Pumpkin Cornbread...yes, more orange squash.

For some reason I am having a love affair this fall with winter squash. I have made it into soup, stuffed it and baked it into cake, cheesecake, and pie. And still I want more...so why not pumpkin cornbread !! Actually, Genna turned me on to this recipe.

With Thanksgiving a week away it seems appropriate. This would be great as a side dish to your turkey day feast, made into stuffing or to go with turkey soup you might be making next weekend. It has a nice spice accent without being too sweet. Genna says to have your butter ready when it comes out of the oven.

Pumpkin Cornbread

Ingredients

1 cup all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 cup cornmeal
2 large eggs
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup canola oil
1 tablespoon molasses

1) Preheat your oven to 400 F. Spray with oil, a muffin pan or 8 X 8 cake pan.
2) Put all your dry ingredients into a bowl and whisk together.

Note: I highly recommend grating your nutmeg fresh if possible. It comes with outer light coating and a hard outer shell, inside is the nutmeg which grates easily with the micro plane.
Most natural food or gourmet grocery store should carry them.

3) In a separate mixing bowl, add the eggs, pumpkin puree, brown sugar, oil and molasses, beat until smooth.

4) Stir the wet ingredients into the dry stuff and mix until just combined, best not to over mix.
5) Spoon into your prepared pan, I made muffins.

6) Bake for 12-15 minutes for muffins, 20-25 minutes for the cake pan. Do the old toothpick test, if you are unsure.

7) After 5 minutes, remove the muffins to a rack to cool .

 I served them with my curried chickpea soup and Asian slaw.

This year in review: part two.

Here comes the second part of my favorite recipes from this year.
I am trying to balance the sweet and the savory, the veggies and the meat.

1) Whole wheat bread from the bread machine: I make this bread weekly, it is by far the best all whole wheat bread recipe I have found. It makes divine toast !!

2) Quinoa Tabouli: This salad was one of those experiments that worked. Look in the fridge, see what's there, try to make it all go together ;-)

3) Slow Roasted Country Style Pork Ribs: I made this dish twice for dinner guests, always a very big hit. They cook for four hours but are simple to make and so very tender !

4) The Best Chocolate Ice Cream: No lie, truly the creamiest, richest chocolate ice cream I have ever eaten.

5) Winter Squash Biscuits: We made small versions of these and added cheddar cheese to the recipe for appetizers at a party, what a hit !! The photo doesn't do them justice.

6) Pecan Pie Bar: Whoa, these gooey sweet bars were so good, just the right balance of filling and crust. They made great gifts as well.

So there you have it, some highlights from 2012. Which were your favorites ??

I already have some great ideas to start the new year !!

Pumpkin Cupcakes...more things to make with your squash puree.

Cupcakes before frosting.

Since I made 12 cups of squash puree from that amazing Blue Hubbard squash I wanted to find more ways to use it.

I decided to make these cupcakes to bring to my yoga class since they had all seen the squash before it's demise. My yoga teacher is a vegan hence these are vegan cupcakes.

I modified a recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. When I first read their recipe I had two major complaints, first off the recipe began with a cup of canned pumpkin...if you must I suppose that can work. There other thing was the addition of chocolate chips, YUK !! Why do people do this ??? Personally I can't stand pumpkin and chocolate together, it's a travesty but again if you must...

Pumpkin Cupcakes My Way !!

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.

This recipe makes a dozen but I doubled it with no problem.

Ingredients:

Into a bowl mix together.

1 cup pumpkin or squash puree

1/3 cup canola oil

1 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup soy milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In another bowl sift or stir with a whisk:

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cloves

1/4 teaspoon salt

 

Mix the two bowls together with a fork not a mixer.

Once they are well combined pour the batter into the cupcake papers.
Bake for 22 to 24 minutes.
When they are done remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Don't eat them warm they surprised me by being gummy until they had cooled completely.
I frosted them with a little cinnamon icing, mix together:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Add:
1 tablespoon soy milk
1 tablespoon melted margarine
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Mix together until smooth, dribble onto cupcakes with a spoon or use a small plastic bag to pipe it onto the cupcakes in lines or zigzags.

The yoga class were amazed by how good they tasted :-)