The Great Pumpkin Off

This past Sunday, Jenn was kind enough to organize a pumpkin cook-off on the sidewalk in front of 731. It was a follow up to last years' Mac-n-Cheese Off of which yours truly was the reigning champion (I won with a strange concoction of "Dessert Macaroni and Cheese"). The range for the pumpkin off was a little wider since the only rule was the recipe had to include pumpkin in some way. If you didn't cook something, you were requested to supply some beer (preferably flavored with our favorite gourd) to complete our little neighborhood block party.

Check out the spread! We had tons of delicious food. I was really impressed how enthusiastically people participated. We had a nice balance of sweet and savory items which everyone sampled and prepared to vote later in the evening. I apologize that I didn't get photos of all the entries. I got distracted by eating! Some highlights:

Ubiquitous candy corn. Disqualified for lack of pumpkin content. Sorry, Stephen. We devoured them anyway. It's not Halloween without candy corn!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies with a vanilla/coconut icing lovingly prepared by the nicest Australians you will ever meet (come to find out, they call cookies biscuits in Australia).

Pumpkin Cornmeal Biscuits (which the Aussies call scones) made by moi. I had never made them before and was a little disappointed that they didn't taste pumpkin-y. Slathering them in Trader Joe's pumpkin butter helped a bit, but I definitely didn't win any blue ribbons with these. I happily passed the crown onto the next cook off winners. Find the recipe here. 

The sweet category winner! Jenn made a yummy and beautiful Pumpkin Trifle. Does that make anyone else think of Rachel's trifle from Friends? Jenn's version definitely did not taste like feet.

The savory category winner! Stephanie made a to-die-for Pumpkin Pasta with Sage which sounds insanely simple. I will post the recipe stat once I obtain it.

Update: Find the recipe here. I know what I'm making for dinner tonight :)

Mmmm. Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Bourbon. Kristin knows her audience. That bourbon gets you a long way with this crowd.

Personally I give Majo the award for best presentation. She made a Pumpkin Soup which she served in the pumpkin!! I'm jealous of her Martha Stewart tendencies.

Remember these little guys?! They are all grown up and made the trip from Ohio to the Big Apple. Kurt's parents visited this weekend with a car full of goodies from the garden. I'm glad they were able to join in our pumpkin overload.

We all voted by secret ballot for our favorite sweet and savory picks. The winners got some awesome prizes :)

We were so busy stuffing our faces, only Silvia and Erik carved this pumpkin. I think he looks awesome! Brooklyn is in full fledged Halloween/Autumn spirit!