Today is the first day since the official start of fall that it's actually been COLD. It's basically been in the 50's and pretty dreary all day, which to me is a fantastic excuse to spend the whole day inside cooking. Unfortunately, we had some errands to run before I could settle in - although those errands yielded a new cake stand, a Toffee Mocha and some sewing supplies, so I can't complain. :-) Once I got home though, I was in full on kitchen mode.
I'll talk later about what we prepped for batch cooking day (it seems that our batch cooking has extended itself to the entire weekend, rather than just one day) but for now let me tell you about two delicious, pumpkin-laden things we made today: Pumpkin Butter and Pumpkin Yeast Bread. Are you drooling yet? Oh, that's just me? Okay...
First, the Pumpkin Butter. If you're thinking, "I bet that's a lot like apple butter," you're correct; it really does taste quite similar. I was actually a little disappointed that my batch didn't taste more like pumpkin! I used apple cider instead of apple juice and I think that, along with the fact that after 20 minutes I deemed it "thick enough", is why mine didn't come out tasting like a spreadable pumpkin pie. I probably would have gone the full 30 minutes with it if it hadn't kept leaping out of the pot and splattering my arms, which was both surprising and painful. Next time, I think I will try it in the CrockPot with less cider, since the crock requires less liquid than a stovetop version. Also, 2 teaspoons of ginger was quite a lot - I'd probably reduce that, too.
Honestly, though? Even with the apple and ginger overtones this is amazing. My batch yielded about 5 cups of spread and I was a little worried about what I would do with it all until I saw this post about the Trader Joe's version. Apparently, it has a ton of uses, including a topping for oatmeal and granola, a stir-in for plain or vanilla yogurt, and a delicious addition to pancake or waffle batter. They say you can also mix it with softened cream cheese and spread it into a graham cracker crust for a quick pumpkin cheesecake! Um, yes please!
As for the bread well, I'd had my eye on this recipe since I started getting the hankering to cook with pumpkin again, and Bryan was finally ready to make it today. We decided to throw caution to the wind and make it in the bread machine, which turned out to be a bit hilarity-filled when we realized that the dough had risen to the top of the bread machine. The resulting loaf was so high we could barely get the pan out of the machine, and the slices are at least 10 inches tall. Despite looking like we put an engorgement charm* on it, the bread is DELICIOUS and yes, even better with a little pumpkin butter slathered on it.
The only downside to all this cooking with pumpkin is that we still have half a can left from the bread that needs to be used within the next few days. I've been eyeing two recipes in my queue, Pumpkin Gingerbread and Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins. What should I make next?
*I rarely talk about anything here but cooking and crafting, but can I just say that I am beyond ready for HP7 to hit theaters?!?
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