Pumpkins and me

The first time I met a pumpkin it was in a small glass bowl. It had been one of the Sunday lunches at my grandparents' place. My grandma was a good Swabian cook. I feel my mouth water thinking back on some of her dishes. My mouth goes dry however thinking of that pumpkin. It was a compote, something I'm not too fond of anyway, it was kind of sweetsour and I hated it. From then on I was sure those things and I would never become friends.

Hand felted pumpkin pin cushion by A Latvian

I was wrong and I found out about that on my first US trip. A first hesitant bite and yup, we were friends. It was pumpkin pie which did the trick. Unfortunately I don't bake, so if any Americans read this, don't let anything keep you from sending me pumpkin pie, thank you very much.
Years later I had to stay at home for a few months after surgery. I didn't quite know what to do with myself after a while and started some experiments one of which was a huge pot of pumpkin potato soup. For someone who is not just no baker, but also no cook, I was impressed with myself and it's still one of my favorite dishes.

Pumpkin bracelet by Melissa Vess

I never took a picture of the first (and only) pumpkins I carved for decoration at my workplace. I didn't have the right tools and the pumpkins were too small, but they shriveled up so fast that they did look pretty spooky after all.

Pumpkins watercolor ACEO by Tweeart

Do you like coconut? It goes pretty well with pumpkins, you know. I have a delicious recipe a friend gave me - pumpkin coconut cake. It doesn't even matter if the roasted coconut flakes get a little too dark. Not that that would ever happen to me *cough cough* Actually that's what I did after I burnt the first batch of flakes ... cough. Oh well. I have talents of my own even if they are rarely seen in the kitchen.

Ok, I gotta go, I have to prepare the pumpkin patch for Halloween. Will you be there to join Linus and me while we'll wait for the Great Pumpkin? ;-)