The Fat Diaries: My Seasonal Pumpkin Addiction

As soon as we get past Halloween, our bodies begin to crave fall foods: butternut squash soup, gingerbread, hot cocoa. And anything with pumpkin spice.

Halloween is over and done with. I found myself absolutely gobsmacked that I didn’t dive head first into all the candy like I usually do. Maybe I’m getting better at controlling myself (or maybe I’m coming down with a stomach bug), but the thought of all that sugar made me positively ill. I did have six M&M’s, two cookies and a mini Snickers, but I felt pretty sick afterward and I’m still turning green when I’m offered something sugary. Maybe my body is starting to reject junk food like it used to reject healthy food when I first changed my eating habits. Wouldn’t that be great, to physically be incapable of eating treats? The rest of the candy has been successfully shoved into the back of the freezer and my kids’ favorite goody is currently a set of plastic vampire fangs. Crisis averted.

The next hurdle to face, will of course be, Thanksgiving, along with everything leading up to it. One of the big pushes this time of year is to make everything “pumpkin spice” or fall-weather related. I keep hearing that from my friends these days. “I have to get a pumpkin spice latte. It won’t feel like fall without a pumpkin spice latte.” “I have to go apple picking in Winchester or it won’t feel like fall.” “I must make gingerbread and hot cocoa or it won’t feel like fall.” That’s the part that piques my interest: “it won’t feel like fall.” Some point around mid-October, fall initiates one food-based ritual after another.  These food rituals serve as timekeepers for us, much as the first turning leaves and the first morning we break out our car’s ice-scraper.  Halloween is always the first one, but afterward, when the temperature drops irrevocably below 70 and the leaves turn brown there’s that hungry gap between Dio de los Muertos and Thanksgiving that puts people in an eating state of mind.

Of course, all the chains and companies are well aware of this instinct to fill up on cinnamon-spiced food (which I swear is related to some hibernation instinct–I don’t care if primates don’t hibernate). Coffee shops offer spiced coffees and teas. The grocery stores trot out boxes of pumpkin bread mix and caramel apple kits. You see seasonal specials in every donut shop, sandwich shop and restaurant. There’s butternut squash soup, hot apple cider and of course the pumpkin-spice everything.

I used to look forward every year to the pumpkin spice lattes coming to Starbucks and the spicy treats coming to the grocery store, but this year I realized two things: 1) most of them contain a LOT of extra sugar and 2) most of them don’t have anything close to a real pumpkin in them, they only have cinnamon and cloves (and occasionally ginger, nutmeg and mace). That’s a shame because pumpkins (when they aren’t in an eggy-custard) are a pretty great food. Pumpkins are low calorie, high in fiber and a great source of vitamin A. Even the muffins and soups that do contain pumpkin are loaded down with extra calories from cream, butter, and icing.

While a 16oz. Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks won’t break your diet at 360 calories (with 2% milk and no whipped cream) and a less comfy 49 g of sugar, there are better ways to fill that hole. Over the years, I’ve found some good solutions where I can get my seasonal pumpkin fix that saves a few dollars and doesn’t tax my waistline. The most obvious solution is to make one’s favorite treats at home. Pumpkin bread made from scratch eliminates a lot of the preservatives and fat of a store-bought muffin or even a box mix. Instead of a sugary coffee from a chain store, you can simply add a dash of pumpkin spice to your coffee maker at home. I’m finding that I like my coffee unsweetened these days, so that works out better for me anyways. Instead of junky chai-tea powder, I like to brew a cup of orange spice tea.

As far as pumpkin soup goes, I prefer to make it the hard way. Yes, that involves actually smashing apart a pumpkin with a meat-cleaver and roasting it. And it’s not one of those jack-o-lantern pumpkins, although you can use those mutilated veggies too, it’s the smaller, sugar pumpkins which are easier to dissect. If one goes easy on the cream and butter, and uses organic chicken stock it can be a fine alternative to a heavy cream bisque. Now I just need to find a healthier alternative to pumpkin pie and my pumpkin woes will all be solved. I like to serve the following soup recipe with oven-baked quesadillas (made from sun-dried tomato tortillas) with local farm apples and cheddar cheese in the middle.

PUMPKIN SOUP

2-3 sugar pumpkins (depending on size and how many serving)

1/8 cup of olive oil

1 onion minced

2 cloves of garlic minced

6 cups of organic chicken stock (low sodium preferred)

1/4 cup of half-n-half (optional)

1 t butter

Spices:

chipotle pepper (if you like)

¼ tsp cumin

½ tsp curry powder

½ tsp paprika

salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Preheat oven 350º. Cut the sugar pumpkins in half, scooping out the seeds and stringy bits. Lay pumpkins down insides-up on foil-covered baking sheet. Brush thinly with olive oil and season with spices. Go easy on the salt, because it will make the pumpkin lose water and you risk over-salting when the chicken stock is added. Roast for 45 minutes or until the flesh is tender and browned. Scoop out the flesh, leaving the rind, and put aside.

You could skip this whole first step and use canned pumpkin (adding the spices to the onion and garlic,) but why do that?

In a soup pan (or crockpot) place the sweet onions and garlic in butter (use as much butter as you feel comfortable with; I like the flavor). When the onions are translucent add the pumpkin flesh, smashing it with your spoon as you agitate it. When the pumpkin is softer and mushier, add the chicken stock and simmer for at least an hour, stirring now and then. Add the half and half last of all. You can finish it off with an immersion blender for a smoother soup.