Pumpkin

Has the Friends and Fun Forum been relocated?
Bill

[Robin Garr]

Has the Friends and Fun Forum been relocated?
Bill

Its walls are permeable ...

Its walls are permeable ...

Alas.

I take exception to the tone in your comment and what you infer without actually stating it.

Tim, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be indirect. If you, sir, are expressing homophobic attitudes here, then you, sir, are a bigot. I apologize for my failure to make myself 100 percent clear.

Robin,

You are pathetic... stay off those left wing websites... you don't have a clue as to which end is up.

Tim

[David M. Bueker]

Tim,

Just so you have the opinion of all 3 moderators - you are way over the line. I might suggest that you take a self imposed break from posting here until you can talk about wine and food in a more civilized manner.

Tim,

Just so you have the opinion of all 3 moderators - you are way over the line. I might suggest that you take a self imposed break from posting here until you can talk about wine and food in a more civilized manner.

David,

I was wondering when you were going to join the party. I was just about to edit my last post and to add that I have had just about enough of this chit chat and back and forth. It is a waste of my time. I have other things that I need to focus on and they are far more deserving of my time and efforts. You guys go down what path you choose to take and I will go down what path I choose to take.

So, have a nice holiday.

Tim

[Robin Garr]

You guys go down what path you choose to take and I will go down what path I choose to take.

"The defendant showed no remorse."

Tim, given your intransigence in standing firm for homophobia and declaring an openness to diversity beneath you, you might be happier among people who think more as you do. The local Tea Party, perhaps, or if you're in a rural area, maybe a Klavern. May the wind always be at your back, and don't let the door hit you in the butt on your way out.

Jeff said:

Nope. If you don't like it, don't read it.

Jeff, I truly regret that I did not see Tim's post and have the opportunity to answer before your response. I'm certain that this from Tim -

Did you not notice that my comment sailed right by you and everyone else on the board.

is as off-base as the rest of what what he says. I suspect that stunned silence at least partially accounts for the lack of a smackdown before you answered him.

Then Robin said:

and don't let the door hit you in the butt on your way out.

... and the meaning of his title of Forum Janitor suddenly became clear.

[Robin Garr]

I suspect that stunned silence at least partially accounts for the lack of a smackdown before you answered him.

Yo Jim! Safe and sound at home? It was great seeing you for the traditional Breaking of Bread and Pulling of Cork Saturdday. Mary waves and says hi.

And as for the above, yeah, Tim was "subtle," if that's the right word. I think my silence was along the lines of, "That couldn't possibly mean what it seems to mean, could it?"

Nah, he just thought he was being subtle. That's a difficult thing for homophobes, bigots and fascist hate-mongers to pull off.

Let me join in the chorus of folks in our community that would like for Tim to exercise his right to associate with whomever he chooses, and to dis-associate from us.

[Jenise]

I wrote another response to Tim based on his last response to me but without realizing that a whole bunch more went on after that. It went like this: Tim, neither Robin nor I saw your post until after Jeff responded, but that doesn't mean that your meaning wasn't crystal clear to both of us. Rahsaan only pretended to misunderstand. But the truth is that you deeply offended Jeff and everybody else who read your post. So no that "shouldn't have been the end of it." You broke our rules by not keeping your intolerance to yourself, and worse you preposterously thought you had the right to tell someone else to curb the same right to talk about things that you reserve for yourself. You're free to talk about almost anything you want on these forums, but you can't take someone else's freedom away. Which you refuse to understand, so I'm going to have to ask you to leave.

Moot point now. So I did the only other thing I could do: I deactivated him! He won't be back.

[David M. Bueker]

I wrote another response to Tim based on his last response to me but without realizing that a whole bunch more went on after that. It went like this: Tim, neither Robin nor I saw your post until after Jeff responded, but that doesn't mean that your meaning wasn't crystal clear to both of us. Rahsaan only pretended to misunderstand. But the truth is that you deeply offended Jeff and everybody else who read your post. So no that "shouldn't have been the end of it." You broke our rules by not keeping your intolerance to yourself, and worse you preposterously thought you had the right to tell someone else to curb the same right to talk about things that you reserve for yourself. You're free to talk about almost anything you want on these forums, but you can't take someone else's freedom away. Which you refuse to understand, so I'm going to have to ask you to leave.

Moot point now. So I did the only other thing I could do: I deactivated him! He won't be back.

You go girl!

...Rahsaan only pretended to misunderstand...

So, we're not talking nutmeg vs. mace? I just finished cooking, peeling and pureeing my large jack o'lantern pumpkin, which is not supposed to be as good as pie pumpkins, so I will add some butternut squash to the mixture for the pies I'm making. I've never used mace, so I guess I'll buy some and give it a try. The rest of the pumpkin will be used in the smoky pumpkin soup.

Robin said:

Yo Jim! Safe and sound at home? It was great seeing you for the traditional Breaking of Bread and Pulling of Cork Saturdday. Mary waves and says hi.

Made it after a long travel day yesterday. Escaping Kentucky was far too adventurous. Had the route from the hotel to airport down pat; it was the detour to Starbucks that got me!

Hi back to Mary. It was a great meal, as was the company. Next time, I want to have time to talk about the wine we are drinking, after we solve the world's problems.

A much younger me once over-reached and attempted to make a pumpkin soup recipe out of a book on spices.

It was damned near irresistible as a recipe and photo, but beyond my capabilities at the time (or rather, beyond my trepidation level).

Was supposed to get a pumpkin, carve out the flesh, use the flesh for the soup, spice it up heavily, then cook and serve the entire pumpkin.

Trouble was, first, I bought a halloween pumpkin and not an eating pumpkin (what the hell did I know?). Couldn't believe how hard it was to core out the pumpkin flesh and chunk it up. Then I couldn't believe how relatively tasteless the cooked flesh was---and how not tender it was. Then I wimped out when the recipe called for Asian dried shrimp. Even mentioned that I was probably going to recoil at the strong smell of the shrimp, but to put them in anyway. I opened said shrimp, duly rcoiled---the smell was overpowering, and the whole dried little mini-shrimpies didn't look at all appealling, and I couldn't imagine enjoying eating the tiny beady-eyed little guys, so I did indeed fail to put them in.

The soup was a thudding, dull anticlimax to an otherwise splendid meal. We laughed about it a lot in subsequent years.

Coda: some time later I tried the recipe again. This time with eating pumpkin and with dried shrimp in the soup. Good stuff. Had nutmeg and mace in the spice mixture, as I recall.

Then, as now, homophobia wasn't allowed on the menu. And I had thankfully gotten over my temporary bigotry at beady eyed little shrimpies too.

[Jenise]

You go girl!

Well, I don't relish having to do that to anybody (he's only the second person I've ever locked out in my entire moderating career), but I didn't want to give him a chance to change his mind too quickly and return with all guns blazing. He was getting pretty defamatory, and our experience with others who have flamed out like this suggests it's the most prudent step.

[Jenise]

...Rahsaan only pretended to misunderstand...

So, we're not talking nutmeg vs. mace? I just finished cooking, peeling and pureeing my large jack o'lantern pumpkin, which is not supposed to be as good as pie pumpkins, so I will add some butternut squash to the mixture for the pies I'm making. I've never used mace, so I guess I'll buy some and give it a try. The rest of the pumpkin will be used in the smoky pumpkin soup.

Mace is made from, IIRC, the husks that surround the nut that is nutmeg. It's the fruit vs. the seed, IOW, and so quite similar and yet different in a way that greatly enhances the flavor of nutmeg where adding more nutmeg alone would be too strong.

[Jenise]

Coda: some time later I tried the recipe again. This time with eating pumpkin and with dried shrimp in the soup. Good stuff. Had nutmeg and mace in the spice mixture, as I recall.

Then, as now, homophobia wasn't allowed on the menu. And I had thankfully gotten over my temporary bigotry at beady eyed little shrimpies too.

Great story telling!

Speaking of pumpkin soup, my friend Linda made the best pumpkin soup I've ever eaten a few weeks ago. Thing is, I tasted it before I knew it was pumpkin, and I who is pretty darn good at analyzing what made up what's in my mouth wouldn't have suspected it's contents. Rather, I could taste beef and cream. There was some exotic spicing that turned out to be curry, but again I did not recognize it as such because she used such an expert, light hand with that. I've been meaning to try my hand at duplicating her dish using beef broth in place of the more common chicken (and I don't know what she used, it's just what I tasted. Also, the soup was more brown than the orange of a typical pumpkin soup.)

Jeff posted this in 2004 and I've made it a few times - great stuff! From the archives:

Smoky Pumpkin Soup (6 portions)

6 slices bacon, diced, cooked crisp, fat reserved
4 tbsp. unsalted butter (1/2 stick)
6 cups peeled cut-up pumpkin (1-inch pieces)
6 cups beef stock
1/2 cup Marsala
1 tsp dried thyme
s & p
toasted pumpkin seeds (garnish)

1. Heat the bacon fat and butter in a stock pot over medium-high heat. Add the
pumpkin and saute for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Pour in the stock and simmer covered until the pumpkin is very tender, about
30 minutes. Remove from heat.
3. Add the Marsala, thyme, and s & p to taste. Process the soup in batches in a
blender until smooth. Return to the stock pot.
4. Add the bacon. Simmer 10 minutes. Serve immediately, garneished with
pumpkin seeds.

Notes:
This is from The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook, Rosso and Lukins.

The recipe works well with canned pumpkin.

http://www.myspeakerscorner.com/forum/index.phtml?fn=2&tid=55869&mid=476676Smoky%20Pumpkin

[Jenise]

Beef broth! Thanks for posting that, Howie; I feel vindicated already.

[Robin Garr]

Did I mention, before the thread went south, that Mary has been making a delicious and very simple dish by cubing pumpkin and quartering onions, rubbing everything with olive oil and kosher salt, then roasting it until Dr. Maillard has done his work? It's amazingly good, and the caramelization brings it right up to red wine.

I've never noticed a non-edible carving pumpkin, by the way. In my experience, one variety fits all.

Did I mention, before the thread went south, that Mary has been making a delicious and very simple dish by cubing pumpkin and quartering onions, rubbing everything with olive oil and kosher salt, then roasting it until Dr. Maillard has done his work? It's amazingly good, and the caramelization brings it right up to red wine.

I've never noticed a non-edible carving pumpkin, by the way. In my experience, one variety fits all.

I was informed by some very supercilious people that there is a great difference between pumpkins selected for eating and pumpkins selected for halloween decorations. Damned foodies. Or course, they told me this only after my attempt at pumpkin soup had crashed disastrously.

Of course, you Kentuckians might just like to gnaw on your pumpkin flesh like it's beef jerky, I suppose.

(Seriously, I still don't know how there's a difference. Maybe the giveaway was the pumpkin I chose was past season and had a colorful face drawn on it????)

[Robin Garr]

some very supercilious people

So I should let my eyebrows grow out before I bloviate?

[Jenise]

Did I mention, before the thread went south, that Mary has been making a delicious and very simple dish by cubing pumpkin and quartering onions, rubbing everything with olive oil and kosher salt, then roasting it until Dr. Maillard has done his work? It's amazingly good, and the caramelization brings it right up to red wine.

I've never noticed a non-edible carving pumpkin, by the way. In my experience, one variety fits all.

Robin, one of my favorite things to do with pumpkin is roast it diced and tossed with olive oil and fresh garlic. Fresh parsley too, right at the finish. Sounds similar.

But, one size fits all? Have you never used a real sugar pumpkin? If you had, I'm sure you'd note the difference.