Spotlight On: Pumpkin

I've been more than a little addicted to pumpkin again this fall.  Pumpkin everything.  I can't get enough.

I just cut a pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds and baked it in the oven at 400 for about an hour or so.  Then puree the pulp and decide which heavenly recipe I'm going to put it in today.

Pumpkin waffles - a popular breakfast recipe.

Baked pumpkin donuts 

Pumpkin walnut biscuits - a frequent flyer at our dinner table.

Pumpkin toffee cookies with salted caramel glaze - divine!!

Crock pot steel cut pumpkin oatmeal.  Another VERY frequent breakfast.  This was more of a combination of recipes from ones I pinned and the one on Weelicious.

Pumpkin bread with pumpkin buttercream frosting.  OMG - this frosting is the best I've ever had.  EVER.  I want to put it on everything. 

Pumpkin pecan scones 

I have a handful more I'd like to try, and several pumpkins on deck waiting to be baked and put into recipes.

Such as:

brown butter pumpkin cupcakes with salted caramel frosting

pumpkin and chocolate granola bars

pull-apart cinnamon sugar pumpkin bread with buttered rum glaze

pumpkin cinnamon rolls

So look for a sequel to this post in the near future.  ;)

Flavors of Fall

Maple Oatmeal Scones

This was on my to-do list last fall but never got around to it. A great kick-off to the fall cooking season... they are heavenly!

This is an Ina Garten recipe and you know she's never scant with the butter. Yep. A full pound, friends.

When the dough is mixed and ready to roll, you can see little pea-size dots of butter throughout the whole thing. Mmmhmm, so you know it's going to be good.

The glaze is my favorite part. Powdered sugar, thinned with more of the real maple syrup (there's syrup in the dough too) and vanilla. I might have tasted a whole spoonful of it after I finished glazing. But I'm not admitting to anything. :)

A sprinkling of raw oats on top makes for a pretty finish.

Yuuummm!!!

So sweet and delicious. I froze about 20 of them (unglazed) and gave a few away to friends and family to share the love. The rest stayed home with me for breakfast and a sweet treat.

I promise I didn't lap this up with my tongue after... but I may have swirled a finger through it a few times.

Aaaand, I may have poured myself a glass of milk and savored the warm deliciousness of a fresh scone dipped in all that excess glaze. Holy yum! :)

Try them. You must.

Flavors of Fall

On October 29th, I stopped by Fleitz pumpkin farm (before they closed for the season) to pick up four more pie pumpkins to cook and freeze for the winter...

Oops. They're not going to last that long!

We've been enjoying too many pumpkin recipes to leave any behind for freezing.

Recently, I stopped at Meijer to stock up on the top three natural sweeteners we've been using so much: real maple syrup, agave nectar, and pure clove honey. The agave and honey can be used almost interchangeably and the honey is considerably cheaper, but I do use both.

Here is a new recipe that was a HUGE hit with both kids: Weelicious Pumpkin Milkshakes. Sounds a little strange, but they TOTALLY loved it! If you click the link, Catherine's finished product looks much thicker and more colorful than mine, but I think that may have been because she said she used canned pumpkin? It's 1/2 cup pumpkin puree to 1 cup milk. So mine was just slightly tinted and only a little thicker than regular milk. But Will, who normally takes these tiny little birdy sips when he drinks, just sucked this right down! Hooray! An easy (healthy!) way to increase his calcium intake. He's requesting them daily.

I use my immersion blender to whip them up super fast.

And continuing on with our overdose on vitamin A :)... I made the Weelicious Pumpkin Apple Muffins that I'd been eyeing for awhile. Not one, but two batches! I made a mixture of mini-muffins and regular size and found that the recommended 20 minute bake time is only for the regular size. I think around 15-17 is sufficient for the minis. These were great for breakfast, lunch, Sunday supper at my parents, a care package for my babysitter, Will's school lunch, etc. Very tasty!

I might like them with walnuts or a little wheat germ next time for a little extra protein.

So I have just one pumpkin left and was thinking of making another couple loaves of pumpkin chocolate chip bread for Thanksgiving parties. But I also like to have the extra puree in the fridge to serve plain to Sophie or to make our milkshakes. Hmm... decisions, decisions.

Tonight, We...

...used the puree from our (already baked) pie pumpkins to make Pumpkin Squares with Cider Caramel Sauce for another yummy "Flavors of Fall" treat.

We didn't have any vanilla ice cream to go with, but they were delicious even without.

Note: one of our pie pumpkins prepared enough pureed pumpkin for this recipe (2 cups) with a little leftover (about 1/3 cup) for Sophie to eat with a spoon for dinner. :)
We also read Why Do Leaves Change Color? (a "Let's Read and Find Out Science" book) by Betsy Maestro...
...and then created autumn trees using brown construction paper scraps glued to form tree trunks and branches... and Do-a-dot markers to stamp autumn leaves onto the branches.

This was actually a (super easy) fun project that held Will's interest.

I helped Sophie place her branches and then showed her how to "stamp" the markers.

I love the fall.

Have I mentioned that already? :)

Flavors of Fall

Remember the butternut squash that we bought from the pumpkin farm?

Want to see what we did with it?
I've been wanting to try these Pumpkin Pie-sicles from Family Fun. (November 2008 issue... Ya, I have a 3-ring binder filled with continuous magazine tear-outs since Will was born.)

Will LOVED squash as a baby! But then, somewhere in his second year, decided he didn't care for it anymore. I was devastated. Squash is such a versatile and fun vegetable! (Actually it's a fruit.)

So I'm constantly trying to offer it to him in new and different ways in hopes of changing his mind. Obviously squash is sweet and goes great paired with other sweet things, but I hadn't thought of squash specifically as a dessert. Great idea! And hey, he liked the avocado smoothie... so it's worth a shot. I'm always up for trying something new.
P.S. - it really tastes like frozen pumpkin pie despite the fact that it contains no pumpkin!

So you just scrub the outside of the squash clean, halve or quarter it and scoop out the seeds, and then bake at 400 (skin side up) for about an hour. Easy peasy. Then just scrape the pulp away from the skin and mash or puree. The recipe calls for a 2 1/2# butternut squash to make 10 popsicles. I had no idea how heavy our squash was, but I decided I only wanted to make half that many popsicles. (We only have four molds in our popsicle tray.) So I googled some squash conversions online and jotted down a bunch of helpful reference conversions in one of my cookbooks. What I learned was that a 2 1/2# whole squash yields 2 3/4 - 3 cups puree. So I just used 1 1/2 cups of puree and divided the rest of the ingredients in half too.
With the rest of the squash, I scooped 1 oz portions into ice cube trays, froze them and popped the frozen cubes into a gallon freezer bag like I used to for baby food. I have continued to do this for Sophie because it's an easy and nutritious addition to cottage cheese or applesauce for meals.

Check out this link for Family Fun - their picture is much cuter than mine. :)

We had them for dessert after dinner tonight and, friends, Will ate the whole thing... and loved it! So that's almost 1/3 cup of squash he consumed without even flinching. Sophie and I split one and I just shaved small chunks off for her with a knife. She picked them up from a plate.

Here's the original recipe for ~10 popsicles:

1 (2.5#) butternut squash (or about 3 cups puree)

1/2 cup pure maple syrup (not imitation)

2/3 cup light cream (I used half and half)

1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Mix all ingredients together and freeze in popsicle molds for at least six hours.

So I just used:

1.5 cups puree

1/4 cup syrup

1/3 cup cream (I used half and half)

1/4 tsp spice

(for ~5 popsicles)

Flavors of Fall

This past Friday, I was home sick from work and wanted something warm for breakfast. I was also having to feed the kids breakfast (long story) before they went to the sitters that morning and so Sophie and I enjoyed a warm bowl of fall-inspired oatmeal. (Will won't eat oatmeal... he got something else.)
Here's how I made it:
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup apple cider
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup diced pear
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup milk
-Bring water and cider to a boil in a large saucepan. Stir in oats and reduce heat to low. Cook 3 minutes stirring occasionally. Add all other ingredients, stirring in pecans and milk at the end. Cook 3 minutes or until oats are tender. Yield: about 3 servings.

On Saturday, after our trip to the library, the kids and I had an early lunch and nap time before going to cousin Lincoln's baptism in the afternoon. I tried a new recipe from Parents magazine, circa Nov '09, called Pumpkin Penne. It was very simple and pretty good flavor. Sophie loved it. Will... not so much.
Here are the ingredients:
Here's the finished product (which looked even prettier before I stirred in the Parmesan and parsley that was sprinkled on top):

If your kids like their carbs, here's a great way to incorporate a healthy veggie into their pasta:

1 12oz box whole-wheat penne

1 tbsp olive oil

1 shallot, finely chopped

1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth

1/2 cup fat-free evaporated milk

1 15oz can pumpkin

1/2 tsp pumpkin-pie spice

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

fresh chopped parsley

1 1/2 oz Parmesan cheese, grated

-Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and return to pot, covering to keep warm. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, heat oil on medium and add shallots, cooking and stirring until tender (about 3 minutes). Whisk in broth, evaporated milk, pumpkin, spice, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low. Simmer, uncovered, for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Toss pasta with sauce. Spoon into bowls and top with parsley and cheese. Makes 6 cups.

You can expect some more "Flavors of Fall" recipes coming up in addition to my weekly dinner post. There are just so many recipes I want to make and share this time of year!