This is part four in my series of pumpkin dessert recipe roundups. I’ve already looked at cheesecakes, trifles, and bread puddings. And you thought pumpkin pie was the only thing you could serve at Thanksgiving! For this post, I’m turning my attention to pumpkin cakes.

Who doesn’t love cake? It’s really the ultimate dessert, isn’t it? That’s why we serve it at all the important milestones of our lives. You get married, there’s a cake. Baby shower? Cake. Birthday? Cake. You get the picture.

Pumpkin is a great ingredient to use in cakes. I love spicy desserts, full of cinnamon, nutmeg, and other classic flavors of the fall. These cake recipes all include these wonderful flavors that are associated with pumpkin and offer something different for those of you who don’t love custard (which is part of bread pudding, pumpkin pies, and trifles). Plus, just about all of them include cream cheese frosting. Is there anyone who doesn’t like cream cheese frosting?

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I’m continuing to scour the internet for you, providing all sort of pumpkin dessert recipes for you to consider for your Thanksgiving feast. I’ve already discussed pumpkin cheesecakes and pumpkin bread puddings. In this post I want to discuss an option that may not even be on your Thanksgiving dessert radar: trifle.

I know I, for one, always think of trifle as a summer dessert, with its layers of cake, fruit, and custard. My siblings and I were obsessed with our mother’s trifles when we were growing up, always begging for her to make it. With layers of peaches, berries, pound cake soaked in orange juice (and sometimes liquor, when we got older), and vanilla pudding, they were (and continue to be) truly delicious. It shouldn’t come as a surprise then that I never thought about making a pumpkin trifle.

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Thanksgiving is coming, and along with the turkey, stuffing, potatoes, and cranberry sauce it also means pumpkin desserts! Yes, I usually eat so much at the main meal that I swear I won’t have dessert. If we’re being honest here, I’d much rather have another helping of stuffing over dessert, but at the end of the day, if Thanksgiving is about anything, it’s about gluttony (oh, and giving thanks), so there’s always room for dessert.

Every year I bring a pumpkin dessert to the festivities, because I know it just wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without something spicy and pumpkin-y to end the meal. Well, the first part of the meal, anyway, because later in the evening, the first round of sandwiches come out. In any case, I’ve tried to remain somewhat creative in my choices for dessert, avoiding the traditional pumpkin pie, and opting for something a little less obvious. Because of this, I’ve browsed through many recipes, and I want to share some of the ones I’ve tried and some of the ones I’ve wanted to try in a series of posts. This first entry focuses on pumpkin cheesecake!

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Every Friday at work we have a treat day: a different person each week brings in food for the group. This is voluntary and we do have some people that do not participate. For those of us that do, we get something tasty each Friday morning. Sometimes this treat is doughnuts from the grocery store and sometimes it’s homemade cookies or brownies or some other dish. A few weeks ago Jeff Lim brought in a Hawaiian dish that was really good. I asked him for the recipe and thought I would try making Kalua Pig myself.

I am not one that tries new foods all that often. I know what I like and pretty much stick to that. Hell, I never even tried Chinese food until my wife and I got together. Chinese food is a favorite of hers so I agreed to take her to a Chinese restaurant. I don’t mind Chinese food, but I still prefer a cheeseburger.

I have tried different styles of BBQ pulled pork before and have never really been all that impressed, so as I looked at the pot of pulled pork I was not sure I’d really like it. When I tried it I realized that it was not at all like the pulled pork I had tried before.

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If you’ve been following along at home, you know that I’ve never made baked ziti before. Part of me knows why I’ve been avoiding it: it’s a lot of steps, and a lot of dishes! But this particular recipe had a hook that convinced me it was time to try it. It makes enough for two casseroles, and one pops right into the freezer. I’ve become a monster when it comes to having easy meals ready, so I thought it would be worth the time and the mess.

What’s the verdict? Was it worth the sink full of dishes and the time spent on the multiple steps to make this casserole?

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As the weather is turning colder and the leaves are changing color, one thing is for certain: autumn is upon us. One of the best parts of the fall is Oktoberfest, and I recently attended a German-themed party in honor of the festival. I was tasked with bringing a dessert as part of the festivities (along with a bottle of Riesling). As I usually do, I spent way too much time browsing through countless recipes looking for the perfect one. I was surprised at how many German desserts there were: strudels, kuchen, and the classic black forest cake.

The recipe that I finally settled on was one that played on the classic black forest cake: Black Forest Brownie Bars.

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It’s been a while since I’ve cooked tempeh, and a longer while since I tried to do anything fun with it. When Owen was younger, one of his favorite foods was pan-fried tempeh strips. They were so easy for him to grab and eat and just as easy for me to pack for our outings.

When divine intervention hit and I bought tempeh on a whim last week, I was excited to cook it again for my little man. It didn’t go exactly as I had planned. I definitely didn’t expect him to run to the sink, wailing, “Texture! Texture!” and spit it out. I guess there’s no love lost between the ex-tempeh lover and Heidi Swanson’s orange pan-glazed tempeh recipe. Keith and I, on the other hand, happily devoured it.

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