[1] Pumpkin Ricotta Cheesecake, less heavy than a cream cheese recipe (photo © Chef Marisa Churchill).

[2] No Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake. Here’s the recipe (photo © Kenwood World).

[3] Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie. Here’s the recipe (photo © King Arthur Flour).

[4] Pumpkin Cheesecake Ice Cream. The recipe is below (photo © Taste Of Home).

[5] Or, buy this limited-edition Pumpkin Cheesecake Ice Cream, with a graham cracker swirl, from Ben & Jerry (photo © Ben & Jerry).

October 21st is National Pumpkin Cheesecake Day. Here’s the history of cheesecake. The history of pumpkins is below.

With Halloween in 10 days and Thanksgiving and Christmas following (sooner than we’d like), it’s perfect timing.

There are different styles of pumpkin cheesecake, from the dense New York style with two pounds of cream cheese to a lighter ricotta cheesecake, to pumpkin mousse cheesecake.

Here are some recipes from our collection.

 
Plus:

 
 
RECIPE: PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE ICE CREAM

Don’t want cake? How about some pumpkin cheesecake ice cream?

Many pumpkin cheesecake recipes do not include cream cheese, relying simply on the cream and spices to simulate cheesecake flavors.

Ben & Jerry’s sells a perfectly charming Pumpkin Cheesecake Ice Cream.

But this recipe, from Taste Of Home, is the real deal with cream cheese and egg yolks, just like a cheesecake.

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. HEAT 1-1/2 cups cream, the cream cheese, and 1/2 cup brown sugar in a large heavy saucepan, until bubbles form around the sides of the pan. Meanwhile…

2. WHISK the egg yolks, salt, spices, and the remaining cream and brown sugar in a small bowl. Whisk a small amount of the hot mixture into the eggs. Return all to the pan, whisking constantly.

3. COOK and stir over low heat until the mixture is thickened and coats the back of a spoon. Quickly strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl; place in ice water and stir for 2 minutes.

4. WHISK in the pumpkin and vanilla. Continue to whisk until the mixture is completely cooled.

5. FILL the cylinder of the ice cream maker two-thirds full; freeze according to the manufacturer’s directions. When the ice cream is frozen, transfer it to a freezer container. Freeze for 2-4 hours or overnight.
 
 
THE HISTORY OF CHEEESECAKE
 
 
THE HISTORY OF PUMPKINS

Pumpkins and other squash types originated in the Americas. They are among America’s oldest cultivated crops.

Pumpkin seeds have been found at archaeological sites in the American southwest dating back six thousand years, as well as at sites throughout Mexico, Central and South America, and the eastern United States [source].

It is believed that the seeds of the wild pumpkin were the only part consumed, as the flesh of most varieties was too bitter to eat.

Once cultivation and breeding eliminated the bitterness, Native Americans ate not just the flesh and seeds, but the flowers, leaves, and in the case of zucchini and yellow squash, the skin.

Varieties of all sorts could be baked or roasted whole in the fire, cut up and boiled, or added to soup. Strips were also dried into a type of pumpkin jerky.

European explorers to the New World found squash varieties growing in profusion from East to West, from South America to Canada.

Brought back to Europe by Spanish explorers in the 16th century*, the name was derived from the Greek word pepon, large melon.

 
When Pilgrims arrived, they added pumpkin to everything from soups and stews to pies.

They also turned the pumpkin into a vessel to make a type of pudding. They sliced off the top, removed the seeds and pith, and filled the cavity with milk, honey, and spices. They baked it in the hot ashes of the fire.

Pumpkins were fermented into beer and grown as fodder for livestock.

By the 19th century, however, the pumpkin had diminished into a minor crop. Now, it is largely a “fourth quarter crop,” mostly eaten during the holiday season.

But only because we have so many other seasonal foods to eat during the other seasons!

________________

*Along with pumpkins and other squash varieties, Spanish explorers brought back cacao beans, corn, peanuts, peppers, pineapples, potatoes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and other food items.

National Prunes Day is June 17th. October 17th is Four Prunes Day. It may sound like a funny name for a food holiday.

Some people say “meh” to prunes, but for centuries it was based on medical advice that four to nine prunes a day would help with “digestive regularity.”

We love the flavor prunes and prune juice. But many Americans steer clear of them, perhaps because of their long association with regularity (and hence, National Prunes Day was founded).

A campaign launched by prune producers in 2001 promoted a name change from prunes to “dried plums” (which is what prunes are), to make them more appealing.

It was not successful in moving the needle, and “prune” has returned to common use.

But as anyone who has ever made a pork or chicken roast with stuffed prunes knows, the dried fruits are delicious on their own.

One of our favorite hors d’oeuvre is prunes stuffed with chicken liver mousse (you can marinate the prunes in Cognac overnight before stuffing them).

The 21st-century view of healthy prunes should be as a high-antioxidant fruit, full of fiber, potassium, and magnesium.

A clinical study currently underway indicates that prunes may have the ability to reduce bone loss in postmenopausal women and may help fight osteoporosis.

While dried fruits such as prunes are easy to tote around for a healthy snack, Sunsweet Growers has made it even easier with Sunsweet Ones, which are individually wrapped.

One prune contains just 23 calories.

> The history of prunes is below.
 
 
PRUNES AT EVERY MEAL

 
There are so many recipes in each of these categories. Check out:

 
You’ll find everything from every day to creative recipes (don’t knock Prune Pizza until you’ve tried it).

And one of our favorite easy desserts: Soak prunes in Cognac, Grand Marnier, prune liqueur, or orange liqueur for several hours or overnight. Then use them to top vanilla ice cream.

You can even flambé them, like Cherries Jubilee.
 
 
PRUNE NUTRITION

Prunes have been appreciated for thousands of years due to their nutritional, dietary, and medical properties, and were prescribed by Greek, Roman and Arab doctors.

Today, we know that they are:

 
In addition to nutrition, prunes are fun to eat: sweet, flavorful, and moist, and with a sticky, chewy texture.
 

THE HISTORY OF PRUNES

A prune is a dried plum of any cultivar, mostly the European plum (Prunus domestica).

More than 1,000 plum cultivars are grown worldwide for drying; an additional 1,000 or so are grown for plum fruit (different cultivars are created to do better in particular environments).

The Greeks and Romans were very fond of both variations of the fruit.

Wild plums originated in China and were cultivated from sour plums into sweet fruit.

Plums came to the Middle East along the Silk Road, and plum trees flourished all over the Mediterranean basin.

The plums were dried in the sun or in bakers’ ovens, transforming them into prunes.

Because they are highly nutritious and have a long shelf life, prunes and other dried fruits were ideal for travelers, and to store in case of poor harvests.

From the Mediterranean to Northern Europe:

The Romans planted the first variety of plum in Gaul near the town of Agen, which is still famous for its delicious prunes.

In the 12th century, Benedictine monks returning from the Third Crusade brought new varieties of plums from Syria and grated them onto the local rootstock to create new varieties.

Known as Pruneaux d’Ente (grafted prunes), this was the prune that made its way to California, in 1850.

It was brought by a man from the Agen area, who grafted it onto local wild plum trees.

While these California prunes were growing, so was the U.S. consumer demand for European prunes.

By the 1870s, there were enough imports to catch the eye of farmers, who began planting plum trees from the California stock.

Today, California is America’s source of prunes. They’re available year-round.

Try some sooner, rather than later.

[1] Pork roast stuffed with prunes. Here’s the recipe from Leites Culinaria (photo © Leites Culinaria).

[2] Asian noodles with prune-ginger sauce. Here’s the recipe from California Prunes (photo © California Prunes).

[3] Farro (substitute grain of choice) with prunes, butternut squash and pecans. Here’s the recipe from California Prunes (photo © California Prunes).

[4] Brownies with chopped prunes. Here’s the recipe from A Taste Of Madness (photo © A Taste Of Madness).

[5] Prune clafoutis, in custard. Here’s the recipe from Papilles Et Pupilles (photo © Papilles Et Pupilles).

[6] Whole, pitted, bite-size, diced, individually wrapped for grab-and-go: Sunsweet makes it easy to cook and bake with prunes (photo © Sunsweet).

[1] Soup with a fall popcorn garnish (both photos © Popcorn Board).

[2] Add the garnish to chili and more.

Here’s a fun garnish for fall: for soups, vegetables, grains, proteins, even plain yogurt.

Combine seasoned popcorn (recipe below) with dried cranberries and pepitas, and top with fried sage leaves (here’s the recipe—it’s worth the effort).

You can also use the mixture as a trail mix-type snack, perhaps with the addition of chocolate chips?

And, if you don’t want a garnish, just enjoy the seasoned popcorn as a snack.
 
 
RECIPE: FALL HARVEST SOUP TOPPER & GARNISH

Ingredients For The Popcorn

 
Mix-Ins

 
Preparation

1. SEASON the popcorn. Place it in a large, clean paper bag.

2. SPRAY the popcorn lightly with cooking spray: about 5 quick sprays.

3. SPRIKE with the herbs: Cajun Creole/chili, basil, oregano, parsley, thyme. Close the bag and shake to distribute the seasoning. Add the mix-ins and give it another shake.

You can find sugar-free Halloween candy like Hershey’s Miniatures, Jolly Rancher, Reese’s Miniature PB Cups and Twizzlers Licorice.

But what we really look forward to every Halloween is a crunchy red candy apple and a chewy caramel apple.

If you can’t have sugar, worry not: We have recipes for sugar-free/no sugar added candy and caramel apples.

 
We couldn’t find a sugar-free candy corn to decorate, which isn’t surprising because candy corn is mostly corn syrup.

But there are sugar-free gummy bears from Albanese—not Halloween-y but fun.

Plus:

 
October 21st is National Caramel Apple Day.
 
THE HISTORY OF HALLOWEEN
 
THE HISTORY OF THE JACK O’LANTERN
 
THE HISTORY OF CANDY CORN
 
THE HISTORY OF TRICK-OR-TREATING

[1] Apples dipped in chocolate. Get sugar-free milk chocolate or white chocolate. The latter can be tinted with food color for a green or orange apple (photo © All Recipes).

[2] Use chopped nuts, like these apples from Mrs. Prindables (photo © Mrs. Prindables).

[1] Pace yourself, and try the 15+ flavors of Wolferman’s English Muffins (all photos © Wolferman’s).

[2] Yes, please: Chocolate Chip English Muffins.

[3] Peanut butter and bananas for breakfast.

[4] English muffin pizza!

[5] It’s Pumpkin English Muffin season. There are also Cranberry Citrus muffins.

[6] English crumpets. You can bake your own with this recipe from David Lebovitz (photo © David Lebovitz).

If you love English muffins, you’re about to leave the realm of the perfectly fine English muffin, and step into English muffin heaven.

It was created way back in 1910 by Fred Wolferman, a grocer in Kansas City, Kansas, inspired by those originated by Samuel Bath Thomas in New York City (see the history of English muffins below).

Over the years, both companies expanded beyond the Original flavor, with flavors from Cinnamon Raisin to Cranberry.

But Wolferman’s two-inch-high English muffins ensure that not only will the 1910 Original be an elevated experience, but there are numerous worthy flavors for you to discover:

 
There are also Gluten-Free English Muffins, and Mini English Muffins, for those seeking portion control.

The line is certified kosher-dairy by OU.

All of the flavors we’ve tried are delightful, and the Jalapeño Cheddar makes a terrific grilled cheese sandwich.

But our latest flavor discovery is the Chocolate Chip English Muffin.

Chocolate lovers beware: They are addictive.
 
 
FOR YOURSELF, FOR GIFTING

There are numerous gift boxes available at Wolfermans.com, and you can also buy six four-packs of most flavors.

You can’t buy a single package, but you can select a mix-and-match of six flavors.

Since we live solo, we can’t possibly use six packages at once (although you can freeze them). So here’s our tasting strategy:

We found two other people in our apartment building who love English muffins. We split the order of six four-packs, so that each month we have two packages of the flavor—8 muffins—to try.

We work in alphabetical order from the list above, so there’s no need to decide what’s next.
 
 
THE HISTORY OF WOLFERMAN’S ENGLISH MUFFINS

English muffins were invented in New York City by Samuel Thomas, an emigre from England. He took the concept of the crumpet, a thinner/flatter predecessor that is covered in holes from the cooking process (photo #6). A crumpet is eaten like a single piece of toast.

Thomas made a thicker version with a different cooking process that eliminated the holes, and pierced the thicker “English muffin” into two halves (here’s the history of the English muffin).

But you can’t keep a good idea in just one town. The English muffin concept spread nationwide.

Louis Wolferman of Kansas City, Missouri founded a corner grocery store in 1888. His slogan was “Good Things to Eat,” and he sold only the finest products.

(Note that in 1888, products sold in stores were largely ingredients plus fresh-made foods like pickles, sausages and delicatessen items. The large-scale manufacture of processed foods had not yet begun—so people ate better to begin with.)

In 1910, Louis Wolferman’s son Fred began to make his own English muffins, using tuna cans as molds to form and bake them.

This was, and remains, an accepted way to make crumpets if one does not have crumpet rings. Just remove the top and bottom of the can and set them on the griddle or baking pan before pouring in the batter.

Both Fred Wolferman and Samuel Thomas baked their muffins on a fiery open griddle. Oven baking came later.

A key difference between Wolferman’s English muffins and Thomas’ is that Wolferman’s are more dense (less airy) and two inches high: hefty English muffins.

The Wolferman’s brand was acquired in 1986 by Sara Lee, who purchased it from Fred Wolferman’s great-grandson. It was next acquired in 1999, by Williams Foods, who sold it in 2008 to Harry and David Holdings, where it happily remains.

It’s not often that we know the historical origins of the foods we eat. Most, even those that evolved at the same time as the English muffin (like the brownie), are lost to history, legend and conjecture.

As you enjoy your English muffins, raise your coffee cup or juice glass to toast Samuel, Louis and Fred, and their successful ventures in muffindom.
 
 
WOLFERMANS.COM