I Love Pumpkin!

"...and I'll water you and feed you until you grow BIG and strong, like me...."

"...and I'll never, EVER, let Mommy use her big, sharp knife on you..."

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To be honest, I had never really cooked with pumpkin until just a couple of years ago. One fateful bite of a Dunkin Donuts Pumpkin Muffin, and I realized I had been missing out.

So what have I done (so far) with this year's batch of pumpkin puree?

You might recall I set aside one hunk of pumpkin when I was roasting the rest for my pumpkin puree. Well, I took out my box grater and shredded it to make this...

Pumpkin Apple Salad from Allrecipes

Shredded, raw pumpkin, grated apple, raisins, lemon juice...it was missing something! I had never tasted raw pumpkin before and I thought it was pretty bland. I added some onion and nutmeg. I'd recommend trying something with a little heat, too.

Last year, my favorite muffin had been these...

Pumpkin Apple Muffins With Streusel Topping from Allrecipes

Tender pumpkin muffin, chunks of apple, spices and a sweet, crumbly topping - Good Stuff! I almost made them again, but there are so many others I wanted to try.

Pumpkin Wheat Honey Muffins from (three guesses?)

I used dried cranberries instead of raisins - I LOVE cranberries in any sort of pumpkin bread! These are awesome! Moist, flavorful, the right amount of spice!

Now this was something I've wanted to try for a long, long time - Pumpkin Butter.

I used Pumpkin Butter I from Allrecipes, but used my own Pumpkin Pie Spice Blend and apple cider for the apple juice. It came out very good! A great topping for toast or even crackers, to get that salty-sweet combination. I even used some to sweeten and flavor a breakfast smoothie!

Like...THIS ONE!

Autumn Pumpkin Breakfast Smoothie:

1/2 frozen banana, sliced

1/3 cup nonfat plain yogurt

1/3 to 1/2 cup orange juice

1/4 cup pumpkin puree (fresh, if possible)

1 heaping tbsp. Pumpkin Butter

Throw everything in a blender and blend for about 20 seconds.

I DO highly recommend fresh puree in that one - while I do use canned for baked goods, when used in something uncooked I can detect that "tin can" flavor.

Some other ideas? How about a nice warm, fruity, spicy hearty breakfast?

My variation of Pumpkin Oatmeal from Allrecipe was such a treat! Big tweak though - it needed sweetness! Once again I added dried cranberries, but also some brown sugar. Made this before I made my pumpkin butter, but I bet that would have been great in this, too!

Or a rich creamy dessert?

Pumpkin Crunch Parfaits - I used butterscotch pudding mix to make it richer. Nice when you're craving a non-chocolate dessert (for once in my life.)

Or one of my favorites, PUMPKIN PANCAKES!!


And finally, what to do with all those seeds? ROAST 'EM!

This time I used this recipe from Allrecipes, but there are countless ways you can spice them up.

So there you have it! A sampling of some pumpkiny recipes...now no pumpkin is safe!!!