Tag: pumpkin

Homemade Pumpkin Puree

Roasting is my favorite way of making pumpkin puree. Not only is it the easiest way to do it, but oven heat also preserves the pumpkin’s sweet flavor.

A pound is equal to a cup of pumpkin puree. I needed 2 cups of pumpkin puree for my pumpkin cupcake recipe so I picked a 2 pound sugar pumpkin.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a baking sheet with butter. (Money-saving tip: I like saving the wax covers of butter sticks in the freezer. Whenever I need to grease a baking sheet, I get a wax cover out of the freezer and rub it on the baking sheet.)

Cut the pumpkin in half crosswise. Scoop out the seeds and strings. Save the seeds for roasted pumpkin seeds.

Put the pumpkin cut side down on the baking sheet.

Bake for 45 minutes. Check if skin can be pierced with a fork, then take it out of the oven and cool. Once the pumpkin is completely cooled, you can pull the skin off easily.

Tadaa! Homemade pumpkin puree!

Now you’re ready to make pumpkin cupcake, or pumpkin cookies, or pumpkin pie or pumpkin ice cream.

Instructions from the book, Halloween Treats: Recipes and Crafts for the Whole Family (Holiday Celebrations) by Donata Maggipinto

November 5, 2012
Halloween Party Food Menu

Every year we throw a Halloween party to celebrate my daughter’s birthday. We have a big family with many young cousins, so that alone makes the parties pretty big. In addition, my daughter likes to invite her whole class to the parties as well. Not everyone comes, of course (whew!) but we usually get at least 20 children at these parties.

Children are the most difficult people to keep still long enough to eat. We’ve thrown parties in the past when the kids refused to eat anything and insisted only on playing the whole time they were over. So I’ve decided to serve mostly finger foods, snacks they can swipe as they go past the buffet table on their way to some fun game they are playing. Here is my menu:

Mini Pumpkin Pies. I got the idea from Bakerella’s Pumpkin Pie Bites, but I used my own recipe for Pumpkin Pie. It yielded 48 little pumpkin pies.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds. We took the pumpkin seeds from carving out the Jack O’ Lantern and roasted them until brown and crunchy.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies. This Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe is a family favorite that has been passed down from generation to generation, tweaked slightly to make it healthier while keeping it just as delicious as ever.

Apples, Apple Cider, Chips with Salsa and Guacamole. We were serving so many sweets so I decided on just having apples, and not caramel candy apples. Chips with Salsa and Guacamole as the savory complement to all the sweet treats. Apple cider for drinks.

Halloween Sugar Cookies. Halloween cookie cutter shapes + this Butter Cookies recipe + cookie icing = Fun colorful Halloween cookies!

Jello AB Normal Brain. Green jello set in brain mold the night before the party, set up next to cut carrots for a fun color contrast.

Bone Pretzels. I love my breadmaker, and this Breadmaker Pretzel recipe is one of the reasons why.

October 30, 2012
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

This recipe was passed on to me from my husband’s grandmother, who sent us care packages of her special Pumpkin Cookies every Halloween. Mammie used Crisco Oil and it made her cookies very moist and last for weeks. I used organic canola oil as a healthier alternative, and this makes the pumpkin cookies moist, light and fluffy. If you like your cookies crispy on the surface, use organic butter instead.

This was previously posted at Pumpkin Cookies, but the way I had written it was confusing. I’ve revised the recipe to make it easier to follow. These Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies have become such a family favorite that I have a feeling I’ll be making several batches of it throughout the holiday season.

Mammie’s Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
2 cups organic sugar
1 cup organic canola oil (or softened organic butter – 2 sticks)
2 organic eggs
2 teaspoons organic vanilla
2 tablespoons raw organic milk
1 can organic pumpkin
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder, aluminum-free
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
4 cups organic all-purpose flour
1 large bag semi-sweet organic chocolate chips

Preheat oven 375 degrees F. Whisk sugar, canola oil, eggs, vanilla, milk and pumpkin together until well incorporated.

Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon and stir slowly with a spatula or a wooden spoon until smooth. Add chocolate chips and mix.

Spoon rounds onto buttered cookie sheet (use wax paper covers to grease the baking sheet) and bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Take the cookies out as soon as they are showing a bit of brown around the outer edges.

October 23, 2012
Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin Pie is probably the best thing to do with the pumpkin discarded from making a Jack O’ Lantern. The taste of a pumpkin pie made from fresh pumkin cannot compare to one made from canned pumpkin. Here’s the classic Pumpkin Pie recipe:

Pie Crust

Ingredients:
3 cups pastry flour
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
pinch of salt
1/2 cup iced water

Mix flour, butter and salt, until mixture is in crumbs. Toss with iced water. Do not overmix. This is enough for a double crust pie or two single-crust pies.

Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
2 eggs, separated
3/4 cup rice milk
3/4 cup evaporated milk

Directions:
1. Stir sugars, flour, salt and spice together.
2. Add vanilla, pumpkin and egg yolks. Stir until smooth.
3. Heat the rice milk and evaporated milk until the first bubble, and
stir into pumpkin mixture.
4. Beat egg whites until stiff and fold into mixture.
5. Pour into pie crust.
6. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes.
7. Turn oven to 325 degrees F and bake for 15 minutes longer.

October 23, 2005
Pumpkin Cookies

This recipe was passed on to us from my husband’s grandmother, who sent us care packages of her special Pumpkin Cookies every Halloween. Mammie used Crisco Oil and it made her cookies very moist and last for weeks. I used organic canola oil as a healthier alternative, and this makes the pumpkin cookies moist, light and fluffy. If you like your cookies crispy on the surface, use butter instead.

Mammie’s Pumpkin Cookies

Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1 cup canola oil (or butter – 2 sticks)
2 eggs
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 tablespoons milk
1 can pumpkin
4 cups flour
1 large bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven 375 degrees F. Mix well all ingredients, except flour and chocolate chips. Add flour slowly until smooth. Add chocolate chips and mix. Spoon onto greased cookie sheet and bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Take the cookies out as soon as they are showing a bit of brown around the outer edges.

October 22, 2005