Yep. I’m on the bandwagon. I say, just because Thanksgiving is over, doesn’t mean the pumpkin has to be!

My fixation for *this year* began innocently enough after a HEAB suggestion to have pumpkin protein pancakes… and now, it’s my go-to breakfast. THANKS, HEATHER!

My way is: 1/3 c oats, 1/2 cup egg whites, 1/4 cup pumpkin puree, 1 tsp psyllium fibre, 1/2 Tbsp ground flaxseed, cinnamon, ground ginger, ground nutmeg and ground cloves to taste. I eat them with a thin spread of  chocolate peanut butter on top… or plain almond butter… and miraculously (for me, anyway), I’m full for hours instead of minutes after my breakfast. Bye bye, breakfast cereal, you’re off the starting lineup and relegated to the bench.

I have no pics because my brain functions with a major lag in the mornings, so they end up down the hatch before I remember that I wanted to capture them forever on film. Trust me: delicious.

Then yesterday after getting back from Vic, I was due for tea at a friend’s in the afternoon, and what better way to dress up tea than scones?

I hit Google for some suggestions but decided to go with a blogger’s recipe—though there were plenty to choose from on Google, I just felt like some of my favourite blogs might talk a bit about the taste, texture, and what they might do differently if they do it again, which ensures an awesome experience even when it’s the first attempt at a particular recipe.

What guides the way *you* choose recipes from the web?

In the end, I owe it all to My Baking Addiction’s Pumpkin Cinnamon Chip Scones, which were fast, easy, and a BIG hit. THANKS, JAMIE! I made a second half batch today to bring a little smile to some people at work who I’ll miss when I’m gone… sure, that’s not for another 6 or 7 months, but I want to appreciate them now while I can! THANKS, HAPPY WORK PEOPLE!

The only things I did different from Jamie was only using the spice glaze (and all over, not piped in a pretty design), and using white chocolate chunks, though I found them too sweet in the end and wished I’d left them out. THANKS, UN-SUGAR-FIED PALATE!

And I teased about my pumpkin mousse recipe on Friday, I know, so here’s a little preamble, starting with a tough confession:

I don’t like pie.

It might be because I grew up in an un-pie household—my mother wasn’t much of a baker, bless her, so until my late teens, I’d maybe only had apple, blueberry, and (the curse of Québecois cuisine) sugar pie, (image source), aka “So You Think You Can Avoid Diabetes?”

I do love “sugar pie” as a pet name, however, because my aboslutely beloved godmother, Pauline, one of my favourite people in the entire WORLD, used to call my sisters and me “sugar pie” when we were growing up. And she would usually be laughing at something we had said or done afterward. That woman has the biggest heart in the world, and so while I am in no way interested in eating a sugar pie now that my sweet tooth has been silenced, I want to have someone around that I adore enough to call “sugar pie” so that I think about Pauline OFTEN! MERCI, PAULINE! And, as it happens, my favourite friend *is* having a baby next year…!

Back to pie: I think it’s because I’m really just in it for the filling. I can’t be the *only* one!? It’s why I love baked apples over apple pie—the crust is just crumbs, to me!

A few years ago, I picked up this cookbook, and have since made woefully few recipes out of it.

(image source, because I’m too lazy to take a pic of my own book…)

One I have made, and made repeatedly, is the “Thanksgiving Day Pumpkin Mousse”. It’s the joy of pumpkin pie without the extraneous stuff—like a crust. Or scads of heavy cream. Frankly, it’s EXACTLY how I roll…

I have to share it here, with credit to Malgieri and Joachim, page 166-7, and an enormous THANKS, GUYS! for this always perfect, light mousse. I’ve made tiny modifications (like increasing the spices and decreasing the sugar), and I can tell you now: if you accidentally forget to buy gelatin and forge ahead anyway, it will collapse. Just sayin’.

Thanksgiving Day Pumpkin Mousse

You need:

• 225 grams reduced-fat cream cheese (1 brick!), softened
• 2 cups canned pumpkin purée
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp fresh grated nutmeg
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 envelope (2.5 tsp) unflavoured gelatin
• 4-5 egg whites (2/3 cup)
• pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar

You must:

1. beat the cream cheese with a hand or stand mixer on medium speed until it’s soft and fluffy. Beat in the pumpkin in 3-4 additions, until well incorporated. Beat in the salt and spices.
2. put the water in a small heatproof bowl; sprinkle the gelatin on the surface. Soak for 5 minutes, then place the bowl over a small pan of simmering water, and allow the gelatin to melt.
3. Fill a medium saucepan about 1/3 full and bring to a boil over medium heat. As it’s warming, combine the egg whites, salt, maple and brown sugar, and whisk it a bit to mix. Place the bowl over the pan and whisk gently until the egg whites are hot and the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat, placing it on the mixer and whip on medium-high speed until the egg whites are completely cooled. The outside of the bowl won’t be warm at all.
4. Quickly whisk the warm, dissolved gelatin into the pumpkin mix.
5. Fold the meringue into the pumpkin mix.
6. Spoon into 8 glasses (or 5 jars, whatever), cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until serving.

These would be *even better* with a crunchy side, like a biscuit of some sort…

I highly recommend… and THANKS FOR READING! I’m being way overly-corny, but if you want to tell me what you’re thankful for, too, bring it in the comments.