Pumpkin Spice Cooking Show

I can't say that I enjoy the pumpkin spice EVERYTHING assault that occurs as September rolls around. I grudgingly have to admit, however, that I do look forward to cooking pumpkin recipes--and to the yummy smell of pumpkin/cinnamon wafting through my house!

We filmed a cooking show last week which featured pumpkin spice recipes. 

My friend, Lisa, cooked with me.  We both agreed that this pumpkin craziness is a 21st century creation.  

My only childhood memory of pumpkin food is pumpkin pie...displayed on the dessert table at Thanksgiving, 40-50 family members digging into blueberry or apple or pecan or lemon meringue or chocolate pie.  Tradition called for pumpkin pie, however. Year after year, my aunt would dutifully bake pumpkin pie (and mincemeat.  What the heck is mincemeat?  I digress...) and there it would sit, forlorn and unloved while all of the tastier pies were snarfed down.  The memory of untouched pumpkin pies remains seared in my memory!

Lisa and I cooked up a bunch of pumpkin recipes...NONE of which remained untouched!

We started with Pumpkin Waffles.  Topped with warm maple syrup, whipped cream, raisins...I may have served these for dinner on a recent chilly night...they're not only for breakfast!

Pumpkin Muffins with Raisins & Pecans

These are so good.  

Make extra and freeze them.  So easy to pop into your microwave to defrost and heat!  Trust me on this.  Cold, dark, dreary mornings are fast approaching and you'll be grateful to have a stash of these muffins in your freezer to quickly warm up and nibble on while you sip your morning brew.

Click here for the printable recipe.

Pumpkin Martini

We've featured this drink on a previous cooking show, but it bears repeating!  Garnish with a cinnamon stick and marshmallows.  Don't forget the marshmallows!  They get all soft and squishy and yummy in the bottom of the glass.  

Click here for the printable recipe.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Mousse Parfaits

Lisa and I had fun layering bits of cookies, brownies, graham crackers...but when all is said and done, it is the mousse that is the star of this recipe.

You may just want to serve 'em up straight!

Pumpkin Gingerbread

Happy first day of fall!  How should we celebrate?

With another pumpkin recipe, of course!!

This Pumpkin Gingerbread is so good.  The flavor-- though still predominantly ginger-- isn't quite as intense as typical gingerbread.  The addition of pumpkin tones the ginger flavor down a bit while adding lots of substance and body.

Add a drizzle of maple glaze...it's a perfect celebration of fall.


Today's Playlist

• "Rebel Rebel"...David Bowie
• "Troublemaker"...Weezer
• "I'm Yours"...Jason Mraz
• "Dani California"...Red Hot Chili Peppers
• "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)"...Green Day
• "Love Interruption"...Jack White
• "In One Ear"...Cage the Elephant
• "What A Wonderful World"...Joey Ramone
• "Story of My Life"...Social Distortion
• "All Day and All of the Night"...The Kinks

Pumpkin Gingerbread with Maple Glaze (makes one loaf)

Printable Recipe

Gingerbread ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 10 tablespoons melted butter (1 stick plus 2 tablespoons)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 15-oz can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
• 3 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

note: additional butter and flour needed for greasing the pan (or use non-stick cooking spray)

Maple Glaze ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup confectioners sugar
• pinch of salt

Gather your ingredients.  Preheat your oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit.

Butter and flour a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan, or use nonstick cooking spray.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, ginger, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl until combined.

In a large bowl, stir the melted butter, sugar, brown sugar, pumpkin, eggs and vanilla together until thoroughly combined.

It will be very liquidy and runny.

Stir the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture just until incorporated.

Pour the batter into your prepared pan.  Bake for one hour to one hour and fifteen minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean (or with only a few moist crumbs).

I can say from experience that this gingerbread takes about an hour and ten minutes in my oven, but I usually set the timer for one hour just in case.

And then I stick a toothpick into it, which comes out completely coated in wet batter, so I put it back into the oven for an additional 10 minutes.  

I just can't bring myself to bake it for one hour and ten minutes right from the get-go!  

While the gingerbread is baking, prepare your maple glaze.

Gather your ingredients.  You can see that there is some crystallized ginger in the photo. 

 I was thinking that I would chop the ginger and sprinkle it over the glaze, but a lot of thoughts went through my head as the gingerbread baked and by the time it came out of the oven I wasn't in the mood for crystallized ginger anymore.

Feel free to sprinkle your gingerbread with crystallized ginger if you have it. Or chopped pecans.

To prepare the glaze, melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium/high heat until it's bubbly.  This will take about a minute.

Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the maple syrup and vanilla until combined.  It will bubble at first, but as you whisk it will calm down.

Whisk in the confectioners sugar and a pinch of salt until smooth.  Set aside until your gingerbread is finished baking.

Ta-da!  It finally passed the toothpick test.

I let the gingerbread cool down for about 10 minutes and then place it onto a serving platter.  Serve it while it's still warm, or after it's cooled.  Either way, it's out-of-this-world delicious!

You can either drizzle the glaze on top of the loaf (like the photo at the top of this post), or drizzle it over the slices as you serve them.

Enjoy.

Pumpkin Muffins with Raisins & Pecans

Now that September is here, I'm totally embracing everything pumpkin!!!

Bake a batch of these pumpkin muffins and you'll want to join me on the pumpkin bandwagon.  

Loaded with plump raisins, topped with crunchy chopped pecans...if only I had a way to make these muffins jump off the screen and onto a plate for you!

Today's Playlist

• "Teenagers"...My Chemical Romance
• "What I Like About You"...Romantics
• "Someday"...The Strokes
• "Seven Nation Army"...The White Stripes
• "Original Prankster"...The Offspring
• "Sick Of You"...Cake
• "Basket Case"...Green Day
• "Sweet Child O' Mine"...Guns N' Roses

Pumpkin Muffins with Raisins & Pecans (Makes 12 muffins)

Printable Recipe

• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 generous (heaping) teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/3 cups pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans

optional: large crystal (sanding) sugar, for topping

Gather your ingredients.  Heat your oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit.  Grease a 12-cup muffin pan, or line with paper liners.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt.

In the bowl of your mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.

Beat in the eggs, one at a time, thoroughly mixing after each addition until combined.

After the eggs have been combined, mix in the pumpkin puree and the vanilla extract.

Add your dry ingredients that you had previously whisked together, mixing just until combined.

Stir in the raisins by hand.

Fill your muffin cups.  I used paper liners and I fill them so that the batter is level with the top of the paper.

Top with the chopped pecans, and sprinkle with the sanding sugar.

Bake in your preheated 375-degree oven for 10 minutes.  When the timer goes off after 10 minutes, reduce the temperature (without opening the oven) to 350 degrees and continue to bake for an additional 8 minutes, or until done.  They are done when you can stick them with a toothpick and the toothpick is dry or has a few moist crumbs when you remove it.  If there is still wet batter on the toothpick, bake them for an additional minute or two.

 Enjoy.

Puppy-Sitting, and Pumpkin Dip

A lot has happened since my last blogpost.

The Red Sox won the world series!!!

 Here's a picture I took of Clyde and Gus, during the final inning.  They knew I was getting excited.

Clyde was getting excited, too.  He's such a party animal.  Gus was just very concerned.

Here's a picture I took after the final out was made.

Mr. Terrific raised his arm in triumph, quite a display of emotion for him.  Clyde is off partying somewhere.

Gus is still very, very concerned.  It was way past his bedtime and he just wanted to call it a night.

Meet Georgia.  She's an 11-week-old Silky Terrier.  

She belongs to my friend, Maureen.  Maureen needed a puppy-sitter for a short period of time last week, and I volunteered.

Clyde volunteered, too.  Gus happened to be at the groomers that day, so it was up to me and Clyde to entertain Georgia.

I wasn't sure how to go about letting Clyde and Georgia play, so I decided to separate them at first.  I leaned a gate against a doorway, with an opening at one end that was only big enough for Georgia to fit through.  I figured it would be her call whether she wanted to play with the big old behemoth staring at her from the other side of the gate.

Ladies and Gentleman!  On the far side of the gate, at a robust weight of 68 pounds--CLYYYYDE!!!

 And on this side, tipping the scales at THREE WHOLE POUNDS, Georgia!!

And that is how they stayed for a few minutes, Clyde on his side of the gate, watching Georgia as she ran back and forth on her side of the gate, barking up a storm.

Due to laziness, or perhaps because of a desire to make himself smaller and thus less of an imposing figure, Clyde decided to drop his bones to the floor.

I vote that he was just being lazy.

At that point, Georgia quite boldly walked through the gate.

And proceeded to explore the fluffy giant, Clyde.

This is my favorite picture.  Not long after I took this picture, Georgia got a little too friendly and Clyde got spooked and ran away.  I was laughing so hard at my 'fraidy-dog I forgot to take pictures.

But he quickly came back and settled himself down so that their game could continue, with Georgia pouncing and exploring and Clyde barely moving a muscle.  Except for his furiously wagging tail, that is.

Georgia finished off the play date by attacking her squeaky hedgehog toy.

Enough, already!  Here she is, begging me to stop taking pictures.