To be baking...
When I am
stressed and feeling a
little out of my comfort zone I tend to
bake... in
excess. So with the onset of
grad school looming over me (I start in 3 days) - and f
inal grade reports due (in 4 days) - and kids getting
cabin fever - and husband with actual
fever - I decided to clean my kitchen.
Where I discovered a
lovely pumpkin left over from halloween.
Because gourds generally last
forever and are also a good source of
vitamins, I decided I should bake something with it - I
abandoned the kitchen cleaning and called everyone I could think of who might have made things from raw pumpkin.
They hadn't.
Thank goodness for the
internet!
It is actually very easy- First you but off the top of your pumpkin and quarter it onto a baking sheet.
Make sure to reserve the pumpkin seeds for roasting. Your littlest princess who is
obsessed will thank you in the morning.
Roast for about 45 min at 350 till soft when poked with a fork.
Peel the meat off of the skin till you have a bowl of goop. Then blend in your food processor or blender till smooth.
(If you are doing it in a blender the internets suggest adding a tablespoon or so of water to smooth it out.) When this is complete you are able to use it in any recipe, as you would pumpkin puree.
I suggest
pumpkin bread.
The only thing I would change about this recipe is I would add flax seeds- which I had on hand but blanked on when I was mixing up this recipe late at night. I think you could also add chocolate chips with wild success, but then you can't eat most of the loaf for breakfast the next morning. ;)
And because one baking project is not enough I got up the next morning and made some granola bars. I will not share the recipe here because they came out pretty dry and cake-y- I'll keep searching for a better recipe. (All suggestions are welcome - if you have a great recipe- please share)
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