Smuggling Pumpkins

 Today is all about Pumpkins. We grew a number at the allotment and have a variety of shapes and sizes.

MJ took one to his harvest festival at school today.

I made some Pumpkin soup but it did not tickle the taste buds of my children so now I am being creative with other Pumpkins recipes. MJ and Lj love dropped scones so I have adjusted the recipe slightly so that I can add Pumpkin.

My normal dropped scone recipe is:

4oz Self Raising Flour (1/2 Wholemeal Flour if you wish...I do!)
Salt
2oz Caster Sugar (Quite often I reduce this but I think it is all necessary when adding pumpkin)
1 Egg
Milk

To use Pumpkins add:
Chop the Pumpkin (approx 150g as fine as you can)
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Ginger
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
1/4 tsp Black pepper

My first attempt tasted OK but the second time I added more of the spices and a little black pepper and this time they taste amazing (to me)...I await MJ's return from school and Lj waking from her nap for the kiddy taste test!

Tonight for the first time I will open my house to friends and friends of friends to come and craft. This has come out of listening to my Mother in Law talk of how when she lived in Holland she did a similar thing with her friends. But also a desire to get to know my new neighbours and make new similar minded friends. Perhaps I will take a photo and do a blog post on how the evening goes...but back to Pumpkins. Yesterday, a friend gave me a recipe for Spiced Pumpkin cupcakes so I have baked a batch for this evenings gathering. They are yet to be frosted but they already smell great.

MJ suggested we have our own Harvest celebration table at home. We set out a Pumpkin and he is desperate to add more food to the display. But in my minimal way I love how it sits on its own on the white sideboard and am reluctant to add anything more.

And finally, the largest Pumpkin we are storing so we can make a Jack 'O' Lantern in a few weeks time.