Pumpkin Feast

On Sunday, my husband and I are going to our foodie club meeting. This month's theme is pumpkins. The goal is to take a pumpkin and make a non-traditional recipe with it. For last Thanksgiving I made an amazing Pumpkin Cheesecake from the Epicurious website. I will be making that for sure! Hopefully everyone likes it. :)

I love tradition as much as the next person, but with so many holiday parties and get-togethers with the same food, it's nice to mix it up.

Pumpkin Cheesecake with Bourbon Sour Cream Topping
Gourmet | November 1990

Ingredients
For the crust:

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

For the filling:

1 1/2 cups solid pack pumpkin
3 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
three 8-ounce packages cream cheese, cut into bits and softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon bourbon liqueur or bourbon if desired

For the topping:

2 cups sour cream
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon bourbon liqueur or bourbon, or to taste
16 pecan halves for garnish

Make the crust:
In a bowl combine the cracker crumbs, the pecans, and the sugars, stir in the butter, and press the mixture into the bottom and 1/2 inch up the side of a buttered 9-inch springform pan. Chill the crust for 1 hour.

Make the filling:
In a bowl whisk together the pumpkin, the egg, the cinnamon, the nutmeg, the ginger, the salt, and the brown sugar. In a large bowl with an electric mixer cream together the cream cheese and the granulated sugar, beat in the cream, the cornstarch, the vanilla, the bourbon liqueur, and the pumpkin mixture, and beat the filling until it is smooth.

Pour the filling into the crust, bake the cheesecake in the middle of a preheated 350°F. oven for 50 to 55 minutes, or until the center is just set, and let it cool in the pan on a rack for 5 minutes.

Make the topping:
In a bowl whisk together the sour cream, the sugar, and the bourbon liqueur.

Spread the sour cream mixture over the top of the cheesecake and bake the cheesecake for 5 minutes more. Let the cheesecake cool in the pan on a rack and chill it, covered, overnight. Remove the side of the pan and garnish the top of the cheesecake with the pecans.

Holiday Baking

Although Christmas is more than a month away, I always seem to get into the holiday spirit around this time. October through December really becomes one big holiday to me. I also like to have something of a game plan going into the holidays. This helps me remain stress-free while also helping me save money and time. I pick menus way in advance so that I am able to order cuts of meat or stock up when something goes on sale. I research my recipes if I am using new ones and sometimes do a test run on the simpler ones. Finally, I try to make as much at home as possible. For my family, that homemade touch really makes the holidays and I feel like it shows our friends how important they are to us too.

Since I love to cook and bake anyway, I often end up giving baskets of homemade goodies to friends. I aim for the 10th of December for drop-off. That way they have time to enjoy them throughout the holidays or at least before they leave to visit their family. However, since cookies exchanges and homemade gift giving has increased, I try my best to find different and interesting recipes. I also try to have varied treats, like something lemony, something cinnamon, something chocolate, etc.

For those of you looking for interesting cookies, here are some ones to think about. I have gathered them over the years from various places and have tweaked some while leaving others alone. I will be adding the recipes over the next week. Beside each cookie is the texture and flavors of each so you can mix and match a balanced basket of your own! Happy Holidays.

Cookies

Bizcochitos
Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti (crunchy, chocolate, hazelnut)
Cranberry Orange Melbas (crunchy, orange, cranberry)
Double Chocolate Sable Cookies (sandy, chocolate)
Florentines (crisp, almond, sugar)
Golden Rugalach (crumbly, fruit, nuts)
Kourabiedes (crumbly, walnut, sugar)
Linzers (crumbly, rasperberry)
Lusikkaleivat (crunchy, plum)
Ma'amouls (sticky/chewy, orange)
Mazurkas (sticky/chewy, fruit)
Mexican Chocolate Chip (chewy, chocolate, spicy)
Moravian Spice Cookie Wafers (crisp, molasses/spices)
Pistachio Melbas (crunchy, pistachios)
Zimtsterne (sticky/chewy, almond)

Bars

Dulce De Leche (melty/creamy, caramel)
Grasshopper (melty/creamy, mint, chocolate)
Lemon/Lilikoi (melty/creamy, lemon)
Nanimo (melty/creamy, dark chocolate)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

I used to work at a small catering buisness in Washington state. This was one of the recipes that I gathered while I was there. With the fall in full swing, it feels right to bring out recipes with pumpkin, cinnamon and nutmeg. And even for those of us that are living in warmer climates, baking a loaf of Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread helps to bring the fall season inside. This recipe is especially delicious when it is still warm from the oven and the chocolate chips are melty.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

Dry Ingredients
3 ½ C flour
2 ½ C sugar
2 t. baking soda
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. nutmeg
½ t. salt
2 cups chocolate chips

Wet Ingredients
4 beaten eggs
1 C apple sauce
2/3 C water
2 C pumpkin puree

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt, set aside. In another bowl, mix together eggs, apple sauce, water and pumpkin. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet. Add in chocolate chips or nuts. Grease a 9 x 5-inch bread pan. Bake 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

My Perfect Pantry - Baking

Baking:

• Flour; All-Purpose, Bread, Cake, Whole Wheat
• Sugar; Brown, Confectioners', Granulated, Superfine
• Cornmeal
• Baking Soda
• Baking Powder
• Yeast
• Cornstarch
• Shortening
• Chocolate; Bittersweet, Milk& White Chips, Dark, Dutch Cocoa
• Food Dye
• Extracts; Almond, Vanilla
• Powdered Espresso
• Cream of Tartar
  
• Various Candies

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