enjoy the experience, so we "butchered" the big pumpkin on our steps (it was probably a good 16-18 pounds). That was probably my first mistake, because once the seeds were roasted, I was left with *lots* of pumpkin, and a husband who doesn't really like them. (Let me just say that I got probably 12 cups of puree out of the 3/4 of a pumpkin that we've used so far.)

First, we made pumpkin soup, since Dan had said that he wouldn't mind pumpkin if it were combined with cream and bacon. The verdict: it would have been better with the chipotle cream, but we didn't have enough cream on hand or the requisite chipotle. Plus, pureeing fresh roasted pumpkin is time consuming. (Note to self for next time: I found it was just as easy--and faster--to steam the pumpkin as to roast it).

Then, we tried making some pumpkin bars, a la Paula Deen. I substituted apple sauce for most of the oil, and they were still delicious. We also cooked them as cupcakes, instead of bars, and I took them to department meeting where they seemed to go over well. (I even got asked for the recipe!). This one is definitely a keeper. Dan didn't like them, but if you like pumpkin cookies or spice cake or anything of that ilk, you'll like these moist cupcakes with the rich cream cheese frosting (the texture and flavor reminded me of carrot cake).

Finally, we tried making pumpkin pasta, a la Rachael Ray. This was less successful--the flavor was bland and the texture was strange (and it made enough to feed a small army). We ended up tossing the leftovers.

To round out our culinary experiments, Dan made dinner on Thursday and cooked up some green apple risotto. I know it sounds strange, but it was actually quite tasty. It wasn't until Saturday, when we were enjoying some corn chowder (recipe courtesy of America's Test Kitchen), that we realized that the only meat we'd eaten all week was bacon, and not very much of that. But we did have some nice fall flavors. (And Dan's mom tells us that we have good leftovers--she often gets to sample when she watches the kids for me.)