Curry in a Pumpkin

A twist on dinner in a pumpkin that my minis gobbled like little turkeys :)

1 medium pumpkin

3/4 lb ground beef

3 celery stalks

1/2 onion minced

a couple handfuls of craisins

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 Tablespoons curry powder

1 1/2 teaspoon ginger

1 teaspoon cinnamon

a dash or two of soy sauce

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 1/2 cups cooked rice

1. cut and clean pumpkin just as you would a jack-o-lantern.  Go ahead and draw (or let you toddler draw) a face w/ a Sharpie!  rub inside with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Bake on a foiled, greased cookie sheet for 40 min. at 350.
2. while pumpkin bakes, brown beef.  Add minced onion and celery, saute until tender.  I add a little splash of apple cider plus the craisins to sweeten the deal here.  Add in sugar, curry powder, ginger, cinnamon, soy sauce and cream of chicken soup.  Mix and remove from heat, then add in rice.
3. after 40 min. remove pumpkin but keep your oven going.  fill pumpkin with beef and rice and put back in for another 30 min or until pumpkin is fork tender. 
4. Enjoy!

What's on the Menu?

Whenever I know there's going to be a party, I may ask the who, where and when immediately like I should but the first thing I really want to know is what are we eating?  Two weeks plus a couple and I know we're all sitting down to a huge old spread like this one.  And I wanna know, of course;  What are we eating, girls?

My family is pretty into food (may be where I get it?!), so with the clan heading to our place, I'm in obsessive planning mode.  We have a proposed menu that I've sent out for debate and approval to my foodie fam.  Here's the menu we've got in mind:

Appetizers

Cut Fruit Arrangement

Pumpkin Soup w/ Balsamic Apple and Onion Chutney

Butternut Squash Risotto

Main Course

Turkey

the Stuffing

Rolls

Potatoes and Gravy

Pan Roasted Veggies

Marshmallow Yams

Cranberry Sauce

Desserts

Pie (fruit or cream)

Chocolate Berry Trifle

Pumpkin Cheesecake

What are you all working up?  And really, someday, can the stars align sometime so we can have a big ol' feast together just for the fun of it please?  All in favor, say "AYE!"

a-ward winning chili.

this recipe won my ward's halloween chili cook-off on saturday night. must be good, right?! thanks to my other sister-in-law, liz for the recipe. it's definitely a keeper.

1 lb. ground beef
1 lb. sausage
1 medium onion, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1/2 C celery, diced
2 cans kidney beans, drained
16 oz can diced tomatoes
2 16 oz cans tomato sauce
2 T chili powder
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 T salt
1/2 T sugar
1 bay leaf
1/2 t. pepper
1/2 t. cumin
1/2 t dry mustard
1/2 t celery salt

Brown ground beef and sausage. Toss in a crockpot or pot along with all remaining ingredients. Cook high 3-4 hours or low 6-7 hours.

santa rosa chicken and wild rice salad

this comes out of my family cookbook. thanks to two of my sisters-in-law, camie and katie, for this recipe. oh, and just because it's a salad doesn't mean it can't be used as a main dish. it totally is. and, of course, so good!

Dressing:
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 T prepared Dijon
1/2 t salt
1/4 t sugar
1/4 t pepper
1/3 c seasoned rice wine vinegar
1/2 to 1 lemon, juiced
1/3 c oil

Salad:
2 pkg. Uncle Ben's long wild rice, cooked and cooled
4 chicken breasts, cooked and cut into bite sized pieces
4 green onions, sliced
1 red pepper, chopped
3 oz fresh pea pods, steamed
2 avocados
1 c chopped, roasted pecans

Blend and refrigerate the dressing for 2-4 hours in advance. Mix all other ingredients, except the avocados and pecans. Add avocados and pecans just before serving.