Granted, it's not very often. I don't like wearing scarves, Those big plastic glasses don't work on me at all, and I don't wake up early to make sure my eyebrows are on fleek. Not that there's anything wrong with those things, it's just not me. But do you know what is me? Yoga pants. Brunch. Ombre-dyed hair. So, I have some pieces of the "basic white girl" package, but not all. The inevitable next question is whether I have the linchpin of this stereotype: a deep and undying love of the pumpkin spice latte (or PSL) from Starbucks. Do I? The answer is a very profound and committed "meh." It's an okay drink, if someone bought me one I would enjoy it, but I'd never order one for myself. Especially not when there are maple and apple pie flavored things to be had. I lack the nostalgia factor because as a kid, (skip this sentence if you are a die-hard pumpkin lover) I didn't like pumpkin. No idea why, I just didn't like most squash, and pumpkin tastes very similar. I didn't even like pumpkin pie, opting for apple or chocolate (yeah, my family made chocolate pie at Thanksgiving and I loved it) over the usual dessert staple. As I got older, I eventually came around to pumpkin, and while it's still far from my favorite, I do enjoy a good pumpkin bread or pumpkin-filled pastry.
Why all the talk about pumpkins? Well, if you saw my Facebook post a couple days ago, you saw that I made a recipe that features pumpkin rather prominently. Part of the reason I get most of my recipes from Pinterest is because I can see things that I never would have though of on my own. Filling a pumpkin with deliciousness and baking it? Genius. This recipe is all about the presentation. Putting a whole pumpkin on the table just screams autumn. Cutting into it and allowing that savory filling to spill out has an effect like a cornucopia, calling to mind the idea of harvest and bounty. As a bonus, this is adapted from a Native American recipe, providing an avenue to look at an aspect of history that I rarely see in cooking. Who knew you could stuff so much into one little pumpkin?
I have been waiting for stores to start stocking pumpkins because I really wanted to try this recipe. When I saw them, I knew the time had come. It was time to turn one of these beauties into a beautiful motherpumkin' meal.
My beautiful creation
The filling spills out everywhere when you cut into it
I scraped the pumpkin from the skin and let it mix with the filling
And a beautiful meal it was. The rich, savory scent, the texture, the way the mellow pumpkin flavor complimented the filling, this was a perfect dinner for a rainy fall evening. I used ground beef, but this would be a great recipe for a game meat like venison. Or if it's close to Thanksgiving and everyone is kind of sick of turkey and soups. The filling can be tweaked to suit different taste preferences, maybe subbing the rice for potatoes or adding sweet corn. This is just a really cook idea that I can't wait to play around with some more. But, since we all started somewhere, here's my original recipe:
Sprinkles of Kim:
-While the rice was cooking and the meat was browning, I seasoned up the pumpkin seeds and baked them to save for later snacking. If you don't already do this when cooking with a pumpkin, you should. It's delicious.
-I added a garlic seasoning blend to my meat. The sage was good, but that flavor alone was less than I personally like. Season to your own preferences.
-I prepared the filling and stuffed the pumpkin in the morning and stuck it in the fridge until I was ready to put it in the oven. This turned out really well, so this can definitely be made ahead and then baked right before serving.
As we move into fall, I'm excited to use some different seasonal ingredients to make more awesome food to share. It may be a little basic to use a pumpkin to celebrate the start of fall, but that's okay. Sometimes, it's all about the presentation.
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