For 2020, we’ll be trying to have as normal of a Thanksgiving as possible. This year will be my second year cooking dinner, and I have many new foods planned for this meal. Last year, was the standard three: turkey, mashed potatoes, and stuffing, then we also had some crescents and 2 different veggies. This year, I am planning a sweet potato casserole, glazed and roasted beets, crescents again, and frozen green beans from this summer’s garden. This year I also made a pumpkin pie that we’ll be having with our dinner. Once the day is over, Friday, I’ll also be boiling the bones to make stock again this year. This year’s stock will be frozen like before, however this stock will likely be used almost strictly entirely for gravy.
To see recipes for what I’ll be making, you can click a link below!
Almost any seed or nut can be turned into this peanut butter state. Most nuts and seeds have oils that come out once they are crushed and with just a bit of additional oil, you can get a nice and smooth peanut butter alternative. For this recipe, I used the roasted pumpkin seeds I made a week ago. These pumpkin seeds were crisper than store bought seeds and had more of a roasted flavor. The quality and flavor of your seeds will greatly affect you butter. This recipe was made with 1 cup of seeds, made 1/2 cup of butter, and is enough for 2 sandwiches.
1. Add Seeds to Blender. Add sugar, then blend for 3 minutes on high. Slowly add oil 1/2 Tbsp at a time, and blending 1 minute between additions. Blend until desired texture is reached. Transfer to a small storage container and store in the fridge.
Pumpkin bread is another simple way to use up any extra pumpkin you may still have. I roasted my pumpkins before I blended it into a puree for these pumpkin recipes. This bread has lots of seasonal flavor and is very easy to make. This bread has good moisture, a good bread/cake texture, and is not overly sweet. I was able to make 3 loaves from this recipe, however, I only filled my pans half way, so if you want bigger loaves, just fill your pans a more, but leave about 1/2 an inch for expansion. This bread is also very similar to a zucchini bread, just with pumpkin and with festive spices!
1. Heat oven to 325 F. Spray bread(s) pan with non-stick spray then coat with flour. In a mixing bowl, creme together sugar and butter. Once combined, begin adding oil and eggs slowly. Add your spices, baking powder, and baking soda, then slowly mix in flour, and finally, mix in your pumpkin and stir until fully combined.
2. Fill bread pans to 1/2 to 3/4 full. Bread will not rise much. Bake bread for 65-70 minutes until tester comes out clean. Remove from pan and let cool to room temperature. Once cooled, eat within a week, or wrap with two layers of cling wrap before freezing.
For advice from others and how others alter roasting pumpkin seeds, visit this recipe. This is an older recipe, so there is a lot of feedback and advice that might be helpful to you. Many of the popular opinions, I’ll touch on though. Some people like to boil their seeds in salt water, while others just like to toss and bake. If you do boil your seeds, the salt flavor is infused into the seeds, however it is recommended to let your seeds then dry for 24 hrs before baking. Some don’t wait, they just have to bake a bit longer to get out the extra moisture. Boiling would also help save time in cleaning the seeds since boiling separates the pulp from the seed. If you don’t boil your seeds, you can rinse them in a strainer to help remove the excess pulp. Also, instead of using normal salt, some use garlic salt or sea salt for different flavors, and instead of butter, some use an even mix of oil and butter, or just oil to coat the seeds before baking.
As for my experience, I tried a mix of different advice I had seen. First, I did boil the seeds. I wanted the salty flavor on the inside of the seeds, and I believed this would make the outsides softer to eat. Then, I did not let them dry out for 24 hours, instead I immediately tossed them in butter and baked them. I baked them at a higher temperature, 350 F, for a short time, 25 minutes. Because of this, the seeds were very roasted, and were visibly darkened. They had a rich roasted flavor that would easily have burnt if they continued too much longer. Also from this higher heat, these seeds are very brittle. They easily crack open and break apart. The flavor on these seeds were absolutely delicious though. Buttery, salty, and with a rich and deep flavor, similar to the flavor of sunflower seeds, these were delicious and can easily be made into a topping for a salad, or turned into a tasty seed butter. I had a 3-4 pound pumpkin and got about 2 cups of seeds to roast.
1. Place salted water in sauce pan and place over high heat. Separate your seeds and place them in a colander. Rinse seeds with hot water. Place seeds in boiling water, boil for 15 minutes. Strain. Heat oven to 350 F.
2. Melt butter and add salt into tossing container. Toss seeds in butter. Spread out on baking sheet in one layer. Bake for 15 minutes. Stir, then return to single layer before baking for another 10 minutes. Pour into a storage container.
This recipe came from the King Arthur Baking site. Blueberry buckle is a classic dessert. This recipe is very good. It tastes not too sweet, and is very tasty with the coffee cake twist. I only have two critiques. First, a bit of lemon would be very nice in this cake. Either adding lemon juice in place of vanilla extract, or adding some lemon zest to both/either dough and/or crumb topping. Second, I used a 7 x 11 baking dish. I don’t know whether the directions work for a square pan, but I had to bake my cake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, where the edges were beginning to burn. Just a warning to make sure the cake is fully cooked if you use a square pan, and a bit of advice if you wish to use an elongated pan like I did. It would be best to cover with foil for 1 hour, then bake without for the last 15 minutes.
Baking pan, 8inx8in, 9inx9in, 9in round, or 7inx11in
Directions
1. Heat Oven to 375 F. Lightly grease your pan with nonstick spray. In a small mixing bowl, mix first half of flour and sugar with cinnamon and a pinch of salt. Then break up first half of butter in mixture until a sandy texture is reached, this is the topping.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, mix together remaining butter, sugar, an egg, and vanilla. In a small bowl, mix together remaining flour, baking soda, and a pinch of salt. Begin slowly adding flour and milk to butter mixture, ending with flour. Add blueberries and stir just to combine. Pour mixture into greased pan.
3. Top dough with crumb topping. Bake for 45 minutes for a square or round pan. Bake for 1 hour covered and 15 minute uncovered for a rectangle pan. Use a tester to be sure. Let cool before serving.
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