Pumpkin Smoothies

Well this week has been stressful, started Monday morning having to get my car towed to the garage and have it fixed. I do have my car back and running now after having the clutch slave cylinder replaced, which thankfully does not involve having to remove the transmission. But because of the unexpected payments that I had to make for both the tow and to have it repaired I was a little short on cash. So this weeks recipe, brought to us by Betty Crocker; is quick, easy, and most of all inexpensive to make.

Pumpkin Smoothies
BettyCrocker.com
1 1/4 cups vanilla soy-milk
1/4 cup cold canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
6 oz French vanilla yogurt
1 Tbs honey
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp vanilla


1.Place ingredients in blender or food processor. Cover; blend on high speed about 1 minute or until smooth.

2.Pour into 2 glasses. Serve immediately.

As i am typing this up I am enjoying my delicious pumpkin smoothie. It is a liquid pumpkin pie! Which in my mind makes it more enjoyable since it does not have the weird texture that the pie generally has. This is definitely something I will enjoy time and time again. I may have to start keeping pumpkin in my fridge. I would totally recomend this as a wonderful drink to get you in the holiday mood.

Parmigiano Pumpkin Soup

To start out with I want to just say that my Texas Caviar did turn out. I enjoyed immensely. And amazingly enough it is all gone. Thanks of course to Stacy taking some of it off my hands. Also I must say that it was a remarkably easy dish to make. And probably one I'm going to make numerous times. I now have a new dish to take to parties!

Now for today's recipe. Parmigiano Pumpkin Soup. I have never had this soup before, I found the recipe in American Lifestyle, the magazine the Mrs. Kimball sends out. I was flipping through the October/November issue and the photo of the soup just made me hungry. And reading over the recipe made me even hungrier, so I decided to go ahead and try it.

Parmigiano Pumpkin Soup

Art of the Slow Cooker- Andrew Schloss ( Chronicle Books, 2008)

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, cut into thin strips

1 large onion, cut into 1/8 inch dice

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 can ( approx 28 oz) 100% pure pumpkin
2 quarts vegetable or chicken broth

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1.4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/2 cup cream ( at least 10% fat)

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian ( flat leaf) parsley

Heat the oil in a large deep skillet over medium high heat. Add the prosciutto, and saute until crisp and frizzles. Remove with slotted spoon, and reserve. You can also substitute 3 slices of bacon cut into small strips. I did not do this step as I neither like ham nor bacon, but I can see where the addition of the meat would just top off the flavor.

Reduce the heat to medium, add the onion to the skillet, and saute until tender (do not brown). Add the garlic, and cook for a few seconds, until aromatic.

Stir in the pumpkin, broth, nutmeg, salt, and pepper and bring to a boil. Transfer to a 5-6 quart slow cooker, cover, and cook for 3 to 4 hours on high, or 6 to 8 hours on low. When I was doing this I do not have a slow cooker so I cooked it for 3 hours of medium low heat on the stove.

Stir in the cream and Parmesan, and heat through, about 5 minutes. Stir in the parsley and serve.

So I have been taking this soup to lunch with me for the past two days. And it is REALLY good. It definitely is not sweet, so if you are looking for a soup that resembles pumpkin pie this definitely is not it. This soup is closer to a squash flavor then the stereotypical pumpkin. Also I have to say it does travel and reheat very well. My microwaved soup lunches taste just as good as the first time I tried this soup. I don't know that I liked how long this soup took to make, possibly because I don't have a slow cooker, but I did feel the need to check on it about every 20 minutes just to make sure it wasn't burning. So I would definitely leave this for a day when you are willing to stay at home and watch it. All in all I give the soup 4 stars!