The Whole Dish: Southern Oregon Food Blog

Robin Fleissner didn’t pander to the star power of “The Grinch,” “A Christmas Story” and other popular holiday movies. But her “Cowboy Christmas” took “best of show” at this year’s annual GingerBread Jubilee, a benefit for Craterian Performances.

The White City baker sculpted Gene Autry, writer of some beloved American Christmas songs, strumming on the porch of his snow-dusted cabin at Melody Ranch. The subject matter plays to the style that made Fleissner a surprise first-place winner in 2009, her first year of Jubilee competition, with an architecturally accurate Chateau at the Oregon Caves.

A breed apart from the sleek, Technicolor sculptures entirely covered in fondant, Fleissner’s appear rustic and homespun. Upon closer examination, they are prime examples of tapping into the wide variety of edible building materials. Cinnamon sticks were used for sign posts, rice noodles for hay, overgrown rosemary sprigs for trees and whole cloves for the woolly coat of the cowboy’s horse.

'Cowboy Christmas' by Robin Fleissner

An Autry fan who shows horses and points out that her middle name is Gene, Fleissner says she’s a fixture in the Jubilee because she likes the competition and opportunity to be creative.

There was no shortage of creativity among the 35 entries at Medford’s Craterian Ginger Rogers Theater. “A Christmas Story” and “The Grinch” inspired four winning entries. Cascade Christian High School’s “Santa’s Wonderland at Higbee’s Department Store,” featured in this week’s A la Carte story, won the student category while Teresa Casey and Genevieve Keith of Medford took third place in the adult category with “A GingerBread Christmas Story,” which also was honored for best adherence to this year’s theme: “A Silver Screen GingerBread Holiday.” 

“The Grinch Who Stole Christmas” inspired Girl Scout Troop 30154 of Grants Pass to a third-place finish in the student category behind Medford 7-year-old Rafe Hill’s “Dogs vs. Cats.” Jacksonville’s Hastey Family imagined the Grinch hijacking an Erickson Air-Crane for “Mean 1,” which won third place in the mixed-age group category. Students, staff and parents of St. Mary’s School, led by Desiree Wienand of Medford, topped the division for “Gingerbread Chapel” depicting a construction project on the school’s campus. Diane Wilson and Madison Doherty of Medford won second place for “Santa’s Workshop.”

Borrowing from real life, Kathy Yeoman of Medford constructed an architecturally accurate Sacred Heart Catholic Church to win first place in the adult category. Medford’s Papillon Rouge store surrounded by elves and animals claimed second place in the division for Amy Maxwell and Lisa Hammonds of Medford.

Although perennial “people’s choice” baker Melisa Corcoran is absent from this year’s competition, the theater’s community tour will host three-time Jubilee winner Rebecca Hill while she assembles a gingerbread house. Tickets to the tour cost $3. See a video preview of her expertise on our Holiday 101 and Cooking on Camera pages.

A few tickets remain for Friday’s gala gingerbread auction. They cost $75 each. Call 541-779-8195, ext. 303 for reservations.

After putting my guests on beverage and bread detail in the interests of a cohesive Thanksgiving feast, I’ll cop to my easygoing attitude toward desserts.

I’m fortunate to know so many people who like to bake because, if I had my way, I would skip dessert altogether. The image of guests tearing me to bits like the turkey-crazed hounds in “A Christmas Story” makes me think better of depriving them of that final course. Luckily, Thanksgiving is the ideal holiday for apathetic, haphazard bakers like me.

Pumpkin pie is basically a dump-and-run maneuver. I could never conscience purchasing canned “pumpkin pie filling” when combining pumpkin puree with spices, eggs, etc., takes a mere five minutes.

Nor do I care for pie crusts preformed in tin pans. But I’m a regular consumer of refrigerated pie crusts that also take just a minute or so to unroll, flop in your own pie pan and flute to suggest authenticity. It’s not the most credible practice for a cook, I realize, but I have to be honest with myself: Considering the rarity of occasions I would have to perfect my own pastry, I’m pretty confident that I can’t do any better than Pillsbury (Western Family brand is actually just as good).

Pecan pie, a family favorite, tacks on just another couple of minutes beyond pumpkin’s preparation. Simmer some corn syrup with some eggs, stir in some pecans (you don’t even have to chop them) and pour into a pie shell. Such simplistic recipes leave me plenty of time to whip cream from its liquid form.

For someone who espouses using whole foods, I realize these methods leave something to be desired. But let’s be real, people: It’s DESSERT. It’s not that good for you anyway, no matter if your butter is locally churned and your sugar is organic. Give me a ripe pear and a slice of cheese any day.

However, I do have a soft spot for pumpkin, particularly when combined with chocolate, a grossly underrated and underrepresented pairing. When Dairy Queen used to feature pumpkin soft-serve between Halloween and Thanksgiving, one of my guilty pleasures was ordering the ice cream dipped in chocolate.

So, naturally, this recipe from The Associated Press caught my eye. It would be a fun twist on the classic holiday dessert with hardly a few added minutes of preparation, particularly if a refrigerator-section crust was used. If you’re a glutton for desserts and holiday punishment, check out the story on our Holiday 101 page with recipes for pie crust.

AP photo

Midnight Pumpkin Pie

1 cup heavy cream

6 ounces semisweet chocolate bits

1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin puree

1⁄2 cup packed dark-brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground, dry ginger

1⁄2 teaspoon ground cloves

1⁄2 teaspoon ground allspice

1⁄4 teaspoon nutmeg

1⁄2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 prepared but unbaked, deep-dish pie crust

Heat the oven to 350 F.

In a small saucepan over medium-high, heat the cream until just bubbling. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate bits. Stir until completely melted and smooth.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, salt and chocolate-cream mixture. Add the eggs, whisking until everything is thoroughly combined.

If it isn’t already, fit the pie crust into a 9-inch, deep pie pan. Pour pumpkin mixture into crust. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until center is set and no longer jiggles.

Makes 8 servings.

I am not a fan of potlucks.

The odd summer barbecue aside, when I offer to cook, I intend to deliver. I would no more expect a guest to provide the stuffing for my turkey than I would ask a friend to gift-wrap her own birthday present.

So when it comes to contributions, I keep it simple — for myself and guests. At the top of my share-and-share-alike list is beverages.

Everyone’s concerned about the cost of Thanksgiving dinner (on average, it went up 13 percent this year), but beer and wine, even sparkling cider, if you’re so inclined, are plenty spendy, too. Plus, if I ask everyone to BYOB or designate one person to deliver, I don’t have to worry about satisfying a wide range of tastes.

My friend’s solution is to hit up the new bottle shop Beerworks in Medford and assemble some mixed six-packs with the promise of one stout for me. The only reason I didn’t assign wine is because I’m counting on Thanksgiving to thin out my own inventory.  

Next on the list is breads. Although I’m well aware of the sentiment that yeast breads aren’t that hard to make, it’s one multistep process that I can simply eliminate. Even brown-and-serve rolls require precious oven space in the minutes before laying out the spread.

So I asked another friend to plan on bringing rolls, knowing full well that he would never settle for grocery-store baked goods and would hit up a local artisan bakery in Ashland. The only effort on his part is asking around, probably pre-ordering and picking them up the day before Thanksgiving. No muss, no fuss. As long as there’s plenty of butter and cranberry sauce, who cares if they aren’t fresh out of the oven?

Of course, baking for some is practically a state of Zen, the calm before the storm, as the writer of a recent Minneapolis Star Tribune article alluded. If you’re of that bent and want to tackle your own rolls this holiday, check out the recipe on our Holiday 101 page.

I thought I was being so proactive to go shopping for Thanksgiving sundries this weekend. Primarily, it was out of necessity because other plans would prevent me from making the trek this weekend. But of course, I anticipated having the pick of holiday goods.

Alas, the grocery store seemed full of shoppers all intent on the same idea. There was one item, at least, for the feast that I already had in spades: homegrown apples filling my refrigerator and boxes in my garage. I’m planning to use them in the cranberry sauce and am considering their inclusion in the stuffing, roasted Brussels sprouts and a sweet-potato springroll appetizer.

Writers and recipe developers for The Associated Press had the same idea and based one of their suggested Thanksgiving menus around apples. The story with side-dish recipes is the latest posted to our Holiday 101 page. Keep checking it for more ideas while planning your feast.

I’ve blogged before about how rumors of Trader Joe’s planning — or not planning — to come to the Rogue Valley fails to inspire much sentiment in me, an avid cook who considers grocery stores her second home.

And four years later, I care even less that Trader Joe’s apparently has committed to installing a store in Medford. Five years ago, the Monrovia, Calif., company stood a chance of being the only source for some organic, specialty products in the Rogue Valley. But with the new Medford Food Co-op, Downtown Market Co. and other grocers’ efforts to fill the void, Trader Joe’s missed its window for broad-based appeal.    

Of course, TJ fans scoff at this logic, implying that we’ve all just made do and are on the cusp of having all our prayers answered. When it feels like I’m the lone voice of reason in the insane asylum, however, I’m vindicated by other writers, including Lisa Leake, whose 100 Days of Real Food blog led to a regular column for Tribune Media Services.

Leake’s family of four embarked on eschewing all highly processed foods and refined ingredients for 100 days. When they succeeded, she embarked on “100 Days of Real Food on a Budget,” which allots her family $125 per week for groceries, less than full government food assistance provides.

One would think such a budget would prohibit Leake from setting foot in TJ, but she gamely did in search of the best deals on “real-food” staples. Her Monday column came to this conclusion: still looking for real food at Trader Joe’s. Now is the time to applaud if you didn’t at news that TJ was coming to Medford.

It’s the same conclusion I reached a few years ago after several trips to TJs in Eugene and Portland. I left with a handful of niche products that took a much larger chunk out of my wallet than I anticipated.

Practically forced to shop at TJ for lack of any other store in Orange County, Calif., I spent about $60 on fixings for a pasta meal for four people. I would have spent about half that in Oregon, certainly Medford. No matter that these items had the TJ name stamped on them, they’re still expensive, even compared with other organic, packaged, convenience foods.

Produce comes almost entirely packaged at TJ, too, which perhaps explains Leake’s (and my) take that it doesn’t seem as fresh as other stores’. Even if the produce was as fresh, conscientious shoppers should avoid it for all that packaging’s toll on the environment. For a store that made a name for itself in organics, one would think TJ would be a little more eco-friendly. But it’s almost like devotees are blind to anything but the TJ brand.

Leake encountered a stream of cultlike mantras from readers admonishing her for not shopping at TJ in the vicinity of her home near Charlotte, N.C. She determined that TJ lacked “quite a few items” on her organic staples list despite some “good deals” on a handful of other items, including cheese, honey and coffee.

“… Trader Joe’s could never be my one-stop shop … so I don’t exactly agree that I’ve been missing out on a whole lot,” she wrote.

I predict a similar reaction locally, if such jaundiced voices can be heard over California and Portland transplants nostalgic for TJ and “other hipster types” fooled by its “glorified dollar grocery” persona “with really slick advertising,” in the words of a reader commenting on a recent newspaper column. That piece by a colleague who’s tried to sway me for years toward her favorite store reinforced Leake’s point by listing all processed snack foods as her TJ must-haves.

You said it, TJ fans, so I didn’t have to.

The first Thanksgiving was all about bringing together some diverse groups to share some new foods. And it should be no different a few centuries later.

In addition to planning some ethnic variations on traditional dishes this year, I’m also possibly hosting at least one vegetarian. I don’t view it as a hindrance but an opportunity to lighten the menu a bit.

Roasted Brussels sprouts certainly don’t need bacon when there’s turkey AND ham elsewhere on the table. And instead of appetizers based around cheese, I’m aiming to expand on the fruits and vegetables theme.

There’s also plenty of room to make meatless substitutions where no one will notice. Substituting vegetable stock for chicken or turkey stock is one obvious strategy, as well as using spices instead of animal fats for flavor.

Longtime vegetarian and Ashland resident Laurie Gadbois plans a Medford cooking class this weekend on the topic of hosting vegetarians for holidays. The Right Plan is still taking registration for her “Healthy Vegetarian Thanksgiving” from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 12. The cost is $35.

Forget Tofurky or other bizarre approaches to feeding vegetarians. A wide array of side dishes typically prepared without meat is the best way to go, says Gadbois.

Her menu includes stuffed portobello mushrooms with mushroom gravy, cranberry chutney, roasted Brussels sprouts, mashed sweet potatoes and tossed salad with pomegranate dressing. All of those, except the stuffed mushrooms, could be found on any family’s Thanksgiving table while the mushrooms themselves, would be a creative way to serve the stuffing outside the turkey.

Gadbois says she has been involved in the food industry for many years and wanted to try teaching classes, not least because she has some friends who are “scared of being in the kitchen.” She’ll follow up Saturday’s class with hearty vegetarian soups and salads from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 17, at the Right Plan. Register online or call Gadbois at 541-301-4201.

Find more ideas for accommodating vegetarians at festive meals, check out the story from the San Jose Mercury News on our Holiday 101 page.

There’s just under three weeks left until the biggest cooking day of the year: Thanksgiving!

Of course, I’ve already started thinking about it, although maybe not as early as usual. My husband’s fond of saying that I’ll ask people at Thanksgiving what they’d like to eat next year.

But a slew of recipes from The Associated Press already has piqued my interest. The wire service’s writers took the approach of lightening up the Thanksgiving meal with a single, perhaps unusual, ingredient added to every dish.

The first batch devoted to citrus is on our Holiday 101 page, an online resource for holiday cooking and entertaining that will be updated weekly throughout the season until the new year. Recipes also can be found in our online Recipe Box, a free database. Most Holiday 101 stories also are free to read without a newspaper subscription.

I chose to post the citrus spread first because it was the one that set my wheels turning. The soy sauce-glazed turkey seems like an interesting but not overly obvious departure from my usual plain approach to roasting. In addition to the citrus zest, I plan to add five-spice powder to play up the Asian theme.

Stuffing easily accommodates shiitake mushrooms, instead of the plain button variety, as well as a sprinkling of sunflower seeds. If I wanted to really pump up the umami factor, I could add some dried seaweed, and I bet no one would be able to tell it wasn’t parsley. My husband already was planning to make wasabi mashed potatoes. Ginger has starred in my cranberry sauce in the past, and I definitely wouldn’t leave it out for this meal.

Among my reevaluating of the traditional Thanksgiving sides every year, I never for a moment consider skipping cranberry sauce — or purchasing it. I’ve blogged before about how easy cranberry sauce is to make even in the holiday’s 11th hour, from whole, fresh berries. It barely takes a few minutes’ effort past the AP’s “easy version” that essential spices up canned sauce.

Because both cranberry sauce and cranberries keep so well, I always purchase a few extra bags every year and pop them in the freezer. Why should the berries that grow so well in Oregon be relegated to consuming with turkey? The sauce is good with lamb, ham and other types of pork, cheeses and other fruits, particularly pears and apples.

If you need more inspiration, check out a free Saturday class on all things cranberry from 3 to 4 p.m. in the community meeting room of the Ruch library, 7919 Highway 238. Master food preserver Lori McTaggart will talk about making cranberry relish, along with canning, drying and other methods of preserving the fruit. Recipes will be provided at the class, Nov 5. Registration is not required.

Here’s a recipe to get you started. The AP’s side dish combines two traditional Thanksgiving ingredients in an unexpected way. But there’s no reason to save this until Thanksgiving. Enjoy it with local winter squash now.

AP photo

Roasted Squash With Almonds and Cranberries

2 pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch chunks

2 pounds carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks

1⁄4 cup olive oil

2 teaspoons chopped, fresh thyme

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon cumin

Kosher salt and ground black pepper, to taste

1⁄3 cup almond slivers

1⁄2 cup dried cranberries (sweetened is fine)

Zest of 1 lemon

Heat oven to 350 F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil.

On baking sheet, combine the squash and carrots. Drizzle the oil over vegetables, then use your hands to mix until evenly coated. Sprinkle the thyme, garlic powder and cumin over squash and carrots, then mix well. Season with the salt and pepper.

Roast for 30 to 40 minutes, or until vegetables are tender inside and lightly browned and crisp outside. Add the almonds and cranberries, toss well, then transfer to a serving bowl. Top with the lemon zest, then taste and adjust seasoning.

Makes 8 servings.

No matter that they’re molded from sugar or merely pictures. The widespread depiction of skeletons is likely to blame for Day of the Dead’s negative image among the mainstream.

As explained in this week’s A la Carte story, that perception is starting to change. Now if only that acceptance would carry over to bones in the kitchen.

I devoured a story published this week by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on home cooks’ aversion to bones. Chefs, of course, are tapping the flavor potential locked up in all that marrow and connective tissue. But the majority of amateur cooks seem to view bones as a nuisance — or downright distasteful — amid the craze for quick-cooking, boneless cuts of meat. Butchers concede that it’s almost as if American consumers are afraid of bones.

Call it fear of the unknown. The Journal Sentinel points to the obscurity of bones in the country’s industrial food system, including the advent of national-chain supermarkets. Bone-in meat spoils faster, so it can neither store nor travel over long distances as well as boned meat. And at butcher’s counters, frugal shoppers continue to object to the notion of bones counting as a portion of the meat poundage they are buying.

I don’t purchase a lot of meat at the grocery store and instead procure a whole, locally raised lamb most years. And I’m always annoyed that I have to insist on the inclusion of bones with my meat from a local butcher’s shop. I paid for the whole animal, after all.

The bones, of course, are indispensable in making stocks and soups. The marrow, as fewer people are aware, is a tasty treat prized for its flavor and sustenance as long as humans have been hunting animals, at least until the past few decades, it seems. Even gnawing chicken bones or barbecued ribs appears uncouth these days.

Whenever I’m in my own kitchen, free to indulge without an audience, I pick over bones like my very survival depends on it. It’s not enough to just boil bones for stock and discard them. Stripping away morsels of meat, I add them back to the soup or stew or save them for another dish, like fried rice or even tacos.

The gelatinous cartilage, of course, isn’t as transferable. So I can gnaw on it to my heart’s content. If the marrow is within reach, I break out the garlic toast, a snack that chefs worldwide enjoy on the sly while roasting bones for soups, stews and sauces. If you have no frame of reference for marrow, its flavor is similar to fat, and it spreads like fruit butter.

In the past few years, marrow bones have moved into the restaurant dining room. The main attraction to ossobuco or any roasted shank is the marrow. And meatless, center-cut marrow bones are a popular appetizer with toast points. Paley’s Place in Portland does a superb version with escargot. You know it’s a hit, or the kitchen staff would save it all for themselves.

You don’t need a chef’s touch to roast marrow bones. If they’re not stocked in your grocer’s meat section, ask the butchers if there are any behind the counter. Or call ahead and request them.

Roasted Marrow Bones

4 center-cut beef or veal marrow bones (about 3 to 4 inches each)

1⁄4 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste (divided)

1⁄4 teaspoon pepper, plus more to taste (divided)

2 teaspoons butter

1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped

1 to 2 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

1 teaspoon capers, well-drained

1⁄2 to 3⁄4 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Crispy toast points, for serving

Soak the marrow bones in water to cover overnight in refrigerator for up to 24 hours, changing water 3 or 4 times, to release excess blood from marrow. Drain and season with the salt and pepper.

Preheat oven to 425 F.

If bones are flared at one end, stand them up, wide end down, in a roasting pan. (If they won’t stand up, lay them flat.)

Place in preheated oven and roast about 15 minutes. Watch carefully, making sure marrow does not melt too quickly and start to seep out. As marrow starts to bubble, reduce heat to 350 F and roast another 10 to 15 minutes, checking often with a thin fondue fork or skewer to see whether marrow is soft all the way through. Marrow is done when it turns golden and separates slightly from bones.

Meanwhile, as bones cook, melt the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and parsley, sautéing until soft, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the capers and lemon juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Divide parsley mixture among 4 serving plates. Place 1 marrow bone on each plate along with a few toast points. Provide guests with a thin knife or scoop (a thin parfait spoon handle works) to dig out soft marrow. Serve by spreading toast with marrow and a bit of parsley mixture.

Makes 4 appetizer servings.

It’s always a relief to see “new crop” apples hit grocery stores. But it’s even more gratifying to sidestep buying apples altogether in favor of fruit growing in one’s own yard.

So it was imperative to verify the usable quantity of apples outside before I made this week’s shopping list. Those of us who simply inherited a fruit tree or two on residential property know that harvests are spotty and fruit varies wildly in quality. Past years have yielded so many apples that I’ve been challenged to use them. After a late-spring frost, last year’s crop was a bust, and I got a reluctant reprieve.

Hopeful, I kept a close eye on the tree over the past month until its fruit reached the size of softballs festooning the uppermost branches. But therein lies the rub. The uppermost branches are out of reach even with our tallest ladder.

Thankfully, my husband was willing to lend his reach and a pool skimmer to the task. So they came out a little bruised by being knocked to earth, but at least the flesh was firm, sweet, juicy — the first really good apple I’d bitten into since the last from that tree.

Some, of course, are bug-damaged and not exactly candidates for eating out of hand. These I’ve always boiled down into a puree: apple sauce, butter, take your pick. But there are only so many fruit spreads that any one household can consume. So I’m always trying to employ techniques that don’t turn apples to mush. I’ve previously posted a recipe for apple crisps, essentially oven-dried apples, which could be made in small batches as time and motivation allow.

Then today, I spied a recipe for apple pickles from a new cookbook. I would probably adapt this idea to use just apples, not the cucumber, and I wouldn’t worry too much about the method of slicing them. Thin wedges standing lengthwise in jars would be attractive, particularly because the fruit isn’t supposed to be peeled. This recipe also would be an ideal use for tarragon that should be used before freezing weather hits, but it also could benefit from a sprig of rosemary.

Of course, if processed in boiling water (use vinegar with 5-percent acidity), the apples wouldn’t stay crunchy. But this pickle would be a unique addition to holiday gift baskets and delicious with cheese or on wintertime salads.

Quick Bread-and-Butter Apple Pickles

1 large seedless (English) cucumber, unpeeled

1 tablespoon kosher salt

2 large firm-sweet, red-skinned apples, unpeeled and cut in half lengthwise

2 medium shallots

1 cup rice vinegar

1⁄2 cup honey

1 tablespoon sugar

1 cinnamon stick

1 sprig fresh tarragon, cut into 4 pieces

Trim ends from the cucumbers and discard, then slice cucumbers on a mandoline. Transfer cut cucumbers to a colander, toss with the salt and let sit for at least 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, trim seeds and core from each of the apple halves, then set, cut-side down, on a cutting board. Use a 11⁄2-inch biscuit cutter to push down into flesh, extracting 2 little cylinders from each apple half (because apples are round, cylinders won’t be perfectly level, and that’s fine). Thinly slice each cylinder on mandoline (again, don’t worry if some slices are not perfect circles). Slice the shallots on mandoline as well, then place in a medium bowl with apple slices.

In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, honey and sugar with 1⁄2 cup water until sugar dissolves. Add the cinnamon stick and tarragon and pour mixture over apples and shallots. Rinse cucumbers well and, with cucumbers still in colander, lightly blot to dry using paper towels. Add cucumber slices to bowl with apples and stir well. Let sit for at least 30 minutes before serving. Refrigerate in a tightly sealed container for up to 2 weeks.

Makes about 4 cups.

— Recipe from “The Apple Lover’s Cookbook” by Amy Traverso (Norton, $29.95).

Local fields are ablaze with pumpkins and other winter squash for a few more days at least. The fall icon is, of course, good for more than just carving up for Halloween. As mentioned in this month’s Joy magazine, certain pumpkin varieties are suited to cooking, particularly baking.

But when it comes to baking recipes for which a puree is needed, even the experts agree that canned pumpkin puree (not pie filling!) is basically the same. And it saves the cook all that labor over a whole pumpkin.

I guess any cook worth that distinction should wrestle a pumpkin into submission at least once. The last year I grew pumpkins in my garden, the harvest was slim. But I dutifully excised the tops, scooped out the seeds and strings, cut the flesh into wedges, peeled them and then simmered them in my Crock-Pot.

After all that work, I decided to just keep cooking the mixture past the point of a puree that I could have used in recipes and spice it for pumpkin butter, not a widely available condiment. I had my butter after pushing the pumpkin through a fine-mesh sieve to remove the fibrous lumps and bits of peel that marred the silky texture. Then I packed it into four half-pint freezer containers. Whew!

Needless to say, repeating that exercise hasn’t been high on my fall kitchen to-do list. If you want to experience whole pumpkin, stop at cutting it up and peeling it and just roast it with herbs and spices for a side dish.

But I do love pumpkin in baked goods, so like Susan Krebs, quoted in the Joy story, I reach for the Libby’s can. It works beautifully and, best of all, is a consistent product, unlike homemade pumpkin puree.

Try it in these muffins, which still have plenty of other hearty, whole-foods ingredients to satisfy the DIY cook. This would be a timely recipe to demonstrate for the newspaper’s Cooking on Camera video contest for a chance to win a gift certificate to The Kitchen Company in Grants Pass. Find more festive, fall recipes and entertaining ideas, including Halloween treats, on our newly updated Holiday 101 page.

Fall Harvest Muffins

1 cup butter (2 sticks), at room temperature and divided
1 1⁄4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1 1⁄4 cups dark brown sugar, divided
1 1⁄2 teaspoons cinnamon, divided
1⁄4 cup granulated sugar
1⁄2 cup rolled oats
1⁄2 teaspoon, plus a pinch salt, divided
1 cup white whole-wheat flour
1 1⁄2 teaspoons baking powder
1⁄4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1⁄2 teaspoon ground allspice
1⁄4 teaspoon cardamom
1⁄4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 apple, peeled, cored and grated (about 3⁄4 cup)
1⁄2 cup chopped, toasted pecans
1⁄2 cup dried cranberries

Heat oven to 375 F. Coat a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray or line with muffin papers.

To make topping, in a medium bowl, rub together 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) of the butter, 1⁄4 cup each of the all-purpose flour and brown sugar, 1⁄2 teaspoon of the cinnamon, the granulated sugar, oats and the pinch of salt until crumbly and well-combined. Set aside.

To make muffins, in a large bowl, whisk remaining all-purpose flour with the whole-wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, ginger, allspice, cardamom, cloves and remaining cinnamon and salt.

Melt remaining 1 1⁄2 sticks of butter. When cool, whisk butter in a bowl with remaining 1 cup brown sugar. Whisk in the eggs and vanilla, then stir in the pumpkin. Gently but thoroughly mix in dry ingredients, mixing until just incorporated. Stir in the apple, pecans and cranberries. Divide batter between prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle a bit of topping over each muffin.

Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes, then finish cooling on a rack.

Makes 12 muffins.