Pumpkin Project #2 - Dinner

I have been craving homemade tomato soup for a while (not bisque - mind you)! As I have been thinking of fun pumpkin things to do, I envisioned the following: (of course, the one in my head looked a little neater and my imaginary camera is way better then the one I actually use!)





Here we have creamy tomato soup with pumpernickel croutons - cut out in the shape of the jack-o-lantern face. I served the croutons on the plate so that the kids could make their own faces. The pumpernickel I found at the store was already sliced - I would have liked to have something a little thinner - but I wasn't about to make my own loaf of pumpernickel - maybe another day! I also served some grilled cheese sandwiches with a pumpkin face cut out on one side. It all looks pretty silly, but when you have small kids, they seem to appreciate these little efforts. They had a good time and asked if we could eat this dinner again on Halloween. I'll take that as a compliment. Then for dessert we had this:





Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake - I found the recipe in this old book called "The All-Around Pumpkin Book" by Margery Cuyler. (I added a cream cheese glaze to it, just for fun.)

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Squares (actual title)

2 1/4 cups flour
2 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
4 beaten eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup shortening
2 cups pumpkin filling
1 cup chocolate chips

What to do:

Preheat oven to 325 F. Grease a 9x13 pan. In one bowl sift all the dry ingredients together. In a second bowl beat the eggs, then add the sugars, shortening, and pumpkin filling. Mix well. While mixing, add dry ingredients and continue mixing until well blended. Add the chocolate chips. Pour the mixture into a pan and bake for 45 minutes. Check with a toothpick to make sure it is done and then allow to cool for 1 minutes before cutting into squares and serving.

This cake was really good, as was the smell that filled my home while it baked - Heavenly!!!