Pumpkin Recipes

During the fall season pumpkins are all around us. Why not treat your taste buds to some yummy treats made from pumpkins. Get in the kitchen, make the recipes and your home is sure to smell like the fall season.

**To make pumpkin dip, you will need:

2 8-ounce packages of softened cream cheese
1 30-ounce can of pumpkin
4 cups of powdered sugar
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
2 teaspoons of ginger

Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl. You can either place the dip in a hollowed out pumpkin or in a small serving dish. Gingerbread crisps, graham crackers or sugar cookie sticks are good for dipping.

**To make toasted pumpkin seeds, simply cleanse the pumpkin seeds and remove all of the "meat" from the seeds. Dry the seeds off and palce on a cookie sheet. You can spray the seeds with butter flavored cooking spray and add shredded coconut for a tasty treat. Bake the seeds and coconut at 375 for 5 minutes.

** To make pumpkin bread, you will need:

3 cups sugar
1 cup oil
3 eggs
2 cups pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon allspice

Mix the sugar, oil, eggs, pumpkin, and vanilla in a bowl. Mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir well. Bake in 2 loaf pans at 350F degrees for 1 hour 10 minutes. Place softened cream cheese in a sandwich bag and drizzle over the top of the pumpkin bread.

**To make pumpkin cheesecake, you will need:

1 Graham cracker pie crust
2 softened 8-ounce packages cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 16-ounce can of pumpkin
1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of ginger

Mix cream cheese, sugar, and eggs together in a bowl until well blended and smooth. Add the pumpkin, cinnamon, and ginger and mix until blended. Pour pumpkin mixture into the pie crust. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes at 350F degrees. Refrigerate overnight and serve chilled. Sift powedered sugar and cinnamon over the top of the cheesecake for an added flavor.