Our extended family hosts a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner each year. Everyone shares a few dishes and we all enjoy trying each other's food. Last year, our family started a little tradition of our own. The night before Thanksgiving, we cook a special dinner for the three of us. This year, it looks like I am covering the mains while Ryan assumes the role of pastry chef.
A few weeks back, my neighbor was telling me that you can hollow out a small pumpkin, stuff it with ground meat, rice or barley, dried crandberries, veggies and herbs and bake the whole thing for about 2 hours at 350 degrees. She emailed me the recipe that she "sorta made up" and is even bringing over the barley for me. We definitely have a borrow-a-cup-of-sugar relationship. Earlier this week she gave me the very last tomato from her garden for a tablespoon of balsamic. Good trade, indeed. The housing gods were really looking out for us when they granted us the kindest neighbor in all of Los Angeles. How cute is this excerpt from her recipe?
Serve it whole, with the "lid" on -- I think it's charmingly cute food. To serve, use a big serving spoon and scrape the cooked pumpkin flesh out with the filling on each plate. It warms the house & smells delicious! Leftovers are also tasty. I suppose in the absence of the pumpkin you could just make the filling part and add roasted chunks of any winter squash to it. But really, serving the whole pumpkin is so visually Yay.
Sounds fantastic, we are trying that tonight for our special dinner. I am finding it difficult to not bust into the kitchen and just start making it now. And what to do with those seeds? Well, I'd love to toast them, I've never tried that before. For dessert, Ryan is making Cranberry-Pear Crisp.
And for tomorrow, well, that took us a long time to decide. We were tasked with a veggie and dessert. No problem, my two favorite things! But what to make? Something apple-y? or something pumpkin? What about carmel? What about carmel-apple? Carmel-pumpkin? Yes, Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Dulce de Leche! And what veggie should we bring? Something green, since there will already be sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes? Yes, something vibrant, tasty and green it is.
Cool, we're all decided then. However, waiting until today to shop has proven a little less than relaxing. Just got this text from Ryan:
Tv crew broadcasting about the crowds at this Whole Foods parking lot. Terrible decision.
Bless his heart.
Hello! I'm Liz Scott - mama to two little ones, maker, and all around curiosity chaser. I live with my family in Los Angeles, where we seek to fill each day with adventure, joy and creativity. I write about it all here on the blog. Thank you for visiting.
