Pepitas put to good use

It was but a few weeks ago that I found out that pepitas are nothing but pumpkin seeds. It was, however, with sheer dismay that I noted that no-one was even slightly curious what ingredient list it was, that I was reading. Not even the most astute and discerning of my readers wanted to know.

So even though there was not quite the stampede that I was expecting and far be it from me to hide or hoard wonderful heart-warming recipes, here it is: savory Pumpkin Cheddar Muffins, with the goodness of pumpkin and pepitas, roasted peppers and sharp cheddar cheese. They are delicious with tea or with soup or even chili.

Pumpkin Cheddar Muffins

• For the Streusel Topping
• 1 tbsp butter
• 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup finely shredded extra-sharp Cheddar cheese
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/8 tsp red chilli powder, or to taste
• 1/3 cup roasted salted pepitas
• For the Muffins:
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup stone-ground yellow cornmeal
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 and 1/2 baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 large egg
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 3 tbsp butter, melted
• 3/4 cup mashed cooked pumpkin
• 2 roasted poblano peppers, peeled, seeded and finely diced, or
  1/4 cup chopped canned green chiles
• Cooking Spray

1. Preheat your oven to 400F
2. Prepare the streusel by combining butter and flour (with a pastry blender or not) until it is crumbly. Add cheese, brown sugar and red chilli powder. Stir in the yummy shelled pepitas.
3. Combine flour, cornmeal, salt, baking powder and baking soda in a large bowl.
4. Combine egg, buttermilk, sugar, butter and pumpkin in another bowl ad whisk well.
5. Pour this into the flour mixture.
6. Add poblano peppers and stire gently
7. Spray a 12 cup muffic tray with cooking spray
8. Line muffin tray with cupake liners.
9. Spoon muffin mixture into each cup.
10. Sprinkle streusel topping over each muffin.
11. Bake for 15 -20 minutes until golden brown.
12. Allow to cool for about 5-10 minutes and serve warm with a warm cup of tea! Bliss!

Notes:

• I used canned pumpkin and canned chiles. The canned chiles were rather mild so I used some pepper jack cheese instead of the extra-sharp cheddar cheese.
• I couldn't find my muffin tray so I made these in my mini-muffin tray. They would have been much better as muffins than mini-muffins. Although being bite-sized was not a bad thing, they would have been more moist if they had been regular size muffins.
• I wondered whether I should substitute butter as well as the egg yolk but really 4 tbsp butter and 1 egg yolk are not that damning, especially across 24 mini-muffins (or 12 muffins). So I didn't bother.

This is great recipe to use all that glorious orangeness that comes our way this season. We really loved it!

Recipe courtesy of Relish, a cooking pull-out that makes it appearance from time to time with our local newspaper.

For an appetizing array of pumpkin recipes, check out Kalyn's post on BlogHer.

Angry Vomiting Pumpkin!

We did it! We did it! We carved a vomiting pumpkin and put it out on our doorstep. I've wanted to do it for the last 3 years at least but never got around to it. I really don't know why because it's the easiest pumpkin to carve. Ever.

Hmm! Wait a minute! I do know why! The Hallowe'en Grinch never let us. It's way too messy. Who will clean it up? It will rot and attract pests. And so on. Well, that's why the plastic under the pumpkin. It will be easy to clean up: pick up the plastic and throw the vomit away. And, don't fret, the plastic will not go to the landfill. It will be cleaned and re-used.

It wasn't as cold as last year when we trick-or-treated against my better judgement in blustery weather and temperatures as low as 27F. It was in the low 40s and 39F when we came in. It was warm! Especially compared to the morning when we woke up to a dusting of snow! Snow in the yard, snow on the roofs and snow on the cars! I was really dreading going out this evening but it all turned out just fine.

Medha's costume was a huge hit. There was another shower in the school parade but he had a real circular shower rod with a real showerhead screwed in with real joints. If you tried to look in to see who it was, he'd shout: Hey! No peeking! Medha on the other hand scrubbed herself in full public view!

Medha's day was made on our way home from trick-or-treating. A car coming down the street slowed down as it approached us and I thought it was headed into the driveway we were just shy of. I pulled her close even though it is a safe neighborhood, and then noticed that the car had lights on the top. It was a police car and it stopped right next to us. The policeman turned on a red light inside his car, poked his head out and said: That is such a great costume. I had to stop to give you some candy! Medha is on cloud nine. According to her, she was recognized by a policeman! Imagine that!