Poetry and Pumpkins

The Pumpkin  

John Greenleaf Whittier, 1807 - 1892

"Then thanks for thy present! none sweeter or better E’er smoked from an oven or circled a platter! Fairer hands never wrought at a pastry more fine, Brighter eyes never watched o’er its baking, than thine! And the prayer, which my mouth is too full to express, Swells my heart that thy shadow may never be less, That the days of thy lot may be lengthened below, And the fame of thy worth like a pumpkin-vine grow, And thy life be as sweet, and its last sunset sky Golden-tinted and fair as thy own Pumpkin pie!"

Pumpkins, Pumpkins, Pumpkins!

October screams PUMPKINS! I love them! My baking takes on a very Pumpkin theme until after Thanksgiving and then I move on to Christmas with other ingredients. Check below for my Pumpkin recipe!

Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake
                        Crust
  1              box  Spice cake mix
  1              stick  butter -- softened
  1              whole  egg
           
                        Filling
  8             ounces  cream cheese -- softened
  1             stick  butter -- softened
  2             cups  sugar
  2             whole  eggs
  1             teaspoon  vanilla

  1             can pumpkin puree (15 oz.)

  2             teaspoons ground cinnamon

  1             teaspoon ground nutmeg

  1/2          teaspoon ground ginger

For the Crust:  In large mixer bowl blend the cake mix and butter to combine.  Add the egg and mix until it forms a soft dough. Spray a 9 x 13 glass baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.  Press the dough evenly into the dish. Set aside and make the filling.

For the Filling: In large mixer bowl cream the butter and cream cheese until smooth.  Add the sugar, eggs and vanilla and mix until well combined. Add the pumpkin and spices, mix well. Pour over the crust.

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 40-45 minutes.  Center of dessert will be gooey but not runny.

Cool at least 20 minutes, cut or spoon onto serving dish and top with whipped cream. Serves about 12.

The Harvest Moon

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1807 - 1882


It is the Harvest Moon! On gilded vanes
And roofs of villages, on woodland crests
And their aerial neighborhoods of nests
Deserted, on the curtained window-panes
Of rooms where children sleep, on country lanes
And harvest-fields, its mystic splendor rests!
Gone are the birds that were our summer guests,
With the last sheaves return the laboring wains!
All things are symbols: the external shows
Of Nature have their image in the mind,
As flowers and fruits and falling of the leaves;
The song-birds leave us at the summer’s close,
Only the empty nests are left behind,
And pipings of the quail among the sheaves.

Hope you enjoyed this bit of Pumpkin Palooza! 

Happy Fall to All!

Diane

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