What to Do with the Pumpkins?

We have these beautiful pumpkins from the garden and I don’t know what to do with them… Any suggestions?

When I suggested Pumpkin Soup, one of my daughters said, “The guys don’t really like pumpkin and one of the worst things you can do after they come home from a hard days work is give them Pumpkin Soup!” 🙂

So…what to do with the pumpkins?

I roasted one up the other day…gave a quarter of it to the chickens (they didn’t eat it) and dried the pumpkin seeds…

Then I pureed the rest in a blender with a little water. This color is just gorgeous, isn’t it?

I love Grasmere Gingerbread. Years ago, my daughters (Sage and Tera) visited this quaint little cottage shop and brought home a tin of this famous gingerbread with them. The flavor was unforgettable!

So what does gingerbread have to do with pumpkin? My thought was to try and recreate the Grasmere gingerbread with some pumpkin added. Just a note here about the way I cook…it’s a little here and a little there and I never follow a recipe exactly… : )

I found this beautiful photo by Marina Oliphant and a recipe for Grasmere Gingerbread online at goodfood, but anyone ‘in the know’ will tell you that the original recipe is a secret, so any recipe we find may not be as good.

125g plain flour ( 1/2 cup)
60g soft brown sugar (1/4 cup )
2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp baking powder
80g unsalted butter, melted and allowed to cool for a minute (1/3 cup)
1 tbsp soft preserved ginger, chopped

I like everything really gingery… so I’m going to use 1/4 cup chopped candied ginger instead of the preserved ginger…

And add a couple of tablespoons of fresh grated ginger, as well…

Preheat oven to 350. Brush a small 8 x 5 loaf pan with a little of the melted butter. Mix all dry ingredients then combine with the melted butter. Press lightly into the prepared pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

And here it is…

This recipe could be doubled in size, especially for a family like mine… make sure you use a larger pan if you double it, because the gingerbread should be pressed down fairly thin.

Now for the pumpkin…

This recipe for Pumpkin Filling is from girlichef. Her Gingerbread Pumpkin Bars look yummy, maybe I will try them next time, but for now I want to create something a little different. I want to borrow her filling, minus the nutmeg and cloves, just my own taste preference…

1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin puree
½ c. sugar
6 oz. cream cheese, at room temp.
1 tsp. vanilla bean paste
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. ground ginger
~~¼ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg~~
~~⅛ tsp. ground cloves~~
pinch salt
2 large eggs

Combine all ingredients except the eggs in a large bowl and beat until thoroughly mixed. Beat in the eggs. Pour mixture in buttered pan. Bake at 350 for 25-35 minutes or until the filling is set. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

I crumbled the gingerbread on top and here it is…