Tag Archives: Pumpkin

Pumpkin Roulade with Ginger Buttercream

The idea of making a roulade seemed, at first glance, somewhat intimidating.  There was the rolling, then unrolling, and finally, the re-rolling.  The instructions seemed intricate and the cake seemed delicate.  Visions of a cake suddenly collapsing and crumbling under its own weight flashed before me, wiping away my mixing and baking efforts in a moment.

But then I stopped, and remembered that this was not the first time that I faced what seemed to be an insurmountable cooking hurdle.  There had, after all, been many intimidating cooking projects before this one.  I had made flan, caramelizing sugar.  I had made oat bread, coaxing the yeast.  I had made spanakopita, Continue reading

Pumpkin Crepe Cake

Caitlin arrived in Cincinnati last Saturday, partly for work, and partly to celebrate her 27th birthday (that Monday).

After picking her up at the airport, we headed to dinner.  After dinner, we returned to my apartment, where – as is her custom – Caitlin examined the contents of my refrigerator.  After sampling the almond butter and my homemade tzatziki sauce, she concentrated her sights on the large, domed item, carefully wrapped in foil.

It was, obviously, her cake.  But what kind of cake, she wondered.  Alas, I could not answer the question; it was not yet her birthday.

After a small amount of pleading (it was, after all, her birthday weekend), I agreed to give her a series of hints.

It had pumpkin, I told her, knowing Continue reading

Chocolate-Chip Pumpkin Bars

Caitlin and I love our pumpkin treats.  And when they’re bite-size and full of chocolate-chips, well, they’re just Continue reading

Buttermilk Pumpkin Waffles

Pumpkin isn’t just a scary face anymore.

Pumpkins dominate the fall season, their faces appearing on billboards and plastic buckets, their representatives occupying porch steps and window sills.  When we think of pumpkin patches and Halloween, we have the Jack O’Lantern variety in mind.  And that’s too bad.  Pumpkins Continue reading

Pumpkin Flan

After making a plain flan, I decided to try a seasonal adaptation.  The pumpkin layers a little bit, but otherwise, this pumpkin flan Continue reading

Grilled Pumpkin Salad

Grilled Pumpkin Salad

I’ve been feeling a little blue lately.

After making the blue cheese souffle, I wanted to find another recipe for the pungent cheese.  With a crisp Fall day on hand, and several pumpkins beckoning, I decided to throw some pumpkin slices on the grill.  I marinated the pumpkin slices with ginger, olive oil, salt, and pepper, and then tossed them on the grill.  A few grill marks later, I combined the hot gourds with blue cheese and the salad regulars, for a real American salad.

Indeed, pumpkins are one of the continent’s oldest crops, having been first cultivated thousands of years ago by Native American tribes.  During the colonial era, the tribes routinely prepared Continue reading

Pumpkin Pie with Pumpkin Seed Crust

Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin isn’t just a scary face anymore.

Carving pumpkins seem to dominate the Fall season, their faces appearing on plastic buckets and billboards, their representatives occupying porch steps and window sills.  When we think of pumpkin patches and Halloween, we have carving pumpkins in mind.  And that’s sad.  Pumpkins have become one of the few vegetables – if not the only one – that has been turned from a food into a decorative device to be discarded.  Etching and cutting a design into a vegetable should not be intuitive.

Pumpkin in its many forms

Instead, we should look away from the beasts and monsters, and turn our sights towards sweeter pursuits.  Pie pumpkins, unlike the carving pumpkins, are Continue reading

Pumpkin-Ginger Souffle

Pumpkin Ginger Souffle

Nothing says Fall like the bright orange and reds that surround the season.

The glow of flickering candles set in hollowed-out pumpkins.  Crimson leaves swept aside by an errant football.  Classroom displays of construction-paper cornucopias and scissor-cut turkey feathers.  A scarecrow, straw tumbling from his furrowed brow, as he patrols a lonely field.  Thoughts of the harvest and a Thanksgiving meal.

Pie Pumpkins2

What evokes Fall for you? Continue reading

Pumpkin Redux: Pumpkin Bread

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When I first started cooking, the first effort was just that – a rough, initial effort to make something edible.  If things went awry, it was helpful to have ingredients in reserve.  So I got in the habit of stockpiling my cooking ammunition.  If a recipe called for a cup of something combustible, I tried to have an extra cup  (or two) on hand.

But as my learning curve has progressed, Continue reading

Buttermilk Pumpkin Pancakes

Sunday pancakes are a bit of a family tradition. I can remember Dad yelling “PANCAKES” and all of us rubbing the sleep out of our eyes, and running down the stairs to plates full of warm, stacked pancakes. The first one down could usually claim the Sunday comics, and first dibs on the syrup. Brothers being brothers, we also competed to see who could out-eat the others. Fortunately, I think Dad usually ran out of batter.

Last week, a co-worker brought in a pumpkin pie – a real pumpkin pie, she noted. Not one of those Continue reading