RECIPES:
Lemon Sage Drumsticks
Autumn Harvest Salad with Pumpkin Seeds
Dunking Cider
Pumpkin Swirl Doughnuts
One sunny fall day while living in Colorado Springs a few years ago, I had this overwhelming desire to buy a farm in New England and start a pumpkin patch. Within a few minutes of my daydream, I had filled in all the details of the farm, complete with sheep, chickens, Clydesdales, and a golden retriever. The children and I would work to grow the pumpkins, and when they were in school, I would host a knitting circle, where women in the neighborhood would get together to knit sweaters from the wool my sheep would provide.
In my dream we have a small country store with rustic wood floors that make a hollow scuffling sound when you walk on them, and tables to display stacks of jams and an assortment of homemade pies. As people arrive, they can help themselves to mugs of hot apple cider while they wait to take a hayride pulled by the horses.
It is my favorite dream, and I’m still hanging onto it. My youngest child, who desperately loves dogs, has come to know that the day he will get a dog is the day I get my pumpkin patch.
As months speed by, and we discover it is time once again to buy our pumpkins, I feel a twinge of longing for that life I have imagined. Whenever we find a small pumpkin stand run by a local family, we usually buy a few more pumpkins than we need, as a good-faith investment in our future. While we carve our pumpkins, in my heart I am celebrating that future.
For our Pumpkin Carving Party, I got all of the food ready ahead of time so I could be right there when the carving was happening. I figured it was best not to be in the kitchen when my six-year-old was on the lawn with a host of sharp, pointy objects. Earlier in the day, I had made the dough for doughnuts and toasted the pumpkin seeds for the salad. Right before we went outside, I put the chicken in the oven and set the cider on the stove to warm. That way, when we came inside after finishing our creations, we could scrub slimy pumpkin innards off our hands and arms and get right to dinner.
While we ate, I kept my eye on the pot of oil as it heated for our doughnuts. We indulged as we listened to Brahms’s Sonata no. 1 for Violin and Piano, the perfect backdrop to readings of Tasha Tudor’s Pumpkin Moonshine and Mary Lyn Ray’s Pumpkins: A Story for a Field.
To throw your own party, carve the pumpkins no earlier than a day before you need the jack-o’-lanterns, so they will be as fresh as possible. If you live where it’s warm enough, take advantage and carve your pumpkins outside so that cleanup is easier. (Of course, that suggestion won’t work in some parts of the world where the weather seems to think the last week of October is the first week of winter.) If you have a lot of pumpkins to carve, invite some friends to help, including adults!
Lemon Sage Drumsticks
My kids always fight over the drumsticks. Sometimes it’s good to just give them what they want. Serves 6
2 pounds drumsticks
2 tablespoons butter, melted
Olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
5 fresh sage leaves, roughly chopped
1 lemon, thinly sliced
Juice from 1⁄2 lemon
- Preheat oven to 450ºF. Arrange drumsticks on a wire cooling rack set over a parchment paper–lined baking sheet. Brush chicken with melted butter, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Top drumsticks with sage leaves and lemon slices. Squeeze lemon juice over the top of the chicken. Roast for 30–35 minutes, or until chicken skin is golden, the internal temperature is 165ºF, and the juices run clear. Allow the meat to rest for 10 minutes, then serve.
Autumn Harvest Salad with Pumpkin Seeds
For this salad, I like to use the pumpkin seeds that are already hulled. They are small and green, and you can find them at the health food store. I also use walnut oil, as it adds an earthier note to the salad, but you can simply use olive oil in its place if it’s the only kind you have at home. Makes 6 side salads
1⁄4 cup raw, shelled pumpkin seeds
1 head cauliflower, cut into bite-size pieces
2 parsnips, very thinly sliced
5 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt and pepper
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons walnut oil
2 large handfuls of greens, such as mustard greens, arugula, or a salad mix
- Preheat oven to 400ºF. In a small skillet set over medium-high heat, toast the pumpkin seeds, tossing often and watching carefully to prevent burning. Cook until they start to brown and pop, about 2–3 minutes. Set aside.
- On a large-rimmed baking sheet, toss cauliflower and parsnips with about 2 tablespoons olive oil and a good pinch of kosher salt and pepper. Bake for 15–20 minutes, or until the cauliflower is browned and the parsnips start to curl.
- In a large bowl, whisk together vinegar, maple syrup, walnut oil, 3 tablespoons olive oil, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Add the greens, and toss to coat. Top with roasted cauliflower and pumpkin seeds.
Dunking Cider
This spiced cider is simply warmed-up apple cider poured over a spiced herbal tea packet. Nothing could be easier. My personal favorite flavors are Bengal Spice or Cinnamon Apple Spice from Celestial Seasonings. Serves 6
6 bags spiced herbal tea
6 cups cold-pressed apple cider
- Place a tea bag in the bottom of each of 6 mugs.
- Heat apple cider until it is almost boiling. Pour over tea bags and let steep for 2 minutes.
Pumpkin Swirl Doughnuts
Hands down, homemade doughnuts are our family’s number one weakness. And how could they not be? Warm and doughy on the inside and crispy and sweet on the outside, they’re pure heaven.
Our Pumpkin Carving Party needed the ultimate fall doughnut, so we combined the flavors of cinnamon rolls and pumpkin and came up with these. The dough for these doughnuts is a bit on the sticky side—that’s what keeps them soft. Try to add as little flour as possible when you’re working with the dough. Makes 3 dozen bite-size doughnuts
4 cups bread flour or unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
1 tablespoon instant yeast
1⁄2 teaspoon nutmeg
1⁄4 teaspoon ground ginger
1⁄4 cup pure maple syrup
1 egg
3⁄4 cup canned pumpkin
3⁄4 cup warm water (110ºF)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3⁄4 teaspoon kosher salt
1⁄4 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons salted butter, at room temperature
8 cups vegetable oil, for frying
Cream Glaze (recipe follows)
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine flour, yeast, nutmeg, and ginger. In a medium bowl, combine maple syrup, egg, pumpkin, and water, and then pour into dry ingredients.
- Knead on low speed for 1 minute, then add melted butter and salt. Continue to knead for 10 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and elastic.
- Place dough on a lightly floured board and knead a few times by hand to form a smooth, cohesive ball. Place in an oiled bowl, cover, and let rise for 40 minutes, or until doubled in bulk.
- Roll dough out onto a lightly floured board into an 18-inch square. Spread dough with room-temperature butter. Mix sugar with cinnamon and sprinkle over the butter with a fine sieve.
- Using a sharp knife, cut the dough in half to make 2 rectangles. Roll up each rectangle lengthwise, and pinch along the seam to seal in the cinnamon and sugar. Cut into 1-inch slices to make mini cinnamon rolls. Place on a lightly floured piece of plastic wrap or parchment paper and cover with plastic.
- Pour oil into a heavy-bottomed stockpot, and set over medium-high heat. When oil reaches 350ºF, fry doughnuts—about 4 or 5 at a time—until lightly golden, about 1 minute on each side. Remove from oil with a slotted spoon, and let cool slightly on a paper towel. Dip in glaze, and allow to cool on a cooling rack.
Cream Glaze
2 cups powdered sugar
6–8 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Mix together the powdered sugar, cream, and vanilla, and whisk until smooth. Add more liquid as necessary to make a smooth, runny glaze.