October 26, 2020

Kabocha Salad

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Kabocha Salad

October 26: National Pumpkin Day

Our local library’s culinary club once had a potluck theme about pumpkins. Members brought in a variety of sweet and savory dishes—pumpkin pie, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin soup, pumpkin hummus….. But Islander’s friend, Yukiko H., brought in something slightly different than the usual pumpkin recipes. Her contribution was a salad/side dish made out of Japanese pumpkin, a squash called kabocha. It was kind of sweet and savory at the same time and it was Islander’s favorite of all the other potluck pumpkin dishes. Thankfully, Yukiko shared her recipe with us and we are happy to feature her kabocha salad recipe on our blog for National Pumpkin Day.

Recipe

(From Yukiko H.)

Ingredients

  • Small kabocha squash, cooked until tender
  • ¼ cup onion
  • 1 ½ tablespoon of white vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon of sugar
  • ½ teaspoon of salt
  • black pepper to taste
  • 1-2 slices of bacon
  • 1 tablespoon canola oil

Directions

Cut the kabocha squash into wedges or large chunks. Scoop out the seeds. Peel off the skin. Cook by baking (first toss in a little cooking oil, spread on a baking sheet and heat in the oven at 350 degrees F for about 30-40 minutes) OR boiling (simmer in a pot of boiling water for 20-30 minutes until soft, then drain). Place in a bowl and mash a little bit, leaving some chunky pieces.

In a large bowl, grate the onion and sprinkle a little salt to get rid of its sharpness. Add vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper in the same bowl and mix them well.

Chop the bacon roughly. Fry the bacon pieces in the canola oil until they become crispy. Put them in the bowl, including the grease, in the onion mixture. Toss in the kabocha pieces. Dish out and serve warm.

Notes

  • Arigato (thank you) for sharing your recipe for our blog, Yukiko!
  • Don’t forget to check out all of our other pumpkin recipes under the Theme Menus tab.
 

October 26, 2020

Pumpkin Spice Latte

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Pumpkin Spice Latte

October 26: National Pumpkin Day

One can of pumpkin puree = three recipes (first—pumpkin hummus, second—pumpkin pie spice rice krispies treats, and third—this pumpkin spice latte). All of these pumpkin recipes, plus the ones we have posted in the past, has made it necessary for us to add a “pumpkins” category to our Theme Menus.

Although Highlander has cut down his spending on and drinking Starbuck’s coffees and has taken up tea, he likes to indulge once in a while on a latte-like libation. Starbuck’s pumpkin spice latte is so popular that it showed up on the menu a whole month before the fall season even started!

There are lots of artificial ingredients and flavors in the sugary Starbuck’s beverage. So we made a much healthier version at home with the leftover pumpkin puree we had from the two other recipes we made earlier.

For a fall favorite beverage, make this pumpkin spice latte to celebrate National Pumpkin Day!

Recipe

(Adapted from Nutribullet)

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons canned pumpkin puree
  • 1/2 cup vanilla almond milk, sweetened or unsweetened
  • 1/2 cup coffee, black/strong, cooled (we used Kona coffee)
  • 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup
  • Optional toppings: whipped cream, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg

Directions

In the container of a blender/mixer, combine the pumpkin puree, almond milk and coffee. Sprinkle in the pumpkin pie spice.

Add the maple syrup. Cover the container and blend until smooth. Pour into a glass or mug. Garnish with a swirl of whipped cream and sprinkles of ground cinnamon and/or nutmeg.

Notes

  • Use canned pumpkin puree and not canned pumpkin pie mix.
  • This is a thin drink; it is not thick like a smoothie.
  • Substitute almond milk for another favorite milk. If using unsweetened almond milk, add ¼ teaspoon vanilla.
  • Check out our new “Pumpkins” category under the Theme Menus tab on our blog.

 

October 26, 2019

Pumpkin Pie Spice Rice Krispies Treats

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Pumpkin Pie Spice

Rice Krispies Treats

October 26: National Pumpkin Day

We had a pumpkin-themed potluck at our culinary book club meeting this month. We brought pumpkin hummus (previous post) but had leftover canned pumpkin puree, so we added it with pumpkin pie spice to rice cereal treats and shaped them into petite pumpkins. These cute confections stood out at the pumpkin potluck and they quickly became a favorite because some club members were nostalgic about their childhood foods. The mixture could be pressed into a pan and cut into squares, but the pumpkin shapes made these more festive for our fall gathering. Pumpkin pie spice rice krispies treats are perfect for National Pumpkin Day and throughout the autumn season.

Recipe

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • ¼ cup canned pumpkin puree (see Notes to prevent soggy cereal)
  • 1 bag (10 ounces) marshmallows (use minis instead of jumbo for easier melting)
  • 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
  • 6 cups rice cereal
  • Orange food coloring (we used Wilton brand orange gel paste food color)
  • Pretzel sticks
  • Green fondant
  • Powdered sugar
  • Green tube frosting

Directions

In a large saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Stir in the marshmallows and pumpkin puree.

Add the pumpkin pie spice. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. When cool, stir the rice cereal into the pumpkin-marshmallow mixture until well coated. If desired, add orange food coloring to enhance the color. Line a baking sheet with waxed paper. Set aside. Butter your hands well and shape the cereal mixture into rounds. Place onto waxed paper.

Break pretzel sticks in half. Insert into the cereal rounds. On a clean surface lightly dusted with powdered sugar, roll out a little bit of green fondant to 1/16-inch thick. Cut out fondant leaves.

Place fondant leaves on the rice cereal pumpkins (brush a small amount of water on the back of the leaves to make them stick to the treats). Use a small round tip to pipe tendrils from a tube of green frosting. Store in a tightly sealed container until ready to serve.

Notes

  • To prevent cereal treats from being “rice soggy” and make them stay as “rice krispies”, measure out the pumpkin puree and blot out excess moisture by pressing onto paper towels. Then add the puree into the marshmallows. Be sure to cool to room temperature to firm up the marshmallows a little bit more before mixing in the cereal.
  • Instead of rolling and cutting out fondant leaves, try piping them onto the treats by using green tube frosting using a leaf tip.
  • Search our blog for more pumpkin recipes.

 

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