Pumpkins, Now What?

The Pumpkin had long been a staple in the diets of Native Americans. While men hunted, it was mostly the women who worked in the fields, tending to crops of squash, pumpkins, and corn. Native Americans used pumpkins in stews, along with roasting them, drying the seeds, and using them for medicine. The skin of the pumpkin was often dried and made into mats.

When the pilgrims arrived, they would learn to use pumpkins as a crust for pies, but not necessarily the filling. These pilgrims were also known as the ones where the origin of the 'pumpkin pie' came from. After removing the top, and taking out the seeds, the meat of the pumpkin was mixed with honey and milk and then baked.

Today, we have numerous resources and recipes for extravagant and tasty desserts. Listed below are a couple, but if you don't want to make you own, perhaps you might want to try the new pumpkin ice cream treat made at Cold Stone creamery, and if you don't want to buy it, try one of the limited edition ice cream flavors in your supermarket's freezer section. Try adding nuts, caramel and graham crackers with a dollop of whipped cream.

Pumpkin Mousse
1/2 pkg. Puff Pastry Sheets (1 sheet)
1 cup canned pumpkin
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 cups cool whip
1/4 cup chopped nuts
Thaw pastry sheet at room temperature for ½ hour and preheat oven to 400°F. Unfold pastry on lightly floured surface and cut into 3 strips. Cut each strip into 4 rectangles. Place on baking sheet. Bake 15 min. Remove from baking sheet and cool. Meanwhile mix pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar. Fold in cool whip and refrigerate 30 min.
Split pastries into 2 layers, making 24 layers. Spread pumpkin mixture on 12 bottom layers. Top with nuts and top layers. Garnish with powdered sugar or whipped topping.

Pumpkin Bread
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup water
3 cups white sugar
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour loaf pans. In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into pans. Bake for about 50 minutes. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Pumpkin Cookies
1/2 cup canned pumpkin purée
3/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar, firmly packed
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup chopped pecans or other nuts
In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and smooth. Beat in eggs, pumpkin purée, and vanilla. In another bowl, stir together flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Add to the first mixture and stir until smooth. Stir in chopped pecans or other nuts. Drop cookie dough but spoonfuls onto lightly greased cookie sheets. Bake at 375 for 10 to 15 minutes. Cool cookies and then spread with browned butter icing.

Butter Icing
6 tablespoons butter
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 to 4 tablespoons milk.
Chopped pecans (or nuts of choice).
Brown butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat; remove from heat. Blend in confectioners' sugar and vanilla. Beat in milk to desired spreading consistency. Frost the Halloween cookies and sprinkle with chopped nuts, if desired.