Pumpkin Catharsis

Hey diddle diddle
The kitchen's not a place to fiddle,
The mix jumped out of my bowl.
I cried out and caught the bowl at seeing such baking ill-sport,
A prayer answered on Thanksgiving eve: I still had 2/3 recourse!

I had the blend I wanted. Experimental, yes, but I knew it would taste fantastic. And then the plastic family mixing bowl, a seemingly un-delicate little green thing with high sides, began to fall (note, this was not a family mixing bowl handed down by anyone in my family!).

My in-law bad karma began to pour out to one side as gravity grabbed the exquisite pumpkin pie filling (fresh Blue Moon pumpkin, Straus Whole Milk Maple yogurt, organic eggs, freshly grated nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and more) and pulled cruelly downward. It fell down the fronts of the most used drawers in my kitchen (okay the only drawers I have). Red drawers with silver handles became drenched in frothy, light yellow filling. It seeped quickly past the drawer edges and down into each drawer. In my state of shock/amusement and sadness, I didn't take a picture. Now there was foolishness!

[the graphic spill picture should be right here]

I moaned, calling out for help and grabbed the bowl, rescuing 2/3 of the mix but feeling awful for my inadvertent tap that had set the bowl falling. And yet, I was also calm and efficiently engaging in repetitive sponge motion cleanup:  absorb, wring, absorb, rinse, wring. It was a little silly. I chuckled and then went back to thinking I was out of the yogurt and wouldn't be able to redo it. I had promised the family a fresh pumpkin pie for thanksgiving. But then I realized the amount I did rescue.

Answering the Previous Post's Call for Pumpkin
My usual issue with authority reared its ugly head again. My invitation to readers to vote on which pumpkin recipe I should transform the magical Blue Moon pumpkin into fell to a majority vote for the pumpkin ravioli- thanks readers! But I discovered I didn't really care what a bunch of people on the Internet wanted. I thought I could care, but it turns out I'm the type that doesn't want to follow directions (in cooking or in choosing what to cook), even if I've asked for them.

The magnificent grey pumpkin was transformed into several things, none of which were the 4 suggested recipes from Edible Allegheny, as I'd implied. It became pie (several kinds and wonderfully experimental variations), pumpkin apple soup, homemade and healthy pumpkin/carrot/cornmush for my toddler. I just roasted the last of it that awaits a final fate. For now, we have savored, slurped, scraped and imbibed.

The soup shown above is roughly:

2 onions
1 golden apple from Mom in law's tree
16 oz. fresh raw pumpkin, peeled
nutmeg to taste or infatuation with its qualities
24 oz. chicken broth
5 slices of fresh ginger

Onions, pumpkins and apples were browned in a cast iron skillet until softened. Then they were put in a slow cooker with the other ingredients and slow cooked 30ish minutes. This soup ages VERY well.

My toddler slurped it up with several declarations of, "Mas!" after I served it. It must feel great for her cold. I give thanks for the gourd!