FALLing Back Into Old Habits

Oh My Gourd, it's them...

We are pirates and smugglers. Perhaps some clarification would help. Every time one or both of us travel to the United States for a family visit, holiday break, summer trip, we load up our suitcases with the various luxuries that make our South American day to day lives easier. We’re talking about things like Wawa coffee (my NJ people know what I’m talking about), buffalo sauce, peanut M&Ms, and of course cans of pumpkin. It’s not just us traveling either. When Shannon’s family came to visit us over Christmas break last year, they also brought suitcases full of these things. It seems like a small and silly thing to do, but when you have acclimated to 90% of the food and culture of a foreign country, one of the unexpected side-affects is a strong insatiable craving for crap from the U.S.

Step One Slice It

Around this time every year from the time I was a wee little lad, I have been consumed with the American tradition of being obsessed with pumpkin flavored things. In the fall, as the leaves turn from their vibrant green “living” color into their beautiful hues of decay I am overcome by the need to have pumpkin flavored things. I’m talking about coffee, lattes, bread, muffins, donuts, biscotti, soups, pies, and of course the ever-elusive “mom’s famous pumpkin cheesecake.” I’m not alone in this desire. It’s a fairly common American tradition. It is ingrained in our country’s culture and started in the 1600s when European colonists didn’t know what the hell they were doing and kindly traded the Native Americans polio for delicious pumpkin recipes. Ever since then, Americans have been obsessed with pumpkin flavored things. Last year was a bit of a transition for us as we were only able to have a few pumpkin items. This year…oh man this year…

Step Two Roast It

I have previously written about our exploits involving smuggling canned delicious orange-brown viscus gold into Ecuador for our cooking and eating enjoyment. It was limited to a few dishes due to our lack of canned pumpkin. Ecuador doesn’t exactly have a proper Publix or anything too similar. This weekend, when we went to the market, we saw it. I don’t know if it was my own inner manifestations or a broken skylight, or more likely, a hole in the roof, but as soon as we walked into the market my eyes were drawn by a strong ray of sunlight shining down upon a pile of pumpkins. We found them! The real deal! We quickly purchased four or five pumpkins, unsure if they were in fact the real deal. It was almost too good to be true, so I didn’t want to get my hopes up.

Anyway, when we got home, Shannon looked up how to turn the orange orb of God into the stuff that comes out of the Libby’s can. She sliced them in half, roasted them, gutted them, and scooped them, and Huzzah! We had plentiful amounts of fresh

Step Three, Mash It

pumpkin puree.

Step Four Enjoy

We spent the next two days doing what any logical person would do. We cooked every pumpkin recipe we could find. Shannon started off with some pumpkin scones, and biscotti. I followed her up with some pumpkin soup, and pancakes and she made a vat of delicious pumpkin lattes. We are now set and we can officially ignore the pending volcanic eruption, the home sickness, and the lack of climate change (therefore leaves changing color) and we can focus on watching some good ‘ole fashioned American Football and gorging ourselves on pumpkin things.  It finally feels like fall and little by little it’s finally starting to feel more like home.