"Playful Pumpkins"

It will be time to harvest pumpkins in a month or two, so I have included some recipes that use pumpkin..  I roast my pumpkins in the oven and then scoop the inside out to either freeze or make pumpkin soup, pie, or cheesecake.  Here is a pie recipe taken from: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/perfect-pumpkin-pie/ .  I use the same amount of roasted pumpkin as the canned pumpkin in the recipe.

Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients

• 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin
• 1 (14 ounce) can EAGLE BRAND® Sweetened Condensed Milk
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Whisk pumpkin, sweetened condensed milk, eggs, spices and salt in medium bowl until smooth. Pour into crust. Bake 15 minutes.
2. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F and continue baking 35 to 40 minutes or until knife inserted 1 inch from crust comes out clean. Cool. Garnish as desired. Store leftovers covered in refrigerator.

Below is a Pumpkin Soup recipe from:http://www.mom-mom.com/pumpkin_apple_soup.htm

Apple Pumpkin Soup

1 large onion, chopped
1/2 pound of bacon, chopped
one 15-ounce can of pumpkin
1 cup water
2 cups apple cider
1/4 cup brown sugar
4 cubes chicken bouillon
1 apple, chopped and unpeeled
dash of liquid smoke
salt, to taste
2 teaspoons white pepper
1/3 cup crystallized ginger, chopped

Sauté onion and bacon lightly in large pot. Add pumpkin, water, apple cider, brown sugar, chicken bouillon, apple, liquid smoke salt, white pepper, and crystallized ginger to the pot. Cover and simmer for 1 hour. Stir frequently. Blend to thicken in blender-size batches. Serve with sour cream: one teaspoon on each serve.

Simple Pumpkin Soup

Puree roasted pumpkin, cooked apple, and sauteed onions together

Put 1 large container of chicken broth in the puree

Mix together, heat, and serve.

Pumpkin Marble Cheesecake

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/marbled-pumpkin-cheesecake/ Ingredients 1 1/2 cups crushed gingersnap cookies 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans 1/3 cup butter, melted   2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened 3/4 cup white sugar, divided 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 3 eggs 1 cup canned pumpkin 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg Directions Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a medium bowl, mix together the crushed gingersnap cookies, pecans, and butter. Press into the bottom, and about 1 inch up the sides of a 9 inch springform pan. Bake crust 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Set aside to cool. In a medium bowl, mix together the cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar, and vanilla just until smooth. Mix in eggs one at a time, blending well after each. Set aside 1 cup of the mixture. Blend 1/4 cup sugar, pumpkin, cinnamon, and nutmeg into the remaining mixture. Spread the pumpkin flavored batter into the crust, and drop the plain batter by spoonfuls onto the top. Swirl with a knife to create a marbled effect. Bake 55 minutes in the preheated oven, or until filling is set. Run a knife around the edge of the pan. Allow to cool before removing pan rim. Chill for at least 4 hours before serving.