Pumpkin & Pigskin Party

There’s a whole lot of fall coming your way right now.

It all started a few years ago, when I lived in Napa and my cooking confidant Meghan and I decided there were way too many delicious fall recipes involving pumpkin to not do something about it. We wanted to try everything pumpkin under the sun, but how could just the two of us accomplish this? Our solution was to throw a party. We invited all of our friends with one requirement: bring something pumpkin. Sweet, savory, in liquid form, whatever. Let the creativity flow!

The party was a huge success, and we had a “second annual” one year later. Then I moved away L Now Meghan and I are forced to share our love for pumpkin by following each other’s fall-themed Pinterest boards and commenting along the lines of “I waaaaannnt” or “Stop teasing me!”  The first year I lived in Santa Barbara seemed like a whirlwind, and I couldn’t get my act together to host a party until my friends and I decided to throw together a “Friendsgiving” in a total time frame of about two weeks. But of course you can’t have a pumpkin-themed-food-and-drink-only party for Friendsgiving. There are other delicious things to be had like turkey and gravy and mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes and…Is it November yet?

 

 

 

 

 

So this year I decided to resurrect the pumpkin party, and what better time to have one than during Sunday Night Football? The Pumpkin & Pigskin Party was born. I threw out an invite to my friends and started scouring my recipes. Necessities for me included: something sweet, something savory, something to snack on, and something baked in a pumpkin. Not too complicated, right?

Since time was short I didn’t have too much of a chance to get creative, sadly I have no original recipes to post. BUT, since all of the dishes were such a huge hit, I decided to post the links to each recipe here along with some photos showing how each one turned out in real life. As I’m getting back into the “blog-life” swing of things, I am slowly figuring out how to manage my time and I promise there will be some original recipes coming soon. Hold tight and thanks for sticking with me!

Pumpkin & Pigskin Menu

• Creamy Maple Bacon Pumpkin Risotto *Note: For the pumpkin bowl, simply cut the top off of a small to medium-size pumpkin and scoop out the insides. Roast on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper at 350 degrees for about one hour. Then just scoop the risotto into the bowl when you are ready to serve!
• Crockpot Maple Pumpkin Spice Chex Mix
• Rosemary Pumpkin Hummus *This has been my go-to fall recipe for a couple of years now. I like to add some cayenne to give it a little kick. Try it, you won’t be sorry!
• Pumpkin Crumb Cake *This was a recipe Meghan made for one of our first pumpkin parties and I begged her for the recipe after I tried it. So delish.
• Chocolate Pumpkin Truffles