Happy Halloween!

pumpkin soup

Lucky me! A friend, who has a fantastic large organic garden, shared her spoils with me earlier this fall when I was home for a visit. She gave me two pie pumpkins, four acorn squash, and a gob of garlic. What to make? I had dreams of moist pumpkin bread and bread pudding and pumpkin cheesecake. I also consider my savory options focusing on curries but then I thought, ah ha!, pumpkin soup. My first pumpkin soup which I had at a 12 course birthday feast, I realized I found the food of the gods. Over the next five years or so I experimented with a few recipes but was always disappointed. This recipe lives up to my memory. Enjoy this soup while you can easily find pumpkins at the market.

Pumpkin Soup

2.5 lbs pumpkin, peeled and cut into cubes (2-3 small pumpkins)

5 c. stock

1 c. onion, chopped

3/4 c. scallions, sliced (white part only) (1-2 bunches)

2 c. light cream

salt and pepper, to taste

scallions, sliced for garnish (green part)

1. In stock pot combine cubed pumpkin, stock, onion, and scallions (white part). Bring to a boil and simmer until pumpkin is tender. Puree with a hand blender. Cool.

2. Stir in light cream and season with salt + pepper.

3. Serve chilled or lightly heated with green part of scallions. 8 servings.

roasted pumpkin seeds

One of the joys of using real pumpkin, as opposed to canned pumpkin, in the fall are the pumpkin seeds. I love having them roasted, although when I'm preparing them I'm never quite sure if it's worth the work. I make a savory version with chili powder but they are also good sweet or salty.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

pumpkin seeds, well rinsed and membrane removed

salt + pepper

olive oil

chili powder

Preheat oven to 350 deg. F. Select a baking dish or shallow cookie sheet that allows for one layer of seeds. Combine all ingredients and mix well. Bake in the oven - if the seeds were dried overnight cook for 10-15 minutes, if they are still fresh from the pumpkin cook for up to an hour or until crunchy. Be careful not to burn.

pumpkin bread

This week it's quite a bit cooler and reminiscent of fall. I'm not ready for a northwest fall, but I've enjoyed vegetable soup almost everyday and thought it's time to pull out some cooler weather favorites (looks summer-y next week!). Upon searching for something in the freezer I came across about 1 c.* of roasted pumpkin puree leftover from a white pumpkin I bought last October. My solution was to make pumpkin bread! In the process I finished the molasses and dried cranberries. I feel such satisfaction and accomplishment when I use up infrequently used items, such as molasses and pumpkin puree.

Pumpkin Molasses Bread

1 c. oil

2 c. brown sugar

1 c. blackstrap molasses

2 eggs

2 c. pumpkin

1 c. dates/nuts/raisins

3 c. whole wheat flour

1 1/2 t. salt

1 1/2 t. nutmeg

1 t. cloves

2 t. soda

3 1/2 t. cinnamon

oats (optional)

3 T. dark rum (optional)

Mix all ingredients together (except the oats) and pour into pans. Sprinkle oats over tops. Bake at 350 deg. F for 1 hour in greased pans. Yield 3 small loaves or 2 medium loaves or 8 tiny loaves (like above) or lots of muffins.

*I made 1/2 this recipe and baked in 3 tiny loaf pans, that's why it overflowed - start checking at 50 min for doneness.