Passion for Pumpkin

by Shanna Hatfield

It's that time of year when my taste buds beg for fall flavors. Nothing makes them quite as happy as pumpkin.
If you think beyond just pumpkin pie, there are so many wonderful recipes out there.

Pumpkin Bread

Pumpkin bread as we know it today descends from a long line of baked goods that incorporate vegetables and/or fruits along with spices.

Pumpkin recipes go way back, but here are some fun references to Pumpkin Bread:

[1844]
Pumpkin Bread.
"Stew and strain some pumpkin, stiffen it with Indian meal, add salt and yeast, and it makes a most excellent kind of bread."
--- Miss Beecher's Domestic Receipt Book, Catharine Esther Beecher

[1857]
Pumpkin Bread. 

"Take two quarts of sweet pumpkin, stewed dry; two quarts of fine Indian meal, two teaspoonsful of salt, a table-spoon heaping full of lard, and mix them up with sufficient hot water to make it of the consistence of common corn-meal dough. Set it in a warm place, two hours, to rise, and bake it in a pan, in a moderate oven. It will take an hour and a half to bake."
---Great Western Cook Book, Anna Collins

And for those who like a little bacon flavor with their pumpkin bread...

[1937]
Pumpkin Cakes with Bacon
"Used canned or cooked pumpkin; for directions for cooking pumpkin, see Boiled Winter Squash...To 2 cups mashed pumpkin, add 1/2 teaspoon salt, dash of paprika, 1 teaspoon sugar, 1 teaspoon ketchup, 1/4 cup milk and 2 tablespoons melted butter; shape into patties. Fry 6 to 12 strips of bacon...drain on unglazed paper and keep hot; pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon drippings in pan. Saute patties in bacon fat and serve with crisp bacon. Approximate yield: 6 portions or 12 small patties."
---America's Cook Book, compiled by the Home Institute of The New York Herald Tribune [Charles Scribner's Sons:New York] 1937 (p. 479)

If you are a fan of pumpkin, here are a few more recipe ideas I'm sure our forefathers would have enjoyed!

Pumpkin Cake

Is a simple to make recipe with a wonderful pumpkin flavor.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

Pumpkin Roll

And if that isn’t enough pumpkinfesting for you, try these ideas:

• Make a simple pumpkin soup by adding about four cups of chicken broth to a 28-0unce can of pumpkin. Stir in about 3 ounces of Feta cheese, season with salt and a pinch of nutmeg and enjoy.

• Use canned pumpkin as a thickener. Add it to any type of chili or stew that needs a little thickening.

• Substitute canned pumpkin for half the fat in quick breads. This works well with cinnamon, citrus and chocolate. Or make your tastebuds extra happy and make a loaf of pumpkin bread.

• Add canned pumpkin to half your cheesecake filling. Swirl it into the filling, but don’t mix, before baking to get an awesome design and incredible flavor.

• Mix canned pumpkin into softened ice cream then refreeze for a quick pumpkin dessert. Serve with gingersnaps and a drizzle of caramel sauce.

• Mix a heaping spoonful into grits, top with grated Parmesan cheese and a tiny dollop of butter.

• Mix canned pumpkin with one part apple cider and two parts ginger ale for a fun beverage.

You could also make pumpkin polenta, pumpkin cupcakes, pumpkin muffins, roasted pumpkin wedges, pumpkin roll or pumpkin seeds.

~*~

USA Today Bestselling Author Shanna Hatfield writes character-driven romances with relatable heroes and heroines. Her historical westerns have been described as “reminiscent of the era captured by Bonanza and The Virginian” while her contemporary works have been called “laugh-out-loud funny, and a little heart-pumping sexy without being explicit in any way.”

Convinced everyone deserves a happy ending, this hopeless romantic is out to make it happen, one story at a time. When she isn’t writing or indulging in chocolate (dark and decadent, please), Shanna hangs out with her husband, lovingly known as Captain Cavedweller.

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