It's Pumpkininny!

I roasted my final Fall '10 pumpkin this week.  Actually, I had 2 left, but one of them was totally rotten in the middle.  It was majorly nasty and oozy and black -- I should've thought to take a picture of it! One thing I *wanted* to do was save some of the orange hopefully-non-botulism-infested seeds to toast in the oven, as many frugalistas might try to salvage something that seems unsalvagable to people with a higher degree of sanity, but Fuzzband refused to allow any part of the offending item to remain in the house.  Amid my cries of "it's still good, it's still good!" he unceremoniously dumped the black mess into the trashcan and glowered whenever I dared approach!

Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised to see that after over 2 months, the other pumpkin that I got at the end of October was still fresh and in great eating condition (it was beginning to get just a teensy bit dry and stringy on the inside, but even my spouse could see that it was, indeed, "still good" for realz).  I roasted it to perfection, soft and sweet and slightly charred around the edges.  To celebrate, I decided *not* to bake a pumpkin pie, but instead of half-assedly throw together a tribute dessert that was much easier, lighter, and still evocative of my prime pumpkin days -- pumpkin pudding -- just one bite will have you dancin' around like Josh Fenderman!







PUMPKIN PUDDING

INGREDIENTS:
1 "small" package of instant pudding mix (vanilla will do nicely)
1 1/2 cups of milk
1 cup of cooked pumpkin, squash, or other orange-hued gourd, fresh, frozen or canned
1/2 to 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
2-3 pinches of nutmeg
1-2 pinches of cloves

Empty the pumpkin into a large bowl (and puree the living snot out of it with a hand mixer if you aren't using canned pumpkin). Add the milk slowly and continue mixing until about half the milk has been added.  Add pudding and spices, continuing to stir.  Then, slowly add the rest of the milk.

VARIATIONS AND NOTES (for those who are curious):  You could substitute butterscotch pudding for the vanilla, though I haven't tried that yet -- I'll also bet you can get awesome results subbing your favorite vegan mix and adding the pumpkin & spices to the final product.  Usually I make this with sugar free pudding mix and 1% milk; the "lighter" milks will make this come out a bit on the thin side, but it's still a very good substitute for pumpkin pie if you're feeling lazy. :)  I made a full-sugar version for a friend and poured it into a ready-made graham cracker crust... it made a pretty pie, though it was a bit softer than I'd've liked.  The lighter version with sugar-free pudding and 1% was served in a bowl without pie crust, and tasted pretty darn good by itself.  WARNING:  Don't use sweet potato in this; when it's whipped, it makes the pudding gluey and weirdly dense.  (Unless you like that sort of thing, of course.)