For All the Pumpkin Lovers Out There

People, I have news. Okay, it may not be all that exciting to anyone else, but it is for me. I may have found a new favorite TV chef. Don’t get me wrong, I still love Alton Brown and his show “Good Eats”, but “Aarti Party” with Aarti Sequeira is just so delightfully fun and girly. I set my DVR to record a whole bunch of random cooking shows the other weekend—yes, I am that big a dork—and “Aarti Party” was one of those that got recorded. It’s just one of those really simple this is what we’re going to cook today, so here we go shows.

So, there I am, sitting on the couch in my jammies with my tea and the adorable host tells me that we’re making pumpkin oatmeal. My ears immediately perked up, so to speak. I love oatmeal possibly more than any other breakfast food. This probably has a lot to do with the fact that our great-grandmother, Gee-Gee, would make a big pot of oatmeal in the mornings when we visited. This was the best oatmeal in the entire world, and I will pay someone if they can come close to duplicating it. I know I can’t get mine anywhere close to what she did. She always put raisins in it, and it barely needed any sweetener. I think she used either old-fashioned oats or the steel cut kind. I’m not sure, but there was always something else to it. There was a certain warmth in the flavor that I don’t know how to describe. Maybe it was great-grandma magic and that’s why I’ve never been able to come close. Gee-Gee always used to say that oatmeal was good for you, especially in the winter, because it “sticks to your ribs”. I never understood that as a kid, but I love thinking back on it now. :-) Anyway, back to pumpkin oatmeal. I heard this and thought it sounded great, so I whipped myself up a batch that day.

Pumpkin Oatmeal

* 1 (14-ounce) can pumpkin puree (the unseasoned kind)

* 2 cups water

* 2 cups unsweetened almond milk, or water

* 2 tablespoons raisins (golden or regular)

* 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

* 3/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice OR 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon plus 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom plus 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

* 2 cups quick cooking oatmeal (not the instant kind)

* 1/4 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)

* Honey or maple sugar, for serving

* Heavy cream, for serving

In large saucepan over high heat, combine the pumpkin puree, water, milk, raisins, salt, and pumpkin pie spice (alternative spices). Bring to a boil. Add the oatmeal. Turn the heat down and cook according to your oatmeal instructions; mine usually takes about 15 minutes. Stir often. Meanwhile, in a small cast iron skillet over medium heat, toast the pepitas until they're fragrant and a gentle golden brown, about 10 minutes.

Once the oatmeal is cooked (each grain should be tender), serve with honey or maple sugar on the side, pepitas to sprinkle on top, and cream if people like it more like porridge.

Here's the ingredient lineup. I'm very happy that raisins went into this recipe. Granted, these are golden raisins and not the regular kind like Gee-Gee used to use, but yummy nevertheless.

Here we are in various stages along the way. You can see my inability to judge volume flared up here because I had to move everything to my biggest stock pot halfway through.

And here it is. Very orange and very yummy. I have a sweet, little pool of honey in the center there because I LOVE honey. I did not end up using pepitas/pumpkin seed in this because I find them very chewy, but still delicious!

Now, a word about this delightful dish: It’s very pumpkin-y. I don’t recommend it for pumpkin novices. Mike doesn’t really love pumpkin pie. He likes it okay in the fall, but he doesn’t pine after it. You have to really, really like pumpkin to want this. It is very good and thick and will totally stick to your ribs and keep you warm, which is good considering we just got our second or third heavy snowfall of the year here in Nashville. This is panic-worthy for those of us living here. All the schools are out, grocery stores are ransacked, and I fishtail up my driveway, but I digress. I am so happy I made this, because all I have to do is scoop some into a bowl in the morning and heat it up. You can add sweetener if you want, which I’ve done some mornings, but it’s pretty good as is, though. Such a lovely, hot breakfast, and you get fruit in with your whole grains because squash and gourds are apparently fruits. I just learned that this week, and so I toast to all my fellow pumpkin lovers out there.