All Things Pumpkin Spice

Its our first rainy, cool day of fall. I've been thinking for a few weeks that I was ready to roast some pumpkin for baking with. I bought a big Chinese pumpkin/squash (南瓜）last night and got it in the oven first thing this morning. It roasted in an hour or two and I quickly pureed it and got started. I chose Pumpkin Butter first. It is perfect for biscuits, toast, and bagels. My son dipped apples in it today. I had to follow the pumpkin butter with bagels. I even tried a batch of bagels substituting 1/2 cup of water with 1/2 cup of pumpkin puree and adding 2 teaspoons of Turmeric Twist, my current favorite spice blend from iHerb. Its a sweet blend of turmeric, cinnamon, and other chai type spices. The savory blend is equally amazing. You could also do about 2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice.

While I had a Vitamix full of pumpkin puree I decided to task a kid with making pumpkin bread. And if they kids make it, you can guarantee it will have chocolate chips added in. By this point I decided we should go all in and make some pumpkin spice syrup so I could have a latte too. My house has had all the wonderful smells today. And I still have about 1 cup of puree I could make something else with. Granola maybe? I haven't decided. But for today, my work is done. Just wanted to leave you with some inspiration for your own pumpkin spice making and baking and fall creations.

Start with making Pumpkin Puree. My nearly 4 kg pumpkin cost less than 8 rmb.

Try some of these:
Pumpkin Bread
Pumpkin Spice Granola
Pumpkin Spice Syrup for lattes or drizzling on about anything!
Pumpkin Butter 
Pumpkin Spiced Doughnut Muffins
Caramel Pumpkin Pie
Pumpkin Doughnuts
Whole Wheat Pumpkin Bars
Pumpkin Creme Caramel

These are the Chinese 南瓜 (nan gua) which I have always used. Pumpkins as we'd know from the US are harder to find and often only in more rural areas in the fall, but these are available year round. They work great for pumpkin puree.