Yesterday, I was cleanin' out the fridge and makin' soup and bread. I made a lovely multicolored chili. I usually just make it with beans and tomatoes and hamburger. But this time, I added a can of drained corn and some cut up cubed pumpkin. Then I had a couple big slices of green pepper in it. Jim doesn't eat green peppers, so I just slice them big and lay them on top. He likes the taste but doesn't want to eat one ... same with onion.
But, anyway, my soup looked like the fall leaves. It was so pretty! The pumpkin will take on the flavor of the chili ... it wont keep its own flavor. So, anyway, my soup was red with tomatoes, yellow from the corn, green with peppers, orange with pumpkin. And it had a pretty reddish brown of chili beans in the background. I added a package of taco seasoning, too.
Also, I wanted to make bread and muffins. So I took some of the pumpkin I had cut up and I put it in the blender with milk and one egg, and some left over candied sweet potatoes from the fridge I was cleaning out. Also, about a half cup of Crisco. I whirled this up and put it in a bowl. Then, I saw some leftover apple crisp in the fridge -- about a cup? Well, I added this to my mix. Then some more brown sugar and cinnamon. (I just taste it as I go.) Then I added as much self rising flour as I thought I needed to make a bread or muffin mix. I stirred it all up good. Then I put some in a loaf pan and made a batch and a half of muffins, too. They were called "Sweet Potato Pumpkin Apple Crisp Muffins." Papa loved them. Well, I loved 'em too.
Today, I have to get some stew meat or buy a roast and cut it up, whatever is the cheapest. Next week, I will make stew and put some pumpkin in this, too. The pumpkin makes the soups and stews look so pretty, and it also has a way of thickening things.
