a pumpkin carving party

i'm pretty sure that the last time i carved a pumpkin, i had a lisp, a bowl cut, and probably handi-snack cheese all over my face. i also wasn't old enough to use a knife, so by "the last time i carved a pumpkin," i mean, "the last time i was in the presence of someone carving a pumpkin for me."

obviously i have celebrated pumpkin many many many times recently, i even threw a b.y.o. pumpkin party with my roomies in brooklyn, but carving a pumpkin is not something that really crossed my mind until i found these pumpkin terrariums.

i mean, tell me that is not the coolest thing ever. (well, don't. because if you do, i'll throw pumpkin guts at you.) it's fun, it's a way to use up the last of this season's wildflowers, and a reason to buy more succulents. also the whole white pumpkin thing conquers my dislike for the color orange because somehow i've become an orange-aphobe.

so i gathered up the troops, bought some cute little pie pumpkins, and picked flowers, herbs, and chamomile from my garden. we used nail polish to paint little designs, leftover house paint for the white part, and some of my friends even made little flower crowns. adorbs, i tell you. adorbs.

here was our menu:

for pre-carving noshing // a ton of little bites including baked ricotta, focaccia, prosciutto, grapes, nuts, brie, spicy honey, babka, and pigs in blankets (!!!!)

for sipping // kendall-jackson vintner's reserve cabernet sauvignon

for post-carving noshing // curry spiced toasted pumpkin seeds!!!

so hurry along now, get carving!! have wonderful weekends, you guys!!!

-yeh!

thanks so much to kendall-jackson for sponsoring this post!!!! all opinions are my own!

mini pumpkin loaf cakes + friday links

ok so we're slowly transitioning back into life without beet harvest. after last night's end-of-beet-harvest party, eggboy just about passed out at our kitchen counter, muttering you should make chicken pot babka over and over and i couldn't stop giggling until finally i demanded that he brush his teeth and get to bed. there's still bean harvesting to be done, but that's not nearly as intense, so i'm hoping that this weekend, he'll be able to catch up on his sleep. and i'll just be in the kitchen, playing with pumpkins and stuff, making faces and terrariums. i can't wait! here's the latest pumpkin-y thing i've made: mini pumpkin loaf cakes with cream cheese glaze and candied bacon. have a great weekend, y'all!

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friday links!

more mini loaf cakes, of the lemon variety!

"Actually, I do meatless a lot – even meatless topped with bacon."

jeni's splendid ice cream + lucius = pornographic for eyes and ears

swedish cinnamon roll gif swedish cinnamon roll gif

why have i not been putting dukkah on my avocado toast????

ima stop biting my nails so that i can show undernail.

this grilled cheese garnish is out of control!

these maple cream cookies look sooo delightful.

this is the prettiest shakshuka i have ever seen. and it's on hummus!

need more condensed milk frosting in my life, need more spam in my life.

do you guys know about katherine sabbath?? she is like a cake superhero. 

i just discovered salted tv, and the how-to cooking videos are great! you guys can get in on three months of this if you sign up with the code "yeh3" within a week. (there's even a "how to butcher a lamb" video. i literally could not. but maybe you can?)

-yeh!

pumpkin cake + semifreddo push pops

push pops are a fall seasonal food, right? because soccer games? or was that exclusive to my suburban world? i just seem to have all these bowl-cut-wearing memories of running around in the fall with my little shin guards and cleats on, probably losing to the other team, and then not caring at all because look, the ice cream truck, and heeeeere come sticky fingers fingers from a flinstone's push pop. those things were *in my worst falsetto voice* the best. i remember having to warm them between my hands a little bit so that they would loosen up out of their cardboard tubes and then i would demolish them and take apart the tube device and play with the different parts. they were fascinating. v v fascinating. 

so now that i'm a sophisticated fancy lady, these guys have gotten sophisticated and fancified by way of ice cream's quirkier cousin, the semifreddo, and soft autumny pumpkin (!!!!) cake. these push pop molds are fun little creatures and i wanted to do them justice by making something that really takes advantage of their clear cylindrical nature. any sort of mini cake would be cute in these, but a semifreddo-filled mini cake, which probably wouldn't stand that well on its own or assemble that easily, has found a perfect home in this mold. the cake will hold its shape neatly, you can peek at the little layers (hello!), and you can keep them in your freezer for whenever you have a cake and ice cream emergency.

pumpkin cake + semifreddo push pops

makes 12-16 pops

made with the help of my all-time favorite pumpkin bread and giada's semifreddo

ingredients

cake

1 3/4 c flour

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground cloves

a pinch of ground ginger

1 3/4 c sugar

7.5 ounces (or about 3/4 c + 2 tb) pumpkin puree

2 large eggs

1/2 c vegetable oil

1/3 c water

semifreddo

4 large egg yolks

1/4 c + 2 tb sugar

1 tsp vanilla

a pinch of salt

1/2 c heavy cream

assembly

round push pop molds

sprinkles

clues

make the cake: preheat oven to 350, line two 9 x 13 pans with foil and grease the foil.

in a medium bowl combine flour, baking soda, and spices. in a large bowl, combine remaining ingredients. mix in the dry ingredients, pour into prepared pans, and bake. begin checking for doneness at about 20 minutes.

let cool, wrap in plastic wrap, and then freeze until ready to use, up to one week.

make the semifreddo: in a double boiler, whisk together egg yolks, 1/4 cup of sugar, vanilla, and salt. heat over simmering water, whisking constantly, until it reaches 160 degrees. transfer to an ice bath to cool.

whip up the heavy cream. gradually add remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar once the cream gets thick. whip to stiff peaks. gently and gradually fold this into the yolk mixture.

assemble: cut out 1 1/2-inch circles of cake. layer them in your push pop molds with sprinkles and 1-2 teaspoons of semifreddo between each layer. freeze for a few hours. enjoy!

-yeh!

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this post is part of becky's eat seasonal roundup! check out a bunch of other seasonal goodies here!

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sponsored by: laguna wholesale, sellers of all sorts of dessert-related goodies! you can use the code "grateful5" to get 5% off of your first order!

MINI PUMPKIN SUFGANIYOT

you know how on thanksgiving you have your special eating pants that stretch real nice to allow for maximum turkey consumption but even then sometimes you eat too much because the food is just too good and you really wanted more stuffing so you had more stuffing and in the end you're like crap i didn't leave room for dessert? and you know how on hanukkah a similar thing happens where you wear your special eating pants but latkes are just the best and you can't help yourself from eating 12? and you know how you have to now combine the two holidays this year and somehow take advantage of both latkes and turkey on the same day? annnnnd eat dessert? yeah, we're all fucked.

but i have a possible solution! dollhouse-sized versions of everything. starting with the sufganiyot. 

my recipe is over on the jew and the carrot. it was a fun one to put together and it reminded me of all those little cartons of dunkin donuts munchkins that were the sign of a true fourth grade party. these donuts have soft fluffy innards and a sturdy, sugary shell. they're really satisfying to bite into. and do they kinda look like boobies? 

-yeh!