Pumpkin Kernik קערניק פֿון קאַבאַק

Pumpkin Kernik

Raw Pecan Crust

¾ cups raw pecans

¾ cups semisweet chocolate

combine the chocolate and pecans in a processor and grind to a fine dough. Press the dough into the base of a six-inch springform pan.

Pumpkin Bavarois

1 14-ounce can coconut milk

2 tablespoons agar

pinch salt

1 cup cooked pumpkin (or other deep orange squash, like butternut)

¾ cups honey or agave (more or less, to taste)

Heat the coconut milk in a small saucepan and sprinkle in the agar agar. Stir, cooking gently, until the agar is dissolved. Combine the coconut milk with the pumpkin and honey in a blender and puree very thoroughly. Pour the pumpkin cream onto the chocolate pecan crust and chill until firm.

קערניק

kernik A vegan cheesecake made from nuts or seeds

קאַבאַק
kabak pumpkin

See chocolate kernik, pistachio kernik, Strawberry kernik, and Bamboo Honey Vanilla Kernik

Zucca Tonda Padana

Will you look at this thing? Might I possibly trouble you momentarily to cease all multitasking and just devote your undivided attention to this handsomely lobed and loopily striated Tonda Padana pumpkin?

There now, Isn't that better?

This will be our Thanksgiving pumpkin, mertseshem. I have not opened it yet, so I can't tell you what it is like inside, but the pumpkin-sites I have found so far are promising sweet, dry, densely-textured flesh.

The colors and contours of this pumpkin could inspire some wonderful hats. In fact, I can't decide whether I would rather cook this pumpkin or wear it on top of my head. Walking around with a gigantic squash on one's head may very well turn out to be the next big thing, as this forward-looking lady in the Abruzzi could tell.

Pregnant woman with squash on her head. Image copied from Savoring Italy by Robert Freson (New York: Harper Collins, 1992)