Happy Halloween!

Hope you all have a fantastic, spooky & safe Halloween!

Harvest Pumpkin Soup

When I made pumpkin purée last week, this was one of my intended uses for it. There are loads of recipes for pumpkin soup out there. But, I was drawn to this one in particular because it calls for homemade purée {which, I had plenty of}, and because it uses the inside of the pumpkin {the seeds & fibers} to make your own "pumpkin stock". I love that idea.
I reserved the seeds & fibers from my LI cheese pumpkin for the stock.
If you've never had pumpkin soup...it tastes very similar to a creamed butternut squash soup. This soup also uses turnips, potatoes & parsnips...which, add flavor, but also help thicken the soup. It requires a bit more effort, making the homemade stock & all...but, I think it was worth it.

Fall Bruschetta

I recently discovered a great local website about food, called CT Bites. It's been around for awhile, but somehow it took me way too long to find it. Now that I have, I've been checking it out daily...finding tons of tips & great food finds in my area...Fairfield County, CT. Recently, they had a post with some recipes from Nicole Straight, a chef, who runs cooking classes around these parts.
One of the recipes was for this Fall Bruschetta, which I immediately knew I wanted to try. I ended up making it for some friends who came by after our Pumpkin Picking afternoon last week. I especially loved that everything could be made ahead of time...something that has become a requirement in my super busy weekend schedule...which, sometimes includes jamming 4-6 hockey games into 2 days.
I adapted a couple of things...mainly, just adding measurements to some of the ingredients. I also added some ricotta cheese as a base to the bruschetta, partly to make it a bit more hardy...but, also because I thought it would taste really good with it.

Pumpkin Purée

Even though this recipe is super basic, with pumpkin season in full swing, I thought I would share it.
I bought a big Long Island Cheese Pumpkin when we went apple picking last week. I had heard that they were great to cook with & had been wanting to get one. I'm so glad I did!
Last year, I used sugar pumpkins {a.k.a. pie pumpkins} for baking. But, after cooking up the cheese pumpkin, I have concluded that it's my new favorite.
This variety of pumpkin is actually from the moschata squash family...also home to the butternut squash {you can see they share the same tan skin color}. It's native to Long Island {actually, all of the Northeastern U.S.} & Puerto Rico...hence, that part of the name. The "cheese" part comes from it's short, wide shape which resembles a wheel of cheddar cheese. There are many varieties of cheese pumpkins out there...the Long Island variety is just one of them.
Once prized as the best pumpkins to use for making pumpkin pie filling, they fell out of fashion, due to their odd shape, which made conveyor belt travel difficult. But, nowadays, they have enjoyed a resurgence & are considered an "heirloom" pumpkin. Once you cut one open you can see why they are so prized. They have an amazing bright orange flesh, which is very dense & not at all stringy, like a typical Jack-o-Lantern pumpkin is. Because of their unique texture, the purée you get from them is a smooth as velvet. I was so wishing I had a baby around to feed some to!
They also have a higher sugar & nutrient content than most pumpkins...and, of course, the bright orange color means they're loaded with beta-carotene.
So, now that I've blabbed about the history of this pumpkin, I'll show you what I did with it...and, there will be lots more to come! I hope to use this purée in pumpkin soup, pumpkin pie & more.

Some Things I Just Love...

Oh, man. I had so many things bookmarked to share here for Halloween. Lesson learned that I should never wait this long into the season, because things sell out so fast!
Have I mentioned that I love Halloween? I do. I think it might be my favorite holiday. Here's a selection of some things I love for this October 31st.
a. A fun & festive Trick or Treat banner. b. Handmade treat buckets. Love these!! c. Handmade, scary chalkboard centerpieces. d. Check out these handmade ceramic tombstones...along with all the other great stuff available from this artist. e. I'm obsessed with vintage chenille Halloween ornaments. Martha shows you how to make your own here. f. These Halloween glittered candles are great because they can be used year after year.