Tag: pumpkin

Favorite Foods for Fall

The weather has turned colder here. We actually turned the furnace on last week. A few mornings were in the mid-20’s with wind chill readings in the teens. That is when I start craving comfort foods like soups, stews, chili, and pumpkin.

Tuesday brought a much needed get away for my Domestic Goddess friends. We were celebrating a couple of birthdays, and wanted to meet half way between Cottonwood and the Cities. Hutchinson it was.  We ate lunch at Zellas Restaurant (zellas.net), and a few hours later ordered dessert. I guess it shouldn’t come as a surprise that when four women get together for lunch, talking happens.

I had a most excellent mix up meal of half a grilled cheese sandwich (Provolone and cheddar cheese with a sun-dried tomato aioli on whole-grain bread), and a cup of Tomato Basil soup that was topped with a couple of shaved Parmesan cheese swirls and a drizzle of what appeared to be a nice balsamic vinegar. Very delicious!  For dessert, I had a slice of carrot cake.  Very moist, and not too sweet.  I should have taken pictures, I know!  All of these are comfort foods in my book, and totally hit the spot.

Fall weather makes me want to bake, and cook up new things as well. This year, my pumpkin kick is a little stronger. I love Starbucks’ Pumpkin Scones, but they are not exactly the best thing to eat regularly. I have also been craving chili, but Jonathan typically isn’t a big fan of it, but I think it is mostly due to his body’s intolerance of any peppers.  I found a recipe on SparkPeople.com called Unique Healthy Chili that tasted good even though I left out the green pepper.  The icing on the chili cake? It contains pumpkin puree! I tried it out on the family and Nick (our part-time hired help) yesterday, and they loved it!  It had great chili flavor, without being too spicy.  You could kick it up a notch if you like your chili to have an alarm status, but for us it was good as written.  Well, sort of.  Grandma Bredlow’s recipe altering habit is alive and well in this granddaughter!

This recipe is how I made it. The original called for 1 cup of bell pepper, ground turkey, chili beans, and water. With those ingredients, it is 212 calories per serving.

Unique Healthy Chili

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 cup chopped onion

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 pound ground pork

1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes

1 can pumpkin puree

1 ½ Tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon cumin

½ teaspoon pepper

1 Tablespoon granulated beef bouillon

Salt to taste

1 can black beans (rinsed and drained)

1 cup vegetable stock (can use more if you like your chili more soupy)

Heat oil in large skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat, and sauté the onion and garlic until tender.

Stir in the pork, and cook until evenly brown.

Mix in tomatoes, pumpkin and black beans.

Stir in beef bouillon and vegetable stock.

Season with chili powder, cumin, pepper, and salt.

Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes or put in slow cooker.

Serve with shredded cheddar cheese over top if desired.

Serves 6

An Answer to my Rhetorical Question?

I asked in my last post if I would ever catch up things, especially in the house. The answer came in an e-mail not long after I posed that question.

We will be hosting a few people from the advertising agency, mono. Tomorrow. Almost exactly 24 hours from now. They want to meet a farm family that raises some of the organic corn that goes into the Prairie Grains Organic Vodka. They are rolling out a new ad campaign, I guess.

This is the time where I would love if my house had a self cleaning setting, like my oven does. Just a flick of a switch and all the dust and grime would simply vanish. Sigh. I can dream, right?

Confession. I hate cleaning. A lot. Don’t get me wrong. I love it when the house is spotless. I just don’t love getting it there. To me it is about as appealing as a trip to the dentist.

In the past, I have bought books on how to clean your house with little effort that turns it into a joy. I am pretty sure the ladies who write these books are not vacuuming up corn, soybeans, wheat, field peas, or the copious amounts of soil that get transported in on work boots. I am guessing they haven’t dealt with hydraulic oil or engine grease on door handles or light switch plates and the walls that surround them.  Then there are the various items that come into the house in the pockets of jackets and jeans. Nails, screws, cotter pins, hitch pin clips,  papers from the bulk fuel guy or elevator weigh slips. I now use a little shop vac to clean the tile floors.  That is my cleaning tip of the week!

The time spent doing the mundane does give me time to plan out what to serve for the “little lunch” that we like to have for our guests. Jonathan and Laura wouldn’t mind Lemon Bundt Cake, but I’m looking for something a little different. Pumpkin Scones maybe?

The good thing about entertaining the folks from mono, is that I will be able to enjoy my clean house. Until harvest starts at the end of the week.

This is my favorite Pumpkin Scone recipe. I actually make them about 1/2 size to make it friendlier to those like me who are watching calories.

TOP SECRET RECIPES® VERSION OF
Starbucks® Pumpkin Scones
By Todd Wilbur

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups all-purpose flour
7 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
3 tablespoons half-and-half
1 large egg
6 tablespoons cold butter

Plain Glaze
1 cup plus 1 tablespoons powdered sugar
2 tablespoons whole milk

Spiced Icing
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
2 tablespoons whole milk
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
pinch ground ginger
pinch ground cloves

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon cloves, and 1/4 teaspoon ginger in a large bowl.
3. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together pumpkin, half-and-half, and eggs.
4. Cut butter into cubes then add it to the dry ingredients. Use a pastry knife or a fork to combine butter with dry ingredients. Continue mixing until no chunks of butter are visible. You can also use a food processor: Pulse butter into dry ingredients until it is the texture of cornmeal or coarse sand.
5. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients, then form the dough into a ball. Pat out dough onto a lightly floured surface and form it into a 1 -inch thick rectangle that is about 9 inches long and 3 inches wide. Use a large knife or a pizza wheel to slice the dough twice through the width, making three equal portions. Cut those three slices diagonally so that you have 6 triangular slices of dough.
6. Bake for 14 to 16 minutes on a baking sheet that has been lightly oiled or lined with parchment paper. Scones should begin to turn light brown.
7. While scones cool, prepare plain glaze by combining ingredients in a medium bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed. Mx until smooth.
8 When scones are cool, use a brush to paint a coating of the glaze over the top of each scone.
9. As that white glaze firms up, prepare spiced icing by combining ingredients in another medium bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed. Drizzle this thicker icing over each scone and allow the icing to dry before serving (at least 1 hour). A squirt bottle works great for this, or you can drizzle with a whisk.Makes 6 scones.