Bob's Mexican Pumpkin Punch, Food Network Magazine October 2010
Spiced Persimmon and Pecan Chocolate Muffins, Cooking Light November 2010
(Actually I made this yesterday, but I drank it today after letting it mull overnight)
This pumpkin punch is kind of interesting. Each of the flavors (brown sugar, cinnamon, pumpkin, limes) are distinct and strong, but they sort of come and go in turns instead of mingling together. This is actually an October recipe, and I meant to make it a long time ago with canned pumpkin left over from various recipes, but then not getting around to it and tossing the leftover, old pumpkin. So finally I ended up having to buy a can of pumpkin just for this, and limes too. Then I waited another couple weeks. So, the lime rind was probably a bit more bitter than it was supposed to be, but it tasted fine. I fourthed this recipe to just make a couple cups. I think it would be a really interesting drink to serve at a fall or winter party as a change of pace from cider. It was a bit of a pain to make, though. The pumpkin pulp is supposed to settle. It did ever so slightly, but not enough to prevent it from immediately resuspending each time I ladled some out. When it came time to strain it, it drained so, so slowly. Would it have been bad to have the pumpkin pulp in the drink? It seems like it just would've affected the texture a bit, but would have saved some hassle.
I wanted to make these muffins about a week ago, but the persimmons were completely unripe. After letting them sit out for a week, they were still pretty hard, but I decided to just give it a try anyway. I omitted the pecans, because I don't like nuts in baked goods (except hazelnuts, and maybe almonds), but instead put in some chocolate chips. I couldn't find any dried cranberries in the pantry, but I did find some dried cherries, so I used those instead. I put some pumpkin seeds on the top for some crunch and show.
These were pretty good muffins! We have been eating them for breakfast each day, and they're staying pretty nice and moist. They actually don't taste that persimmony though, which is a shame because I consider persimmons to be an expensive treat. It seems like they could've been made with pumpkin in the batter and that would have been just as moist. But, I guess it's not bad to use two persimmons to make about 20 muffins!
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