punkins

a small pumpkin all stuffed with goodness and ready for a 350 degree oven

The theme over at The Karmic Kitchen this darn DSS (Dim Sum Sunday) is squash/pumpkin and this recipe is both delicious & impressive (and easy !) as a side dish or as the main event served with a salad. Pumpkin packed with Bread and Cheese a la Dorie Greenspan with a few Black Street variations and don't neglect the freshly grated nutmeg please.

I followed the recipe to a tee with the addition of 1 medium onion sliced thinly and sauteed with a little olive oil, 1 fat garlic clove minced and 4 strips of bacon cut into small pieces- you could also use diced ham (also sauteed with the onions so that everything has a nice carmelization). I forgot to remove the pumpkin cap for the last 20 mins of baking which I realize now is an essential step. I would even throw on a handful of combined grated Parmesan cheese and Gruyere cheese at this step to ensure that the top becomes nicely browned and bubbly.

This dish is absolutely delicious and was served to me the first time in a little Cavendish cottage kitchen, while best gal pal MLou* and I (avec les cheins Missy D & Missy J) were on last Autumn's terrific Cavendish Limited adventure. She served the packed pumpkin with a simple roast chicken stuffed with lemon and garlic and a salad of spinach, orange and red onion. Yum.

Everybody's sleeping in this morning. BleetNess has gone outside to sleep in his pillow topped old white wicker chair on our front porch where he contemplates the life of a fat black velvet Chicelet and the rest of the gang (including new-no-more Miss Piper Belle mon petite coyote) are all flaked out snoozing in various places nearby me - waitin' for Mama to make a move. It's wild, windy, raining and freakishly warm - I'll take the freakishly warm. The (my) cover art is coming - and speaking of freaking. Mama will be so happy when this piece is done and put to bed 'cause it's a makin' her nervous. On the radio today -fantastic CBC shows all day long to keep me and my collagin', paintin', fussin' and fumin' company.

* Hey ! that girl left for Thailand Friday for 6 weeks to visit with the Lauchness, her husband, who works there and she's promised to blog while she's gone - so stay tuned, blog posting from bustling Bangkok or perhaps from a lounge chair beachside in paradise. Her blog is 163 degrees



scrape out some of the yummy baked pumpkin to serve along with bread, cheese & goodness