This time of year, with the leaves turning and the cooler days and nights upon us, makes me look forward to the holiday season starting.
It also brings us into the holiday spirit of cooking some old-timey recipes that have been passed on from generation to generation. I have a 100-year-old applesauce recipe passed down from mother to mother on my side of the family.
Extra Photos
Submitted photo Savory pumpkin dip
One of my favorite types of foods to cook with for the season is pumpkin. My mom used to make the best pumpkin pies in the world – the old-fashioned way cooked with a custard base.
The word “pumpkin” comes from the Greek word “pepon,” which means large melon. It is really a fruit introduced to the Pilgrims along with squash.
Squash and pumpkin are believed to have originated in ancient Americas. The Pilgrims were delighted to have discovered this wonderful fruit from the American Indians.
They used it as a main staple to get them though the long and rugged winters because it could be dried out and used for food, plus you could eat the seeds after they were roasted.
There are so many uses for this wonderful and delightful fruit. The Pilgrims even made beer out of it by fermenting a combo of persimmons, hops, maple sugar and pumpkin to make this early brew.
You can also make pumpkin fudge, and pumpkin soup or add it to coffees with spice. I’ve been known to even make pumpkin doughnuts – or at least buy a few.
We can make a sweet dip and a savory dip. I made up a savory pumpkin dip for the Aiken Home Show and many of you ladies wanted the recipe.
I also made up a recipe for MadJon’s Holiday e-cookbook where I stuffed the pumpkins with sweet potatoes, spices and such, much like what the Pilgrims did, only I topped it off with marshmallows, for a modern-day effect.
The pilgrims also wrote a verse about the pumpkin which goes like:
“For Pottage and Puddings and custard’s and pies
Our pumpkins and parsnips are common supplies.
We have pumpkins at morning and pumpkins at noon,
If it were not for pumpkins we should be undoon.”
– Pilgrim verse Circa 1633.
Happy holidays to you and your families.
Eileen Hutson is a local professional cook who stars in the ASTV show “Cooking with MadJon and Friends.” Visit her blog at cookingwithmadjon.blogspot.com.
Savory pumpkin dip
1 can pure pumpkin
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
3 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. Mrs. Dash’s
1 packet ranch dressing dip
2 tbsp. sherry
1 cup sour cream
1 cup half and half
1 cup cheddar cheese
3 tbsp. butter
1 cup French fried onions
2 diced green onions
Heat the butter in a pan on low heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until clear in color. Then add the pumpkin and all of the spices. Then add the sour cream, half and half and cheese. Stir in the ranch dressing packet and sugar to the mix and blend well on low heat. Add the sherry to the pot and stir, stir, stir. Cool your mixture down, and you are ready to plate. Place dip in a bowl and top with the green onions and French fried onions. Serve with some bread cubes toasted or with pita chips.
Cream of pumpkin soup
1 large can of pumpkin
1 onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
½ stick butter
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 whole bay leaf
4 leafs or 1 tsp. dried sage
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
2 chicken bouillon cubes
2 32-ounce cans of chicken broth
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. thyme
1 cup half and half
Chop the onions and garlic. Heat butter in a pan and cook onions and garlic until they are clear. Add the chicken broth, bay leafs, salt and pepper, bouillon cubes, onion and garlic powders, thyme, sage and cinnamon. Cook for about 20 minutes. Add the pumpkin and simmer another 5 minutes. Add the half and half and cook another 15 to 20 minutes or until the soup thickens.
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