Thanksgiving Recipe Testing

It started with a pumpkin spice latte. I thought to myself, "It's the perfect time of year to make pumpkin treats!" So I headed to Target while my friends went to see a movie and picked up some pumpkin puree. Once I started thinking of all the delicious recipes to make with it I realized I should have bought at least 5 cans of it! Cupcakes, scones, cookies, pies, and soup... I still drool at the thought! Since I only had one can, I decided to go with pumpkin soup from Pioneer Woman's Pumpkin Soup Recipe blog. Since I don't have a car and therefore live out of the convenience store down the street (or if I'm lucky I'll get a ride from a friend to a real grocery store, or in this case, Target) I had to improvise quite a bit.

I used canned pumpkin in place of real pie pumpkins. It saved me the time of roasting real pumpkins and peeling the skins and taking out seeds. Not that I would have minded (it sounded fun actually) but my miniature microwave/convection oven probably wouldn't have been able to handle it. Also, I have no idea where to find pie pumpkins in Anchorage!

I replaced the heavy cream with 2 tablespoons of butter and slightly less than 1/2 cup of whole milk. I used cheap Aunt Jemima syrup instead of real maple syrup (not ideal) and had to use some powdered chicken stock instead of vegetable stock from a box. Oh well, do what you can, right?

I thought it looked too "soupy" compared to the original recipes photo. I just let it reduce to thicken it up and it seemed to turn out perfectly.

 The depressing view from outside my window...

It turned out pretty awesome, if I do say so myself. My little pumpkin spice candle in the background is most likely what caused the major pumpkin cravings this weekend! I'm looking forward to trying out some new pie recipes for Thanksgiving.