Happy Halloween 2010!

Back in 2008 I had blogged that October has always been my favorite month. I explained it in part to the air cooling and fireplaces starting to crackle - although here in Phoenix the daily high is still reaching the triple digits! But best of all…..Halloween falls at the end of this month. This magical day brings out the youth in us all.

When selecting your pumpkins for carving, pick up a few extra…..they make great foodstuff! Everyone’s familiar with pumpkin pie, and many with pumpkin bread. For those of you wanting to experiment with the wonderful world of pumpkins, Kokopelli's Kitchen chose these mouth-drooling recipes from “Arizona Territory Cook Book” by Daphne Overstreet. Permission to reprint granted by Golden West Publishers in Phoenix, AZ.

Pumpkins have been cultivated by Arizona Indians and are still an important crop.

• Pima, Papago and Havasupai: Cut a peeled pumpkin into small pieces. Now shell fresh fresh corn from 3 cobs and mash to pulp. Mix corn and pumpkin together together and cook in about 1 cup of water until pumpkin is soft. Add salt and serve hot.
  
• Apache: Simmer cubed pumpkin until tender, and mash. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons ground sunflower seeds to each cup of pumpkin. Season lightly with salt.
  

FRUIT OR PUMPKIN EMPANADAS by Livia Leon Montiel

Crust:
• 5 cups FLOUR
  
• 1 cup LARD
  
• 1 tsp. SALT
  
• 1 tsp. BAKING POWDER
  
• 3 Tbsp. SUGAR

Mix all ingredients and add enough water to make a stiff dough. Make small balls out of dough and roll out to the size of a pancake. Place filling in center and fold crust in half. Crimp edges to keep fruit or pumpkin from draining out. Place on cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.

Fruit filling may be stewed apricots, prunes, apples or canned cherries and peaches. Add cloves, allspice, cinnamon, and sugar to fruit.

For pumpkin filling, add 1 cup brown sugar, a dash of cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt, to about 3 cups, cooked pumpkin. Cook 10 minutes, stirring constantly, and cool before making empanadas.

Pinon nuts, almonds or raisins may also be added to the fillings.

Thanksgiving Day Desserts

Thanksgiving Day is fast approaching! The traditional Thanksgiving dessert is pumpkin pie. There are other desserts that are traditionally served, but these often vary from family to family as well as by region of the country. For those of you looking to spice up your dessert table this year, check out these contest winning recipes we found in FROM THE QUEEN'S COOKBOOK. Permission to reprint the recipes has been granted by Adobe Milling in Dove Creek, Colorado.

SOUR CREAM APPLE PIE (Blue Ribbon 1984 by Bev Young)
Filling:

• 1 EGG
  
• ½ cup SUGAR
  
• 2 Tbsp. FLOUR
  
• ¼ tsp. SALT
  
• 2 Tbsp. LEMON JUICE
  
• 1 cup thick SOUR CREAM
  
• 4 cups peeled, sliced APPLES
  

Topping:

• ¼ cup FLOUR
  
• 1 tsp. GROUND CINNAMON
  
• ¼ cup BUTTER
  
• ½ cup BROWN SUGAR
  

Filling: Beat together egg, sugar, flour, salt and lemon juice, then beat in sour cream. Place apples in shell. Pour sour cream mixture over apples and bake in a preheated 400° oven for 15 minutes. Topping: Combine brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and butter until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle over apples. Reduce oven to 350° and bake about 35 more minutes or until apples are tender.

CHEESE CRUST THREE FRUIT PIE (White Ribbon 1989 by Beverly Young)

• 3 tsp. SHARP CHEESE
  
• 4 cups thinly sliced APPLES
  
• 1/3 cup CRANBERRY SAUCE
  
• 2 Tbsp. grated ORANGE PEEL
  
• 1 Tbsp. CORNSTARCH
  

In your favorite pie crust, add cheese and fill with all other ingredients. Dot with butter; cover. Dot top crust with butter. Dust with sugar and bake at 400° for 40 minutes or until brown.

PUMPKIN CHEESY BARS (Blue Ribbon 1990 by Genevieve Wells)

• 1 cup ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR
  
• 1/3 cup packed BROWN SUGAR
  
• 5 Tbsp. soft BUTTER
  
• ½ cup finely chopped PECANS
  
• 8 oz. CREAM CHEESE
  
• 1 tsp. VANILLA
  
• ¾ cup SUGAR
  
• ½ cup PUMPKIN
  
• 2 beaten EGGS
  
• ½ tsp. SALT
  
• 1½ tsp. CINNAMON
  
• 1 tsp. ground ALLSPICE
  

Combine flour and brown sugar in a bowl. Cut in butter to make a crumb mixture for topping. Stir in nuts. Set aside ¾ cup for top. Press remaining mixture into bottom of an 8 x 8½ inch pan. Bake for 15 minutes. Cool. Combine cream cheese, sugar, spices, pumpkin and vanilla in a large bowl. Blend until smooth. Pour over baked crust. Sprinkle with reserved topping. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Cool before cutting into bars. Make bars 1 x 2 inches.

Happy Thanksgiving to You & Yours!