Add pumpkin to your pasta. This delicious
baked ziti recipe uses sausage and spinach as
well. Photo courtesy Libby’s.

Not to mention pumpkin brownies, pumpkin cake, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin crème brulee, pumpkin crème caramel, pumpkin cupcakes, pumpkin fudge and chocolate truffles, pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin mousse, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin pudding, pumpkin tarts and pumpkin waffles.

(Are you ready to start cooking? See our recipe resources below.)

But pumpkin flesh, also called pumpkin meat, can—and should—be used for more than desserts and sweet treats. See how many different savory pumpkin dishes you can put on the table this season.

“Pumpkin season” doesn’t end with Thanksgiving dinner, either. This nutritious* vegetable is available through the winter. And it’s only 49 calories per cup, steamed or boiled. (Keep the calories down and the cholesterol away by seasoning with salt, pepper and your favorite spices (from cinnamon to chipotle), and using olive oil instead of butter.)

Pumpkin can be baked, boiled, microwaved, roasted, steamed, stir-fried and stuffed.

 
 
SOURCED FOR PUMPKIN RECIPES

 
See the different types of squash in our Squash Glossary.

________________

*Pumpkin is fat-free, cholesterol-free and an excellent source of vitamin A. The orange pigment is beta-carotene, a powerful antioxidant that converts to vitamin A in the body. A diet rich in beta-carotene may reduce the risk of developing certain types of cancer, and offers protection against heart disease and other diseases, including some degenerative aspects of aging. Pumpkins are also a good source of vitamin C, a second powerful antioxidant, and deliver calcium and dietary fiber.

Need help teaching table manners to kids?

It can be trying, or it can be fun.

Golly Gee-pers! Table Manners Cards choose the fun way—one that eliminates nagging and prodding.

And you can get them just in time to impress relatives and friends at upcoming holiday dinners.

These easy-to-use “manners cards” make sure that kids are on their best behavior during every dining experience—at home, at other people’s homes and at restaurants. Children learn proper manners via fun games.

The funny-yet-respectful cards depict 14 different table manners, proper and improper, designated with a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down. Kids and adults alike compete for Ready To Dine Out awards.

Extra blank thumbs-up and thumbs-down cards can be used to address specific age groups, cultures, family rules, etc.

And surprise: adults will improve their table manners in the process, too.

Get your Golly Gee-pers! and have fun learning how to eat genteelly.

See how easy it is to turn your family into a class act at the table.
  

How about some “eyeball” nibbles with your Halloween cocktails?

This healthy hors d’oeuvre or snack uses a radish base for the white and “veins” of the eyeball. The pupil and iris are a pimento-stuffed olive. All you have to do is peel the radishes and insert the olives (buy large radishes and small olives).

Fun to look at, crunchy radish eyeballs are a low-calorie and healthy food. (Yes, fun, delicious and healthy do co-exist!) Serving ideas:

 
Add your ideas to this list!

The video below uses a blueberry to create the iris, but we prefer a pimento-stuffed olive, as shown in the photo above.

Over the past few years, the company has expanded its line beyond Original Red Tabasco to Green, Garlic, Habanero and Chipotle Tabasco and Sweet & Spicy Sauce.

Few people know of a seventh product that the company has produced since the early days, available only to family and close friends: Tabasco Family Reserve Pepper Sauce.

Each year, a portion of the finest peppers grown on the company’s property on Avery Island, Louisiana are hand-selected for their superior color, texture and robustness. These special peppers are mashed with premium white wine vinegar and a small amount of local salt. The mash is placed in white oak barrels and aged for up to eight years (compared to three years for regular Tabasco sauce).

This year, a small batch of Tabasco Family Reserve Pepper Sauce is available to the public. You can pick up a bottle (five ounces) for $24.95 (the regular five-ounce bottle is $9.00).

The 2011 Family Reserve Tabasco sports a
medallion. Photo by Elvira Kalviste | THE NIBBLE.

How does it taste? We can’t tell you: We’re keeping ours as a collector’s item! Is it 2.7 times as good as the $9 bottle? If you’ve tried it, please weigh in. The company press release is mute on how Family Reserve tastes compared to Original Red. Aging produces rounder flavors, honing the rough edges. In general, the more a product ages, the more mellow it becomes and the more complex the flavors become.

The special edition is available only at the Avery Island gift store and online. Let your Tabasco-loving friends know, before it sells out.

Harvest Pumpkin is like a pumpkin pie
crossed with a blondie. Photo courtesy
Sugardaddy’s.

This week, it’s Halloween brownies.

They’re not decorated with ghosts or tombstones, and only one brownie—Pumpkin Harvest Blondie—has a related Halloween theme.

But all 15 flavors of these delectable round brownies and blondies—called Sugardaddy’s Sumptuous Sweeties—are a welcome addition to any celebration, party or gift fest.

Rich, Moist Brownies In Luscious Flavors

You may have come across some of these delicious brownie flavors before: caramel, double chocolate, espresso, mint, peanut butter and raspberry. If not, hasten to try these moist, fudgy flavor expressions.

Blondie lovers can be tempted with exciting flavors we haven’t found elsewhere: cinnamon streusel (with a coffee cake topping), coconut pineapple cashew (coconut lovers will adore it), drunken chunky (with bourbon), PB&J and a “sweet-and-salty” three-nut blondie with sea salt.

Read the full review to learn why these special brownies and blondies are at the top of our list.

Place your order now for a 10% discount. Use code BOO at checkout, through October 31, 2011.

Keep them in mind for teacher gifts, stocking stuffers and anytime you need an impressive gift for less than $5.00.