Gosh, it's one of the biggest food days of the year and no posts to date!  Today that stops. 

I am still the kid in my family, so I don't have any Thanksgiving dishes of my own to contribute to the big family meal, which is kind of nice because it allows me to make whatever the heck I want.  A few years back I discovered this little gem- not a lot of work and big rewards!  It's delicious on bread or biscuits, and I bet it'd be a nice filling for something too. 



Pumpkin butter is like apple butter, so you start with a puree of the basic fruit, add some things, and cook it down until it's silky smooth and just delicious.  You will start a new Thanksgiving trend.

This recipe comes from Dorie Greenspan and I found it in a newspaper insert so it's hard telling if it's been published elsewhere. 

Maple Pumpkin Butter
from Dorie Greenspan

1- 29 oz can pumpkin (not pie mix, just plan pumpkin)
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup apple cider
3/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Put all ingredients in a large, heavy, ovenproof casserole and stir to blend. Place the pan over medium-low heat and bring to a boil, stirring all the while. Lower the heat and, still stirring, cook 5 minutes more.

Slide the casserole into the oven and cook, stirring every 15 minutes, until the pumpkin butter has thickened and there is no liquid around the sides of the pan, 1 to 2 hours.

Cool the pumpkin butter, then cover and chill. Packed airtight, it will keep for a week in the refrigerator.

Over the last several months, Drew and I have fostered an addiction to Trader Joe's Roasted Red Pepper Hummus.  We could devour a container in one day if we showed no restraint.  It's great as a dip, a sandwich spread, and even a very thick salad dressing.  The only problem with the Trader Joe's hummus is that the closest TJ's is about an hour from us, so it's a rare treat.  We knew we needed a substitute to fill the void.



While this recipe doesn't completley hit it for us, it's a great roasted red pepper hummus recipe that is fairly simple and gets better with about a day in the fridge.  It's definitely a great substitute, and it comes from user MARBALET from allrecipes.com. 

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
from allrecipes.com

1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained

I love pimento cheese, don't you?  Pimento cheese is one of those foods that holds a special place in my heart because I have eaten it all my life.  It's nostalgic.  It's also delicious, but there are imposters, so beware.  When my tastes started to mature a bit, however, I stopped eating it.  As a kid, my pimento cheese came from the grocery store, in tubs near the prepackaged coleslaw and chili, and were made by a company called Ruth's (sorry Ruth, no offense).  That kind of pimento cheese now tastes....what's the word?.....weird.  That's the best I can do to muster my vocabulary skills to find a fitting word.  It's mushy and has flavors that aren't found outside a chemistry lab.  While the nostalgic quality is there, the viable deliciousness is not. 


Here's a very basic recipe:

Pimento Cheese

8 oz cheese, grated
2 Tb. mayonaise
1/2 small (4 oz) jar diced pimentos
salt and pepper, to taste

Place the mayo, pimentos, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl, stirring until well combined.  Add in cheese and mix until everything is evenly mixed and incorporated. 

Cook's Notes

• This is the very basic recipe I use.  It is simple and good!  I have tried a variation which includes adding minced onion, toasted chopped pecans, and worcestershire sauce.  While that variation tasted great and held more interest for our taste buds, it was more like a cheese ball and not true pimento cheese. 
• This is actually a half-recipe from a Paula Deen cookbook.  If you hate having things like half jars of pimentos in your fridge, feel free to double the recipe.  While the posted amount is perfect for the two of us for about a week, you may need/want more. 
• This stuff is great if you grill it in a sandwich.  Oh, words cannot do the experience justice. 

• Since I experiment with everything, I would like to try some made with cream cheese as the storebought varieties usually have a creamier consistency than this yields.  Does anyone have a recipe that has proven successful?