What We're Eating - A Food & Recipe Blog » pumpkin

S.I.P. (Soup in a Pumpkin)

Us — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 04:23:02 +0000

If it wasn’t evident that we have been in a fall-ish mood before now, then it should be screaming at you loud and clear with this dish. For a perfect meal on a chilly fall day we’re eating a soup made with roasted pumpkin, parsnips, carrots, and potatoes and seasoned with garlic, ginger, sage, rosemary, cinnamon, and cloves. The soup was topped with a dollop of cream fraiche and a mixture of pepita seeds, pomegranate, feta, and crispy bacon. For an extra kick we chose to serve the soup in a roasted pumpkin bowl.

T: this was some really tasty soup. especially with the crumbled feta and pomegranates on top.
A: not to mention the bacon in that mix! the relish, for lack of a better word, really did set the soup off. mmm mmm.
T: yeah, I certainly meant no disrespect to Bacon! Mmm. Also, it was surprisingly easy and tasty to eat the meat of the pumpkin while spooning soup! This was a really fun meal.
A: again with the unique vessels to make the meal more fun. it’s gonna suck when we go back to eating with normal dishes and utensils.
T: well i don’t know if I would say it’s going to suck. Although there will be more dishes to clean.
A: heheh which will suck in and of itself.
T: true. Alright, so this was a really good soup. what do you rate it?
A: i think i’m going to have to give it a 4.23/5. it really was good. it wasn’t something that i would want to eat once a week or anything, but when fall falls like it’s fallen lately, this is the perfect dish.
T: i don’t know, if pumpkins were around all the time I would be happy to eat this once a week. I give this soup a 4.73/5. I would have given it a lower score if it were not for the feta/bacon/pomegranate mixture, but fortunately that little mixture topped it off perfectly. Also, the pumpkin itself was really tender and delish. I don’t have anything negative to say about this one.
A: hell yeah! then i’ve succeeded. i don’t really have anything negative to say either. you pretty much hit it right on the head. the brightness of the pomegranate with the smokiness of the bacon and saltiness of the feta just brought out great flavors in the soup and pumpkin itself. mmm mmm…. maybe i should rethink my rating!…. or just eat more soup.
T: I think the feta brought the whole dish up to the perfect level of saltiness. Without it it might have needed a touch more. It worked out well. BTW, you’re not allowed to change your rating.
A: so you’re the rating police now, huh?
T: we wouldn’t need rating police if there weren’t people talking about changing their rating, ok?
A: well….hmph!
T: also, it’s Ratings Enforcement Agent, thank you very much.

Recipes in this post:

Roasted Root Vegetable Soup in a Pumpkin Bowl

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Skyscraper o’ Gingerbread (with Pumpkin Seed Brittle)

Us — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 05:18:00 +0000

For a seasonal dessert, we’re eating layers of homemade gingerbread filled with pumpkin spice whipped cream. The dessert was garnished with a fresh piece of pepita brittle.

T: this was quite the tower of gingerbread amanda.
A: i was hoping for something a bit more… eh.. how can i put it?… refined? i dunno, i guess i just think it looks kind of sloppy.
T: looks pretty stellar to me… what could you have done to make it look more refined?
A: it would have probably looked much better if i had initially started with four layers. as it was, i started with two really thick layers and all the whipped cream just smooshed on out when i tried to do the stacking! oops! in my field (working at a residential treatment facilty) we have to use “crisis communications” to prevent things from escalating. if i could translate crisis communication into the food world, that would be the best way to describe what i had to do to save this here dessert from being a miserable failure.
T: your job trains you so much better for life than mine… when something goes wrong at my job I press undo. I can’t tell you how many times i’ve wanted to press undo on stupid crap i did… but there was no undo button
A: silly! the crisis communication is no subsitute for “undo”. i could certainly use that from time to time.
T: i’ve seen you in crisis-handling mode many times in the kitchen… i guess that is part of the gig, eh?
A: yup. because inevitably something’s gonna go wrong, ya know?
T: oh yes I do. I know far too well… oh my. I could rant for an hour about programming for the internet explorer, but i’ll save it for another time, another blog.
A: thank god! if you didn’t save it, i was going to have to blatantly change the subject! anyway, fortunately for this dessert, it might have looked sloppy, but it was definately tasty!
T: it was quite tasty. It was also quite funny when we went to take our first bite… as we pressed down on the top with our forks, the layers slid out from the tower like wet bars of soap. Let’s just say that the tower didn’t last long. I’m sure kids would love toppling the thing… I did.
A: and you’re merely a big kid! it was definately not structurally sound. but that’s how we learn, right?
T: yes. Amanda, you are not allowed to build a house… or a dog house… i would suggest sticking to food.
A: aaaaw, come on T! you wouldn’t live in a house i built on my own? you don’t trust me?
T: if you built a cute little gingerbread house I’d sure love to eat it! but, no, please don’t construct anything that might cause bodily harm to people or animals.
A: dude! i could totally built a live-in-able house. you just wait and see. one day i’m gonna build a dog house, and the dog is gonna be damn happy (and safe!).
T: and that dog is going to be made of marshmellows.
A: uh, t. i’m not building a gingerbread house! i’m going to build a real house, from real wood… and stuff.
T: ok Mandy. I support you in whatever you do… yeah.. some day you’ll build a real house.
A: boy, you better watch out or you’re gonna get slapped! first you call me mandy, then you use condescending typing…
T: I’m shaking.
A: hmph. well why don’t you go on and shake out a rating while you’re at it!
T: ok, I give the gingerbread a 4.5/5. I give the pumpkin seed brittle a 4.1/5. I give the presentation a 4.6/5. I give the structural stability a 0.2/5. Overall I give it a 4.3/5. It was good but it wasn’t one of those desserts where I’m like “oh my god this is so good mmmmmm.” You know those kinds of desserts.
A: yeah, i feel you. it wasn’t quite there for me either. i really like the combination of gingerbread and pumpkin whipped cream, but for some reason, it just wan’t a knock out. I give the dessert a 3.9/5. For some weird reason i just feel the need to eat gingerbread this time of year.
T: did you grow up eating gingerbread at this time of year? that could explain it…
A: uh, not really. i ate a lot of gingersnap cookies throughout the year, but my mom never made gingerbread. it’s a pretty recent phenomenon. i guess i just kept purchasing gingerbread from different bakeries and it was always SO dry, it made me want to make my own.
T: as I look back i don’t think i ever at much ginger bread. It’s good, though. I’m glad to be eating it nowadays. We never mentioned the pumpkin seed brittle. Got anything to say about that?
A: i dug it. i’m not too big into candy, really, so i can either take it or leave it. i just thought it would be a fun garnish for the dish.
T: it was a gorgeous garnish. I’m not much of a candy eater either, unless you count chocolate which is in a league of its own. This was a fun brittle, though, as far as brittles go. That’s about all I can say about it.
A: hmmm… well what can you say about mochies!
T: do we have any mochies?
A: nope!
T: cursed teasing woman.

Recipes in this post:

Amanda’s Homemade Pumpkin Pie

Us — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 12:19:24 +0000

There is nothing that seems to scream of the holidays more than pumpkin pie with whipped cream. Here we’ve taken the traditional pumpkin pie and added a few twists… like the addition of ginger juice and molassas, as well as using fresh roasted pumpkin puree rather than the canned stuff. This pie was so amazing i’ve been restraining myself from eating the last few pieces before tyler has a chance to get his fill. (note: i’ve eaten 2/3 the pie and if T doesn’t get his act together he’s gonna miss out on the remaining goods, too!)

Recipes in this post:

Pumpkin Pie with Real Whipped Cream

Pumpkin Spice Muffins with Molasses Glaze

Us — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 00:27:03 +0000

For a wonderful fall breakfast, we ate pumpkin spice muffins made with cinnamon, nutmeg, fresh ginger juice, molasses, and golden raisins. After the muffins had a chance to cool, they were dipped in a molasses glaze.

A: helloooooooo fall.
T: hello. Fall.
A: uh… i wasn’t saying hello to you, T!
T: I know, and I wasn’t saying hello to you. I was saying hello to fall. Only slightly less enthusiastically than you. Not that I don’t like fall, i’m just not feeling peppy.
A: and maybe you just don’t like fall that much.
T: actually I love fall. I always get a fun nostalgic feeling. It always reminds me of a couple of years back.
A: I definately feel that. and then i hear that song by Better Than Ezra, “Time of Year”. And suddenly i’m a fallish wreck. I don’t know, but for some reason that song gets me right here. *points to her heart*
T: and it gets me right here. points to his neck.
A: shut-up! you love it!
T: it’s true, I do. And that reminds me of another song that gets me right here. points to his neck “I do” by Jude.
A: wow… i think we’ve now listed all the songs that have made me cry in the past six years – now maybe we should move on to the food, T!
T: We should. These pumpkin muffins were about as fall as a muffin can get. You know, I’m pretty sure I’ve never had a pumpkin muffin. How bout you? (are they common and I’ve just been left out for 25 years?)
A: i wouldn’t say that they’re uncommon, but i think pumpkin bread is the more common form. I’ve eaten pumpkin bread before, but never a pumpkin muffin. These were inspired mostly by all of the delicious pumpkin stuff i’m been seeing on blogs lately. Particularly by the incredibly awesome Nicole, from Pinch My Salt. I’ve been having to stare at her to-die-for mini-pumpkin cheesecakes and muffins for a while now and my god, i wanted something pumpkin!
T: yeah that stuff does look good. And these muffins were good, however they were not quite on the level of a pumpkin cheesecake. I mean, come on, pumpkin cheesecake. I mean. Seriously. that’s good.
A: i know, i know. but pumpkin cheesecake is nowhere as healthy as pumpkin muffins! and i wanted to make them for breakfast! what kind of people would we be if we were eating pumpkin cheesecake for breakfast!
T: we would be happy people, Amanda. Happy people.
A: heheheh larger happy people… but happy people none-the-less, i suppose. I think thanksgiving is a great time for us to induldge in pumpkin cheesecake. how ’bout you?
T: yes it is. Actually fall is a great time for us to indulge in all sorts of pumpkin treats. like…
A: on the real-a, hommes! like pumpkin risotto, pumpkin cheesecakes, pumpkin mash, pumpkin pancakes (savory and sweet), pumpkin breads… pumpkin… pumpkin… PUMPKIN!
T: the word pumpkin starts to look funny after a while. Pump kin. That’s just weird.
A: But what about the muffins!
T: muff ins. muf fins. muffins. I don’t know, that doesn’t look nearly as weird as pump kin.
A: silly boy! i’m talking about what you thought of these muffins!
T: they were quite tasty! I enjoyed the fruity chunks, and the molasses. I don’t know how they could possibly be improved (although I’m sure you will find a way). I give them a 4.4/5. How bout you?
A: I’m gonna go with a 4.33/5. They were quite a treat. sweet, but not too sweet. fruity, molasses-y. oh-yeah, they were the stuff my fall dreams are made of! thanks nicole, and all you foodbloggers out there that inspired me to make something with pumpkin!
T: Yes, and thank you mandy for putting pumpkin muffins in front of my face and saying, “eat, t-dog!”

Recipes in this post:

Pumpkin, Raisin, and Spice Muffins with Molasses Glaze