Friday, October 14, 2005

Squashy kind of Friday...

Since I still had some leftover mashed pumpkin from last Friday I went looking for a bar type recipe and the KA Cookie Companion came through again. Harvest Pumpkin Bars keep that classic pumpkin orange color after baking. They are very moist, dense, and have a generous layer of a delicious cream cheese frosting. To make the frosting a little more interesting I finely diced crystallized ginger to sprinkle on top. These are pretty addiciting!

Harvest Pumpkin Bars
*Click for a closer view

Cavatappi Pasta Salad with Walnut-Sage Pesto was on tap for dinner tonight. I love this grooved spiral pasta. Roasting the butternut squash helps bring out a little sweetness and gives the outside a nice caramalized finish. The pesto is pretty light with only 2 tablepoons oil and the rest of the liquid coming from chicken broth. I liked how the majority of the pesto was parsley and sage as we tend to have a lot of that around. The orginial recipe called for torn Arugla, but we prefer Spinach so that is what I used. Overall this was a nice and light dish where the suggested servings were actually a nice size!

Cavatappi Pasta Salad with Walnut-Sage Pesto
*Click for a closer view

Recipes
Cavatappi Pasta Salad with Walnut-Sage Pesto
Harvest Pumpkin Bars

9 comments:

  1. hello there, another beautiful set of photos and recipes. Fabulous! Could I just ask what argula is? I am in the UK.Could it be rocket?

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  2. Arugula and rocket are very similar, if not the same thing, Valentina.

    And Joe, I love those pumpkin bars. The ginger on top was a nice touch.

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  3. GAH!!!!

    The pumpkin bar is serious food porn!

    Must....bake....soon.....

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  4. Love your cooking+baking (always),thanks ;-)

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  5. Valentina - Thanks!

    Nic - I really liked the added ginger crunch on top. Thanks for answering the question too!

    Andrea - Hope you get a chance to make them!

    Chanit - Thanks!

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  6. Those pumpkin bars look great, Joe. Wonderful job.

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  7. What a scrumptious-looking use of seasonal ingredients!

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  8. Both of these recipes sound great...those pumpkin bars are looking especially good right now!

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  9. The pumpkin bars sound and look great. I just want to take a big bite right now!

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