Pumpkin Shmumpkin!

I have never, ever enjoyed pumpkin flavored anything. Ever. Yucko. However, after moving down south to Virginny, Hubby and I became avid fans of local breweries that, well- brew their own beer. Go figure. Our favorite is Mad Fox, but this is not where my adventures with pumpkin began. Initially, we lived close to Sweetwater and this is where I discovered my proclivity to pumpkin beer! After reading reviews, there are a lot of haters of this beer. A cinnamon, nutmeg, sugary rim on the glass is apparently looked at unfavorably because you shouldn't have to do that if the beer can stand on its own. Also, there are complaints that they don't use real pumpkin (Mad Fox does use real pumpkins FYI!)  and the flavor is too mild. This, ironically, may be why I enjoyed it. Since I'm not a fan of pumpkin normally, the subtlety of the beer hooked me and got me wondering about what else I may like of the pumpkin variety. So...I bring you pumpkin gnocchi!










I'll be honest, I was REALLY disappointed in the gnocchi. Maybe it was because I used a different recipe than normal since I wanted pumpkin rather than potato variety, but this gnocchi came out super dense and chewy. My normal gnocchi and light, fluffy pillows of Italian goodness. These looked fun and I could taste the subtle hint of pumpkin which is about all I can handle, but they won't be entering the kitchen hall of fame any time soon. Maybe it was because the dough was ready super earlier than I thought, so I refrigerated it for a bit til we were ready to cook. I don't know about that though. Oh well. Now I know to use my old recipe and substitute pumpkin instead of the potatoes called for.

I made pepper honey butter again. I wish it wasn't so darn good.

That being said, we had an excellent experience with the leftover dough the following evening. I turned the leftover dough into fettuccine, and wow! I really, really enjoyed it. Hubby suggested a tomato sauce, and while I wasn't sure it would match the pumpkin harmoniously we needed to get rid of some sauce we made previously. So Hubby dressed it up with some more garlic, onions, etc. and I have to say, the fettuccine wasn't overpoweringly pumpkin-y, so the tomato sauce was a perfect accompaniment. I got to use my pasta tree for the first time too!

Mmmmm...love me some homemade pasta!

Next up are pumpkin oat muffins! Stay tuned!