Pumpkin…head
As November comes to a close, I find myself completely overwhelmed by finals and leftover pumpkin. Did you have pumpkin pie this Thanksgiving? I had one, carefully meted out slice because I am on a diet – but that didn’t prevent me from having pumpkin-flavored everything. We’ve had two months of pumpkin, and now that they are coming to an end.. I’m going to cook this pumpkin and discuss pumpkin recipes and scary pumpkin legends with you.
At the Thai Restaurant, having pumpkin curry and being inspired to come home and make more pumpkin curry. Holding a $4.26 check from a class action suit. Really.
Jack-O-Turnip…
Jack-O-Lanterns originally started out as turnips, not pumpkins. Aren’t you glad you weren’t forced to carve a face into a tiny turnip last month in October? I didn’t carve mine.. I wanted to be able to cook it later, so I drew on a face with a black permanent marker. When you cook your pumpkin, remember to wash the pumpkin and to throw away the part with the Sharpie ink on it.
Here is a link to the whole story on Supernatural.tv – did you know I watch Supernatural? Of course you did… right?
http://www.supernatural.tv/reviews/legends/s4/pumpkin.htm
The pumpkin curry soup I made tonight, slaving over a hot wok.
And here is a recipe for Pumpkin Curry Coconut Milk Soup…
Actually… here are a bunch.
http://www.yummly.com/recipes/pumpkin-curry-soup-coconut-milk
I don’t use recipes, because I’m weird, but this is roughly what went into mine:
- 1/2 a Medium Pumpkin, Cubed and Steamed (before making it soup)
- 2 Baked Boneless Chicken Breast
- 1 can Coconut Milk
- 2 cans Water
- 2 sliced Red Bellpeppers
- 1/2 chopped Garlic Clove
- 2 tablespoons Curry Powder
- 1 tablespooon Cumin
- a dash of Red Chili Powder
- 1 cup shredded Carrot
I also baked the pumpkin seeds… I assume you don’t need a recipe for that? Well, most of the time was involved in cleaning them.
Washing Pumpkin Seeds
Still washing pumpkin seeds…
And STILL washing pumpkin seeds!
Here is a recipe for pumpkin seeds if you want one. Personally, I threw them on a pizza pan, tossed some salt on them and cooked them for about 7 minutes.
http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/toasted_pumpkin_seeds/
The Headless Horseman
The ultimate scary pumpkin story is the Headless Horseman, who decides to replace his severed head with a delicious gourd. Although many of you have seen a movie or a cartoon about him, the original story was written by Washington Irving, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” He is the same guy who wrote “The Legend of Rip Van Winkle” so he was really into writing these spooky little short stories…. and it was short! It is in the public domain now, because it was published back in 1820. And you can read the whole thing right there…
If you have read the story, then you surely know that the horseman was supposed to be carrying his own severed head – much scarier than a pumpkin – but in the morning, only a smashed pumpkin was found. A spook or just a trick? You be the judge.
Speaking of smashed pumpkin… here are some pumpkin pie recipes, just in time for the December holidays!
http://allrecipes.com/recipes/desserts/pies/custard-and-cream-pies/pumpkin-pies/
Pumpkinhead
Pumpkinhead
And that was just an action figure… nuf said. Here is a nice link to a Mega Scale Pumpkin Head action figure review.
http://www.mwctoys.com/REVIEW_111006a.htm
Here is the IMDB link for Pumpkinhead…
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095925/?ref_=fn_al_tt_4
And here is your final recipe for the day… actually, let’s give you a link to 100. At least I hope it is 100, as advertised, because if Pumpkinhead arrives you will definitely need to know 100 ways to cook a pumpkin…
http://www.endlesssimmer.com/2010/10/14/100-ways-to-cook-a-pumpkin/
Sumiko Saulson 