Carve your pumpkin and eat it too!

A lot has been going on at the Kitchen home but first and foremost I will say there hasn't been a whole lot of cooking going on (relatively speaking) as we (I) have been busy getting our Halloween costumes ready. We're excited about that but you'll have to wait until tomorrow before I can even think about giving you a sneak peek at our costume shop. But we can't let October fly by without sharing our Halloweenish traditional meal.

There has been an awful lot of fabulous pumpkin recipes going around and I never tire of the pumpkinness. Every October we make Dinner In A Pumpkin and it is a meal that needs to be shared with others. Tonite we shared our pumpkin with our local Elder Missionaries and we still have leftovers so after scanning through this recipe and it looks like something you'd be interested in, come on over to our place and I'll give you some :)

I was introduced to this fun meal by an old roomie, Mel, and I would like to thank her, wherever you are! I've adjusted it a little for our tastes and past experiences - hope you enjoy it! It makes for a fun presentation and feeds a ravenous multitude so be prepared...

Dinner In A Pumpkin

1 pumpkin (on the small to mediumish size)

1 chopped onion

2 Tbsp oil

1-2 lb ground beef

3 tsp soy sauce

3 tsp brown sugar

4 oz can sliced mushrooms or roughly 8-10 sliced fresh mushrooms

1 can cream of chicken soup

4 cups uncooked rice

1 can sliced water chestnuts, coarsely chopped

1) Carve a lid out of the top of the pumpkin. I like to find a pumpkin with a good sturdy stem to use as a handle. Pumpkins that are squatty rather than tall and skinny are ideal, easier to scoop out the dinner. Gut out the pumpkin seeds and gooey flesh.

2) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a pizza pan or large cookie sheet with foil.

3) Cook rice per package instructions.

4) Heat oil in large pan. Cook meat until brown. Add onion and cook until tender. Combine with mushrooms, canned soup, soy sauce, brown sugar and simmer 10 minutes.

5) Add cooked rice and chestnuts and mix thoroughly. Scoop rice mixture into pumpkin, filling it up as much as possible, still allowing the lid top to fit back completely. Place pumpkin on lined pan. *If you are using a larger pumpkin it is okay to have some headspace. Just be prepared for it to sag a lot more after it is cooked.

6) Cook pumpkin for 2 1/2 hours or until pumpkin flesh is tender and the pumpkin has started sagging a little.

7) To serve: since the pumpkin will be tender and saggy, you would be best to not trasnfer it and just serve it on the pan that it was baked on. Place the lid on and guests can lift the lid and scoop out rice and scoop the sides for their pumpkin. The pumpkin will need a little salt to enhance the taste but I usually leave that up to the individual to do on their own. Place the lid back on the pumpkin to retain heat and moisture. Can also serve with toasted almonds or walnuts on top!Ghoulish grins go all around with this meal!