One Teaspoon From Disaster

Hooray for pumpkin

• Posted November 2, 2005 5:01 PM
• 0 Comments

Pumpkins aren’t just for carving.

As it turns out, they are for cooking attempts, too. (And smoothies! See below.)

So this week, I'm dedicating the "One Teaspoon from Disaster" cooking blog to all things pumpkin.

I’ve found online several pumpkin dishes to share. I decided to give the pumpkin bread recipe a try.
This bread is not a dessert, but a side dish at dinner or to accompany soup. Maybe pumpkin soup. (See below).

It’s not sweet, but good and easy to make. Note: Although pumpkin straight from the can looks like pumpkin pie, it doesn’t actually taste anything like it. Ick.

Try these dishes -- you can post comments below. E-mail me your favorite Thanksgiving side dish recipes by CLICKING HERE

Pumpkin bread
1 3/4 cups flour
1 cup canned pumpkin
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
2 eggs
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
Combine flour, pumpkin, brown sugar, butter, eggs, spice, baking soda, salt and baking powder in large mixer bowl. Beat at medium speed until well mixed. Spoon batter into greased loaf pans. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes at 350 degrees.
Makes one large loaf or three mini loaves.

Pumpkin soup
1/2 cup onions, chopped
3 Tablespoons butter
2 cups mashed cooked pumpkin
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
3 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup half and half
Brown the onions in butter in a pan. Add mashed pumpkin and season with salt, sugar, nutmeg and pepper. Slowly add chicken broth and heat thoroughly. Do not boil. Pour into serving dish and add cream. Serves four.

Pumpkin casserole
2 cups pumpkin puree
1 cup evaporated milk
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup self-rising flour
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup butter
1 pinch cinnamon
Combine the pumpkin, milk, sugar, flour, eggs, vanilla, melted butter and cinnamon to taste. Spoon into casserole dish. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour.

Pumpkin pie smoothie
1 can pumpkin puree
1 (12 ounce) can frozen apple juice concentrate
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 1/2 cups water
Remove pumpkin from can and freeze for one hour. In a blender, combine partially frozen pumpkin, frozen apple juice concentrate, nutmeg and cinnamon. Blend until smooth. Continue to blend while adding water.