Pumpkin Italiano: I decided to get a little creative with the pumpkin butter that I posted about yesterday, so I used it as a base for whipping up some cheesy garlic bread and surprisingly, it didn’t turn out half bad!  The pumpkin itself was more of a background hint to the garlic and cheese flavors, which I think would be preferred anyways because things may have turned out for the worse if the pumpkin was butting heads up front with the garlic…

Ingredients: Pretty simple, really…

• Italian white bread
• Country Crock Pumpkin Spice Spread
• parmesan cheese (nothing fancy, just the sprinkly kind in the bottle from Kraft)
• garlic bread seasoning
• a sprinkle of Kraft Mexican Whatever cheese on top

Verdict: Serve it up with some spaghetti and meatballs, bada boom, bada bing – the crowd will love it!

Photo Disclaimer: This was a takeout order, so apologies for the lackluster photo – I’m sure it actually looks much better when enjoyed in the restaurant!

The Setup: Although I didn’t have the opportunity to visit GrillSmith down the street myself, my wife happened to stop there for dinner and noticed this particularly intriguing pumpkin entree that she thought I might enjoy.  How sweet is that?!

The Texture: Honestly, pretty much the only thing that threw me on this one was a little bit of the texture because although I did expect the implied shreds of crab, what did catch me off guard were the other things floating just under the surface of the soup – they looked like maybe some chopped scallions as well as almonds … the latter of which were admittedly a little weird to find in a soup!  But for the most part, I simply blame this confusion on the fact that it was takeout and probably got mixed up a bit from the nice, pretty presentation at the restaurant where all of these elements are floated on top of the soup like I later saw in some pictures.

The Taste: Redemption!  I actually really enjoyed the flavors a whole lot – the pumpkin mixed very nicely with the crab, and maintained a nice, thick consistency that worked well even with the sub par piece of bread that I had from Target to serve as a side.  I’m not sure I get the whole “caribbean” angle from the name of the dish, but at this point I’d be happy to go back and give it another shot in house to see if I can find out!

Quick Review: This one, on the other hand, was my least favorite … and not just because it more resembled the guts inside of a pumpkin when I took the cover off the pot on the stove!  I’m not sure if it was the particular kind of rice that I used, but while tasting pumpkin-y, it was also very dry and grainy and I honestly only ate a couple of bites before pitching the rest and grabbing another muffin instead…

Recipe: Brown Rice + Pumpkin (via VeryBestBaking.com)

Appearance: You ever notice how there are several tiers of appeal when you’re eating one of these microwave meals?  The first is when you simply look at the box and think, “Yeah – that looks pretty good.  I’d eat that for lunch one day next week!”  Then Wednesday comes and after actually opening the package, you think, “Well, it doesn’t look exactly like it does on the box, but they never do…” as if that’s some kind of excuse!  Finally, the microwave beeps and you open the door, faced with the meal that you’re actually going to have to eat now, thinking, “Is this what it’s supposed to look like?!  Where’d the box go???  Also, why do these things always smell like burning plastic?”
Taste: Surprisingly decent, which for microwave dinners is actually pretty good … at least in my book!  It certainly didn’t look great between the halfway stir cooking point and the finale, but I was actually able to stomach the whole thing, and the ravioli tasted remarkably like pumpkin in a way that I honestly never would’ve expected out of a microwave meal.  If you insist on eating these things for lunch and you enjoy pumpkin, I’d say that this one is worth a try!
Caveat: Just good luck actually finding it – I previously had only seen these through online grocers and wasn’t about to pay $15 between the dinner and however many ice packs it would’ve taken to get the thing to me here in Florida, but luckily one day pretty much on a whim I came across it at our local Super Target on a day when I was basically searching out anything pumpkin that I could find!  I checked at all of the other options – Walmart, Sweetbay, Publix – and none of them carried this one, so if you want to give it a try, just be prepared to hunt for it…

The Menu:

• Pumpkin and Sage Pizza
• Pumpkin Pie Milkshake

The ‘Za: I’m a fan of pizza in a big, bad way, so when it came time to figure out what to do for an entree for dinner and I found this recipe, needless to say it was an easy choice!  And granted, while I’m not necessarily super fond of them crazy, new age pizzas with all sorts of strange cheeses and healthy ingredients on them, I was actually pleasantly surprised when I took my first bite out of this pumpkin pizza.  The pumpkin flavor wasn’t strong, but blended well with the onions and sage, and the goat cheese especially made for more of a bite than you might expect from straight up mozzarella by itself.  I honestly think I blame the lack of pumpkin pizazz simply on the lackluster pumpkin that I found at the grocery store, but even that said, it was a pizza of a different variety than that which I’ve grown accustomed and I still enjoyed it!

Pizza Substitutions: I ended up using sweet onions instead of shallots because I had trouble finding them, and Pillsbury Pizza Crust in place of the dough (I use this stuff all the time for homemade pizzas and love it because it’s so quick and simple).  I also had to swap out rubbed sage for leaves because, well, the recipe didn’t actually list sage leaves as ingredients! But such is life – I suppose that’s what I get for not reading the entire instructions more thoroughly before going grocery shopping…

The Milkshake: Definitely one of the better homemade milkshakes that I’ve made, I was happy to taste that all of the sugar and spices did a great job of masking some of the frozen yogurt flavors that I’m not necessarily always fond of.  I tend to make my milkshakes just using ice cream as opposed to frozen yogurt, but this one had a great flavor and the gingersnap crumblings on top made for a tasty, decorative treat!  One last bonus – not being overly thick, this made for a great beverage to go alongside the pumpkin pizza … probably my favorite meal of The All-Pumpkin Meal Plan so far.

The Menu:

• Thai Pumpkin Soup
• Pumpkin Dip
• Pumpkin Juice

The Soup: Admittedly I was a bit skeptical, as one properly should be when there are ingredients like fish sauce and strange Thai spices involved, but I was pleasantly surprised to find a subtle resemblance to Campbell’s Cream of Shrimp soup that I always have a hard time finding at the grocery store.  It didn’t really taste spicy, although maybe that’s just a stereotype with Thai food, and I definitely enjoyed it better with a few Saltines, so maybe the salt helped to keep the fishiness in check.  Still, I finished my entire bowl…
The Dip: I think I underestimated just how thick and filling the soup would be, but I’m not sure what else I could’ve come up with as a light accompaniment for this lunch, anyways!  This dip had a great flavor, though, and I was happy that it tasted more like a stand-alone dip than just your average pumpkin-pie-flavored whatever. I would’ve liked it just a tad bit thicker, but still very sweet and delicious – the brown sugar and cream cheese really compliment the pumpkin extremely well here.  Also, just a fair warning – the recipe as-is makes a lot, so either size it down or make sure you’ve got plenty of crackers on hand!
The Juice: I kind of had a feeling that this would end up being thick, especially after triple-checking the recipe to make sure that I wasn’t supposed to add the pumpkin while it was still on the stove-top to give it a better chance to dissolve.  On it’s own, I guess it wouldn’t have been too bad, but I really wanted a nice and light beverage to go along with the creamy soup – in hindsight, some sort of Pumpkin Iced Tea would’ve probably been better.  Too bad, really, because the cider mixture cooking with the ginger and cinnamon the night before made the kitchen smell great … adding half a can of pumpkin puree to the mix just made it too much to swallow with this meal, though.

Full Name: Cinnamon Pumpkin, Squash, Yam and Cheddar Pot Pie
Origin: Back to Truffles on one of the last nights of the cruise for a vegetarian surprise that not only tickled the tastebuds, but aside from one stray pepper / tomato / otherwise unidentified red veggie, also managed to do nothing less than reinvigorate my passion for the pumpkin flavor!  Pretty impressive for the fine chefs of the Carnival Legend, if I do say so myself!
The Nitty Gritty: Despite being listed as a vegetarian entree when I, myself, am very distinctly not vegetarian, I couldn’t help but order this for dinner out of sheer curiosity … and also because I didn’t notice the “vegetarian” footnote until after I’d already placed my order.  Nonetheless, I was quite pleasantly surprised when our waiter, Elvis, placed this delectable offering in front of me – sadly, my photography skills don’t really do this one justice because it’s plating looked pretty nice.  Granted, we never were able to figure out what the “cheese wedge thingys” were, let alone those clear, little orbs for garnish (leave a comment if you know!), however nonetheless the pie itself was simply divine…
Oh, Do Go On!: It’s probably important to note from the name that the contents were sort of a blend of pumpkin, squash, and yams, but then again, pumpkin and squash are kind of in the same family anyways and really, who doesn’t love a good yam?!  The final mixture had a great flavor with just a hint of spice, and the bites that also included a piece of the flaky crust were particularly delicious.  And as hinted above, there was one slightly less than pleasant finding, and frankly other than it being red, I’m not entirely sure what it even was, but by the time I unearthed it I was already halfway through so I simply tossed it to the side and kept going full speed ahead!
Bon Voyage: Overall, I’ve got to tip my hat to Carnival for these pumpkin offerings because not only did they catch me completely off guard when they appeared on the menu, but aside from the pie who should not be named, the other two offerings from Truffles were both quite enjoyable.  Sure, it being fall and whatnot, I wouldn’t have minded coming across maybe a pumpkin cheesecake or even just a regular pumpkin pie on one of the dessert buffets, but still, if there’s one thing we’ve all learned here over the years, when it comes to pumpkin, sometimes we just have to take whatever we can find…

Preface: Although it didn’t even dawn on me that I might encounter a bit of pumpkin-based deliciousness when I stepped onto the Carnival Legend recently for a 7-day cruise through the Caribbean, I was pleasantly surprised when the greatest vegetable on Earth made appearances not once, but during several meals throughout the week!  “So how did they stack up?” you ask?  Well…

Origin: This first of three pumpkin treats was served as an appetizer in Truffles, the ship’s main dining room on our second day.
Fancy Flavor: As you might be able to discern from the name and china patterns, Truffles is a rather upscale eating establishment – the kind where the waiter actually places your napkin on your lap for you if you neglect to do so yourself, in fact!  And while I can’t say that yours truly wasn’t just a bit out of his element in such a high-class joint, please rest assured that both the food and the waitstaff certainly did their best to make a casual guy like me feel right at home!
On with the ACTUAL Flavor!: Well, compared to this little ditty that I experimented with earlier this spring, Carnival’s version of this pumpkin-y appetizer was the exact opposite in all the right ways – the consistency of soup as opposed to pie, a pleasant but not overpowering amount of kick, and most of all, a quantity that actually qualified it as the appetizer instead of the entree.  Overall, a great and unexpected way to start the trip!

Spanish-to-English Translation: Pumpkin Soup with Ginger
Where?: natural/organic section of my local Publix
Whim?: Yeah, pretty much.  Obviously I don’t really expect to find much pumpkin-y goodness on the shelves this time of year and I actually almost passed over this one, too.
Actual Reaction: Not what I was expecting…
Elaboration: Ever wonder what it would be like to liquefy a pumpkin pie and serve it beside a sandwich?!  Well, that’s pretty much what this sporadic lunchtime attempted treat tasted like … which is too bad because it sounded and actually smelled pretty good.  Great fragrance, but quite heavy and a bit strong … at least for this particular meal.
Caveat: For what it’s worth, I’m not quite ready to throw in the towel on this soup just yet because part of me thinks that the atmosphere and setting itself may have played a factor in its demise.  Think about it: pumpkin pie and its likeness are generally considered comfort foods to help us through the cold and unrelenting winters … and even here in Florida, there’s still a definite difference in temperatures between then and now!  Plus, me thinks that the grilled ham and cheese sandwich that it was accompanying wasn’t exactly doing it any favors, either.
Verdict On-Hold: Fortunately, Nueva Cocina Sopa De Calabaza con Jengibre (try saying that three times fast!) came in a packet big enough for many servings, so I’ve tucked the remainder safely away and I’ll do my best to revisit this intriguing pumpkin option later on this fall when the weather is a bit more crisp and blustery, if you know what I mean…