Pumpkin, Pumpkin everywhere!

 It is not often that we get a pumpkin anymore or try to grow them even- we havent had anyone to help carve them in the past few years, and we haven't had any trick or treaters either - especially now with the Covid going on.  We haven't had much luck growing them either out here in the Burg- just not enough grow days that are warm enough. With the big Blue Full Moon on Halloween I felt like I needed a pumpkin this year!  It also happens to be my Father in Laws birthday that day so there always needs to be a slightly spooky element to the day.  Just a little something to have fun on Halloween and a birthday!

None of my people claim to like very "sweet" things so birthday cake is out - he won't eat it, but the Krispy Kreme doughnut holes in the cup are perfect to put in the freezer and then he can have just a "dabble do ya" whenever he wants!  The Hubby is also not a fan of Pumpkin Spice anything (twigs and berries he calls it)!

(not my picture - it's from the Krispy Kreme site)

They are also not huge eaters of anything overly "pumpkin"!  I always feel bad about having a pumpkin that never gets a use other than roasting the delicious seeds and eating them like popcorn on Halloween night.  Another reason I hadn't got a pumpkin in prior years.

So this year I got the dads tiny pumpkin and I also got one for Hubby and I - a "baker Pumpkin" it was called.

 

We got some tasty seeds out.  Actually a lot of tasty seeds!  We put a little olive oil on them, a little salt and pepper and we roasted them on a cookie sheet for about 20 minutes at 400 degrees - stir once!  Forgot to take a picture of them!

After we got the seeds taken care of and we enjoyed the pumpkin for a day or two, we baked it up into a delightful dinner!  Don't use a candle in your pumpkin if you plan to eat it - use Christmas twinkle lights instead - they put off a nice glow without making it unhealthy to eat your pumpkin.

Baked Stuffed Pumpkin

1 small Baker Pumpkin - hollowed out and cleaned - rub with olive oil

1 Lb Hamburger - we used a mix of beef and pork sausage

1 C Cooked seasoned rice - I like the dirty rice from Zatarans but any will work even plain

1/2 C Diced onion

1 large Garlic Clove - finely diced

2 Tbsp Tomato Paste

1/4 C parmesan cheese

2 Tsp microplaned jalapeno (dice it fine if you dont have a microplaner)

1 Tsp Italian Season (if you dont use spiced rice)

Brown the burger and set aside in a bowl.  Saute the onion and the garlic for a few minutes to get that good flavor out - the onions should be a little bit soft.  Mix with the meat in the bowl and add the other ingredients.  Mix it well and then stuff that pumpkin!  Pack it pretty inside pretty good but dont overfill too much.

Place the stuffed pumpkin in narrow baking dish - I used a bread pan and it worked well.  Place the lid on the pumpkin and bake at 375 for 1 hour or until a fork test tells you that the pumpkin is cooked.  The pumpkin skin will be tougher than a zuchinni might be but its still tasty!  Serve with a little more parmesan cheese.

Enjoy!

We served ours with roasted turmeric Cauliflower as our side.  Easy - just put your cauliflower florets in a baking pan (again I used a bread pan), drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with 1 tsp of turmeric and a little salt and pepper.  Roast in the oven covered for anout 30 minutes at 375.  We put ours in about half way through the pumpkinn cook and it worked great!

I hope you had a fantastic Halloween and that you have just the right amount of Pumpkin and Spice for the rest of the season!  

Be Well - Blessed Be!