A Tale of Three Pumpkins

Fall is on it's way. Some of the trees are starting to show color changes. There's a cool, crisp breeze blowing. And, heck, we've even had the fireplace on the last two nights (partly to keep us warm, and partly to start burning off the stink of a new fireplace).

One of the wonderful things about fall are pumpkins... You wait all summer long with these long trailing vines in your garden, and then you cross your fingers that the fruits they bear won't rot and drop off - that they'll grow huge and tough out the summer and the critters, and form some big beautiful orange fall decoration, or perhaps some tasty treat.

Well, I've learned (from experience) that maybe the homegrown pumpkins aren't nearly as good as the canned stuff when you're looking for something baked and pumpkiny. That's ok. Nothing to feel guilt over.

And now I've decided there's no reason to feel guilt over another cheat - combining that canned pumpkin with a yellow cake mix to make some seriously good pumpkin muffins!! After having a really (really really REEEEALLY) good pumpkin muffin, topped with both streusel AND a drizzle of cream cheese frosting!) from Einstein Bagels the other morning, it kicked me into fall foods mode...stews, apple cider, baked pumpkin goods, etc.

So here's the first "pumpkin tale" - in my efforts to find "the ideal pumpkin muffin" recipe (and even tasking Peter, who was suggesting all the wrong things - things that WEREN'T pumpkin muffins - tsk tsk Peter! LOL), I found a recipe that seemed too good to be true. Combine one 15 oz can of pureed pumpkin (NOT pre-seasoned pumpkin pie filling), one yellow cake mix, and some pumpkiny seasoning (the recipe called for a combination of nearly 2 tsp of cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg - I just used 2 tsp of Urban Herb's pumpkin pie spice). The recipe assured readers that no eggs or oil, originally called for on the cake box, were needed for this. In reading the feedback on the recipe, most people loved the recipe as it was, but a few said it was a bit dense, and one person suggested using 2 eggs and 1/3 cup oil. I decided to try going the middle ground, adding 1 egg and just a drizzle (maybe 1/4 cup?) of vegetable oil to the mix.

Once the batter was loosely mixed up (I left some of the original cake-powder crumbs, knowing you don't want to overmix muffin batter), I blopped into a lined muffin tin, making 12 really large pre-baked muffins (and worrying they'd be too big and overflow). I then smooshed together maybe 3 tablespoons of diced, cold butter, maybe 1/4 or 1/3 cup light brown sugar, and maybe 1/3-1/2 cup of flour, and then sprinkled the resulting streusel on top. Baked for 25 minutes, and WOW, talk about fall-eatin' heaven! [Addendum: Guess I forgot to mention that these bake at 350F - sorry about that!]




Great with a cup of warm tea on a cool fall day!


A pumpkin tale #2 - or, RIP Rumbo...

I've mentioned MANY times on here about how amazed I've been with my last remaining Rumbo squash/pumpkin from last summer's garden. Mom also had one or two that held out til sometime this spring. I checked mine every few weeks, just to make sure it was still very firm and sounded hollow when knocked. No problems! I went into the dining room to prepare for Brett's folks coming for dinner Friday nite, and saw a white patch on top of the Rumbo. NOOOOO!


Ok, I have to admit it was time...no way to stop this. So I cut it open, figuring I can at least try to save the seeds for next year, and the rest can contribute to the compost pile - so technically the Rumbo will continue to give. Here I've scooped out the seeds but not yet spread them out. Most feel kind of hollow/flat, but some feel like they could still be viable.


And here's a look at the inside - for the most part, it still looked good with no mold - which was only in one small section. Sure smelled good and pumpkinny, but there was no chance I was going to risk trying to cook some of it.



And the third pumpkin - it's growing in the garden right now! I started these seeds way back in the spring at the condo, and most of the potted or late planted in the garden squash have fizzled out by now. I do, however, have two pumpkin-type vines growing all over the garden patch, and even stretching out into the newly green backyard! Here's something that surprised me the week before we started the lawn installation! I believe it's a Howden pumpkin - and is a little bigger than a football (and definitely more plump than one!) It's sort of hiding behind a scraggly looking nasturtium that finally decided to start blooming (hey, they're growing in clay - can you blame 'em?)


Here's some of the vines from the Howden pumpkin plant already growing out into the yard. Realize if this vine had been here two weeks ago, it would've been chewed up by the Bobcat, so that gives you some idea as to how fast it's growing still!

Ok, I lied - this isn't a tale of three pumpkins, but rather five. Here's a rumbo squash that's about ripe that's grown from one of the plants I potted up at the condo in the spring. Definitely a stunted plant initially, and a stunted pumpkin here:


However, once the plant was settled into the garden (in it's pot!), the vines started taking off, setting root, and pulling more nutrients from the soil around them I guess!? Or maybe it's from one of the ones I put in the ground - hard to tell now since it's all intertwined and weedy. Anyhow - there's another rumbo that's nowhere near ripe, in the middle of the beans. Hopefully it'll ripen up before we get a killing frost!