Leaves Are Leaving; Spooks Are Coming

What a difference a week makes when it's late October!  Last Saturday afternoon when the sun came out at our campground at Moyie, I was taking shot after shot of stunningly vibrant fall colors.  

Yesterday afternoon while on a short hike in Montana with Bill, I was taking pictures of naked aspen. Along the trail, through a damp, marshy area, we were meeting ghosts and goblins. The only real color came from the sky, as we walked through a healthy layer of dead and wet leaves from those trees.

The color is not all gone, but with the blink of an eye, it seems as if we'll return to the pre-winter blahs.  It's been a good run, though, even in spite of all the rain we've had. 

From the scene outside the window this morning, it's time for the weather to turn ugly again, just in time for Halloween.  We're looking forward to our one or maybe three visitors tomorrow for the annual trick or treat, and, of course, Bill will be looking forward to all that's left in the candy bowl.

With tomorrow's big pumpkin day coming, I thought I'd reprint a favorite recipe from times past.  And, heck, I might even give this dessert of total decadence another try myself while watching the final World Series game at Wrigley Field later today. 

Let's hope the Cubs have something left to win on their own home turf and to keep the Series alive. 

In the meantime, Happy Sunday, GO, CUBS! and check out the recipe.  Standard-sized cans of pumpkin, by the way.  


BEST DAMN PUMPKIN DESSERT, PERIOD!  from a 2006 post.

Sue Brooks is one of my foreward friends. She doesn't send jokes. She doesn't send recycled stuff you've seen a thousand times, and so far, I've never received a foreward which threatens that if I don't send it to 13 other people within 30 seconds something bad might happen. Sue often sends thoughtful messages. She's a local realtor who's done well with her sales. She's upbeat, positive and caring.

So, when Sue sends me a foreward, I usually check it out. This past week I received a recipe from her with the comment "By popular demand." I knew that the Women Honoring Women were having a fall luncheon this past weekend for all Women of Wisdom honorees cuz my mother was supposed to go. The Louisville travel schedule got in the way of her attending.

Anyway, I have a feeling Sue's recipe must've been a hit at the luncheon. She simply called it Pumpkin Dessert; I call it the Best Damn Pumpkin Dessert Recipe, Period. That's because I took a special trip to town to get what ingredients I didn't have. Then, I spent part of a sunny afternoon inside mixing up the stuff and putting it in the oven for its 50-60 minutes of cooking. I then went outside, did some projects and got back inside precisely when the oven timer went off.

About 60 seconds later, I was scooping out a sample from the corner of my baking dish, globbing on some whipped cream and eating 325 degree pumpkin dessert. Now, it tasted good, but that's not a good idea, even if you just can't wait to try it.

My advice is to go find another outdoor project lasting at least an hour while your dessert sits in the refrigerator and cools off. Then, the remaining dessert from which you took the sample will not look like a pumpkin-colored mud flow. Pumpkin-colored mud flows look too much like something else. So, leave it alone until it thoroughly cools, and then it will set up.

Once that happens you'll be returning time after time to the frig to chop off just another little bite to remind you just how really good it tastes. And your husband having tried it the night before will scoop out half the pan for his lunch the next day. I guarantee the supreme goodness of this dessert, and I thank Sue for passing it along.

Here's the recipe:

CRUST:

1 Box of yellow cake mix (Reserve 1 cup and set aside)
Add to the cake mix 1 melted stick of butter or margarine, 1 beaten egg, and ½ cup of chopped walnuts. Mix well. Spread mixture in a 9x13 greased baking pan.

FILLING:

Mix together: 1 large can of pumpkin, 4 beaten eggs, ½ cup of brown sugar, ½ cup sugar, 2/3 cup of Evaporated milk, 2 ½ tsp of cinnamon, 1 tsp of nutmeg, ¼ tsp salt. Spread the filling over the crust.

TOPPING:

Mix together until crumbly: the reserved 1 cup of cake mix, ½ cup sugar, ½ cup of walnuts, ½ stick of softened butter or margarine. Crumble the topping over the filling.

Bake @ 350 for 50-60 minutes. Cool and serve with whipped cream on top.

Now that I've passed along Sue's recipe to all of you and since Bill is probably downstairs scooping up the last of the Best Damn Pumpkin Dessert, Period, I'd better hurry to town and grab my share of yellow cake mix before Yoke's runs out.