Chesapeake Crab and Pumpkin Soup

Halloween might be over, but that certainly doesn't mean you have to give up on all things pumpkin.  After all, everyone else has a pumpkin-spice something on their menus or product lineups this fall; why shouldn't I?!  This is a recipe I've had earmarked for trial for months and months, but kept questioning whether it'd really be good or if I'd be wasting money on crab meat.  Not to mention that my husband tends to shy away from many of my culinary experimentations, even if they are someone else's recipes!  Even my own mother, who tends to love trying new things, thought this sounded sub-par.  I'm so glad I didn't listen to either of them.  This soup is divine!  It's the perfect marriage between curried pumpkin soup and she-crab soup, both of which are personal favorites of mine.  I hope you'll try it...I just know you'll love it!

3 tablespoons butter

1 large onion, halved and sliced into half-moons

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cayenne

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

4 cups chicken stock

1 29-ounce can pumpkin (make sure you don't get the pumpkin pie filler)

1 pound crab meat (I used lump), shells removed

2 cups half-and-half

fresh basil leaves for garnish

freshly ground black pepper for garnish

Melt the butter in a stockpot.  Add the onion and saute until translucent.  Stir in the sugar, salt, cayenne, paprika, cumin, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Add the stock, pumpkin, and crab meat.  Bring to a boil and reduce the heat.  Simmer, covered, for 10 minutes.  Stir in the half-and-half.  Simmer 10 minutes more.  Ladle into soup bowls.  Garnish with basil and ground pepper.

Serves 6-8.

Recipe adapted from My Mama Made That, by the Junior League of Hampton Roads.

Spicy Pumpkin Seeds & Spiked Apple Cider

Growing up, we always carved our jack-o-lanterns the day before Halloween, and lit them up, just once, to see how they looked. This year, I added something new, something we never did as kids but I always wanted to...I roasted my pumpkin seeds!! And then I experimented with Hot Spiked Apple Cider to toast the season!  Oh by the way, you can also substitute pumpkin seeds for any type of squash seeds you might have on hand...butternut squash seeds work as a great garnish to this yummy soup...  Trick or treat!!!

Spicy Pumpkin Seeds:

1 cup raw green pumpkin seeds 

1 teaspoon chili powder 

1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper 

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

2 teaspoons fresh lime juice 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients and toss to coat. Spread on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until puffed and browned, about 10 minutes.

Spiked Hot Apple Cider:

1 quart water

3 orange spice tea bags

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 cups apple cider

1 1/2 cups rum

8 cinnamon sticks

Boil water. Remove from heat and steep tea bags for 5 minutes, covered. Remove tea bags, and stir in sugar, cider, rum, and two cinnamon sticks. Heat to steaming, but do not boil. Serve in mugs, garnishing with a cinnamon "swizzle" stick.

Devlishly Delicious

It's one of my favorite times of the year! The air is getting crisp, there's a haunting howl in the wind, and everything gets just a little spookier after the sun goes down... I just adore Halloween! Picking out a favorite costume (which was always some variation of a witch in my case), ensuring my mama had the best candy to hand out (which my brothers and I would sneak so she'd ultimately have to buy more for the big day), parties in school, and ghoulishly fun foods!

Well this year we're celebrating in my kitchen! We're starting out today with some favorite throw-backs for your little goblins to enjoy. Later this month, I'll also be serving up some steamy bowls of healthy soups to keep you warm in the chilly evenings. A few autumn comfort foods will make an appearance to accompany the soups, too. And finally, I'll be sharing some favorite party appetizers as we officially welcome the holiday season! Yes, the "theme" this month is actually the holiday gathering of hors d'oeuvres (yes, that's the correct French spelling!), but I got a little carried away. 

Must be all the candy. Of course.

Happy Haunting!!

Carrot Finger Food Dip, Wicked Witch Brownies, Spider Cupcakes, Yummy Mummy Pizzas, Apple Bites

Trick-or-Treat Repeats

Since I only recently started up my recipe blog, I figured many of you might have missed some favorites...or, as you peruse the recipe index on each tab, you may not have come across these Halloween favorites yet! I didn't want your kiddos to miss out, so make you you check out these spooky kid-friendly treats!

Happy Haunting!

Spider Cupcakes

Yummy Mummy Pizzas

Carrot Finger Dip

Apple Bites

Wicked Witch Brownies (or Fightin' Irish Brownies)

Spicy Pumpkin Seeds & Spiked Apple Cider

Spider Cupcakes

For my final October What's Cooking Wednesday, I thought I'd try a fun little dessert, which like my other Halloween-themed foods, resulted in rolling eyes from Hubs, who doesn't understand why I'm making kiddy foods when our babe is yet a bun in the oven!  I suppose I'm just a kid at heart and love all holidays.  That's probably why I can't wait for this baby to become a fun little toddler who enjoys hay rides, decorating cookies, and carving jack-o-lanterns.  Maybe then I won't get chastised for participating in kid-like activities?!

Anyway, you just want to know about the spiders...erm, cupcakes!

Bake chocolate cupcakes according to package directions.  Bonus if you can find black cupcake liners...I got lucky at Michael's, who had a package that had some patterned and some plain black liners in it...

Once cupcakes are cool, frost with chocolate frosting.  I also sprinkled with black cookie sugar (also found at Michael's).  Use two red hots for the eyes.

To make the legs, melt chocolate (I used two 10-11oz bags of "fun sized" Hershey's chocolate bars form the Halloween candy aisle).  Dip pretzel sticks in melted chocolate and glue two pretzels together at right angles.  Place in wax paper on a cookie sheet and freeze until solid.  Place eight "legs" on each of your spiders by simply pressing one end of the leg into the top of the cup cake!

Your kids, no matter how old, will love decorating their spiders!!

Yummy Mummy Pizzas

We're getting closer to Halloween!!  I wish I had some kiddies to make these pizzas with, but a grown-up version for Hubs and me was just as tasty!!

English muffins, toasted according to preference

Pizza sauce (I'm a Prego girl)

Black olives, sliced

Scallions

Red or green pepper

Mozzarella string cheese, pulled apart into strips

Heat the oven to 350.  For each mummy, spread a tablespoon or two onto an English muffin half.    Set olive slices in place for eyes, using smaller slices scallion or bits of red/green pepper.  If you'd like, at this point you could also add some pepperoni or ham for a meat version.  The goal is to ensure your toppings are relatively flat.  Finally, use your string cheese strips to arrange the mummy's bandages!  Bake until the English muffins are toasty and the cheese is melted, about 10 minutes!

Carrot-Finger Food Dip

Here's this week's tasty Halloween recipe!  Enjoy!

Veggie Dip (make your own or buy your favorite, but you'll want a pretty thick consistency for this to work)

4 long carrots

1 medium carrot

Sliced almods

Baby carrots

Fill a serving bowl with the dip.  Wash and peel the long and medium carrots, and trim as needed to resemble the length of fingers (the medium carrot will be the thumb).  Using a paring knife, cut a flat shallow notch at the tip of each carrot.  Use a dollop of veggie dip to "glue" on an almond finger nail to each.  Arrange the "fingers" in the dip as shown.  Serve with plenty of baby carrots for dipping (so you don't mess up your spooky design)!

Apple Bites

As promised, I am sharing some fun Halloween recipes during October's What's Cooking Wednesday posts!  While I snagged some of the pictures off the web while researching for scary ideas, I have made all of these trick-or- treats and can vouch for their ghoulish goodness!  Feel free to use these ideas for your child's next school, scout, or sports team party!!  Happy Halloween!

A super tasty (and healthy) treat!  All you need are apples (a variety of colors is the most fun) and slivered almonds!  Just quarter and core each apple.  Cut a wedge from the skin side of each piece and press slivered almonds in place for teeth.  Dip the chunks you cut out in peanut butter or caramel for a treat while you cook!  If you don't plan to serve these right away, brush the apples with orange or lemon juice to keep them from turning brown!

Fightin' Irish Brownies

For my final installment of September's Football Food theme for What's Cooking Wednesday, I thought I'd share a fourth quarter, aka dessert, recipe!  Not only is this a super tasty sweet treat, but it segues nicely into next month's theme (Halloween foods) with a simple name change!  I'd love to give credit where credit is due, but this recipe is a combination of several found on the internet plus a cake recipe from my own mama...

I'm proud to present...

...Fightin' Irish Creme de Menthe Brownies (or Wicked Witch of the West Brownies)

1 20-ounce Ghirardeli Double Chocolate brownie mix

1/3 cup oil

1/3 cup water

1 egg

1/2 cup green creme de menthe, divided

4 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup melted butter

1/4 cup half-and-half

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted

Preheat the oven to 325.  Prepare the brownie batter as directed, adding 1/4 cup green creme de menthe.  Bake per package directions (but be careful, because my oven goes quite a bit quicker than the box said, so check your brownies early!).  Refrigerate brownies until well-chilled.

For the frosting, combine the remaining ingredients (you should still have 1/4 cup of creme de menthe...don't forget that part!) except for the melted chocolate chips in a mixing bowl.  Beat on high until smooth.  Remove brownies from refrigerator and frost.  Chill 4 more hours. 

Drizzle melted chocolate over chilled brownies (or use a toothpick to draw a design in the frosting and fill that in), cut into bars, and serve!  Store in an air-tight container in the fridge.

It's not nearly as pretty as I wanted, but that's what happens when you don't pay attention because you're watching a football game....