31 Days of Pumpkin: Days 1-18

A couple of years ago, I was inspired after watching Julie and Julia.  If she could make every recipe in Julia Child's cookbook, I could do something like that too!  I decided to make something using pumpkin every single day for a month.  Crazy?  Perhaps.  Or brilliant.  Husband was super excited!  We love pumpkin.  If you love it too, follow along!  I'll post new recipes I plan to try as well!  So, I know I'm a bit behind, forgive me?   If so, here are days one through 18.

Day One:  Pumpkin Pancakes

I thought these were a fail but Spence ate four.  We were heading up to my family cabin for conference weekend so I was in a bit of a hurry.  I used pumpkin pie filling in place of the oil with my pancake mix.  It was like a pumpkin pie punch in the face.  Too much.  But, like I said, Spence ate four.

Day Two:  Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are always a staple in the fall months.  Just mix one spice cake mix and one 15 oz can of pumpkin, a cup of choc chips (or the whole bag....) and bake at 350 for 20 min.  Voila!

Day Three:  Pumpkin Chili

This is my fave recipe so far.  It was super duper yummy.  Totally going in the fall rotation.  I used this recipe from (never home) maker.  It made enough for left overs and I think I want them for dinner tonight.  But what to make husband?

Day Four:  Pumpkin Ice cream

I whipped this up the night before because the custard had to chill overnight.  I was a little worried about how it would turn out because the consistency was a little lumpy...and I whisked my little arm off.  BUT, Spence put it in the ice cream maker while I was in SLC at my doctor's appointment and by the time I got home, we had delicious, creamy, non-lumpy ice cream.  I used this recipe from a Parisian man.  It was yummy, but next time I will cut the ginger in half.  It was a little overpowering for my taste.

Day Five:  Pumpkin Cream Cheese Tarts

So, I used this recipe for pumpkin cream cheese wontons, but I'm trying to be frugal in this whole project, so, I had pie crust on hand and not wonton wrappers, so, I used my cookie cutters and made little pumpkins, filled them with the filling, and baked them.  I also used a can of boiled sweetened condensed milk in lieu of melting down Kraft caramels. 

Day Six:  Pumpkin Curry Soup

We both look forward to this every year.  The recipe is from my very dear friend, Jerilynn, who just bought me a high heel tape dispenser that is adorable.  Recipe goes like this:

2 Tbs butter

1 c onion

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 1/2 tsp curry powder

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp salt

                                                         3 c chicken broth

                                                         15 oz or 1 can canned pumpkin

                                                         12 oz or 1 can evaporated milk

Melt the butter in a saucepan and add onion and garlic.  Cook 2-3 min until tender.  Add spices and cook one min.  Add broth and pumpkin and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low and simmer 15-20 min.  Stir in evaporated milk.  *Transfer to a blender in batches and blend until smooth.  *I puree the garlic and onion in a food processor before cooking them.  (Still cook in the butter 1-2 min)  This eliminates the need for the blender after, and I puree onions always for Spencer.

Day Seven:  Pumpkin Blondies

These were yummy and easy to make.  I followed this recipe from Sunny Side up in San Diego.  The only issue I had was that even in a 9x13 pan, they were so thick they didn't cook all the way through.  Next time, I'd either increase the cooking temperature or use two 8x10 pans.  They were really good though, after zapping them in the microwave for a few seconds.  The microwave cooks from the inside out, you see.  A simple solution for done outsides and not done insides.

I had leftover pumpkin ice cream and caramel sauce on mine, trying to recreate the Blondie at Applebees but with a pumpkin flair.  It was waaaaaaay too much.  I ate like two bites.

Spencer was smarter and just had vanilla ice cream on top of his.  I ate four bites of his.

Day Eight: Pumpkin Parfaits

These were fast and easy, which I needed since I was making pie pops for a birthday celebration as well.  And dinner.  You should've seen my [beautiful] kitchen.  Three loads of dishes!  Anyway, the recipe I used called for gingersnaps and whipped cream, but I had oreos and coolwhip.  I didn't eat mine till the next day and the oreos had soaked up some of the pumpkin custard...oooh it was yummy.

Day Nine:  Pumpkin Buttons

This one I just made up.  I cut some mini pumpkins from some leftover pie scraps and made your basic pumpkin pie filling.  Then i put the button crust in the bottom of my mini muffin pan and then a dollop of filling and baked them for about 15 minutes.  They weren't that pretty, but they were quite the hit with the fam. 

Day Ten:  Pumpkin Caramel Apples

I got this idea from Paper, Plate, and Plane, a blog I follow.  Her recipe, however, didn't have any actual pumpkin in it.  So, I made a pumpkin caramel sauce with a can of sweetened condensed milk, boiled, about two tablespoons pumpkin, and some cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves.  I didn't have the cinnamon sticks for the stem though, so, lower cuteness factor.  They were yummy. 

Day 11:  Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

These were yummy. Perfect balance of pumpkin and snickerdoodleness.  They were pretty easy too.  The recipe I used is from Annie's Eats here.  How did I find all of these recipes, you ask...Pinterest, of course.

Day 12:  Spicy Coconut Pumpkin Soup

This was really good and different enough from our previous two soups that we didn't feel like we were eating the same thing.  The recipe is from Better Homes and Garden's here.

Day 13:  Old Fashioned Pumpkin Bread

It looks good right?  Looks, and smells, can be deceiving.  It was so gross I spit it out.  Sooo molassesy.  And I have nothing against molasses.  It was like molasses punched me in the face.  It smelled really good though so it was good potporri for my garbage can.  No recipe.  You don't want it.

Day 14:  Pumpkin Doughnut Holes

O....m...g.  These were SOOOOO GOOD.  I could've eaten these ten at a time and every single day for the rest of my life.  I wish I had some right now.  They were from the Craving Chronicles and the name fits.  I liked that they were baked and not fried; one, I don't have a fryer, two, I'm afraid of frying things, and three, it's so messy.  The only tasking part about these was the rolling in butter and then cinnamon and sugar got slightly tasking after about 13...but that was before I'd tasted them!  So worth it.

Day 15:  Pumpkin Dump Cake

This was amazeballs.  This was my first "dump cake" and I won't lie, I was skeptical.  But, I was pleasantly surprised.  The toffee bits were sooo yummy in it and I love hot gooey things with ice cream on top.  We have more in the fridge but we need to buy more vanilla ice cream to top it.  It's not the same without it.  Mmmm.  From Cookies and Cups.

Day 16:  Crockpot Pumpkin Pudding

I forgot to take a photo of this but it looked just like the one from Annie Oakley's Kitchen.  This was on a Sunday when we spoke in church, so it was super easy and it was nice to use my crock pot for something different.  It made the house smell really good too.  Spencer loved it but I thought it was just okay.  Ps.  I don't use my crockpot nearly enough.  I have a 101 crockpot recipes book but I haven't tried many of them.  Anyone have any crockpot faves? 

Day 17:  Pumpkin Oreo Tarts

I don't have mini tart pans so mine aren't as cute as the ones in Adventures in Dessert.  It was pretty yummy, but it didn't blow me away.

Day 18:  Pumpkin  French Toast.

I forgot to take a picture of this too, because it burned when I stuck it under the broiler for a second...or two.  My new oven is hot.  To make it I took a thick crusted french bread and dipped in in an eggNOG wash!  A pumpkin eggnog wash!

What's planned for day 19 you ask?  Come back tomorrow to find out!