Saturday, October 30, 2010

Pumpkin Carving Party... gluten free

Whew, I'm pooped!

But the Second Annual Pumpkin Carving party was a success.

The menu:

Vegetarian vegetable soup (recipe to follow)
Chex mix (Glutino pretzels really made the mix.)
Apple cider
Toasted pumpkin seeds

And guests brought some snacks to share:
Betty Crocker GF Chocolate cupcakes with halloween sprinkles!
Boo cups made with Kinni-toos
Mummy dogs (to make them gluten free, substitute your favorite biscuit recipe for the crescent roll dough)

The vegetable soup was delicious. Even the babies gobbled it up.

ADORABLE- especially when they're happily eating my food. :o)

I made the soup with my friend in mind. She is a vegetarian and always makes sure there is something gluten free for me at her parties, so I wanted to make sure there was an option for her in my carnivorous world that wasn't just snacks. Besides, it's a great fall recipe that feeds a crowd.

It is beyond simple to make. Here's how I made it.

Vegetable Soup

Chop into small cubes

1 large potato
2 carrots
3 stalks of celery
1 red onion

Preheat your big soup pan to medium heat, and add a glug of olive oil. Saute the veggies for a while until they're tender. Season with pepper and salt. 
While they're cooking, chop finely and add in

3 cloves of garlic
a handful of fresh parsely
a handful of fresh rosemary (fresh herbs really make the dish)

Once the veggies are mostly soft, stir in 2 cups each of tomato juice and vegetable broth. Let it simmer until you're ready to serve.

I forgot to take a picture of the soup when it was finished. I did realize that I got my taste-test bowl in a picture though.


The apple cider was easy peasy too.


You can buy bottled apple cider in the juice aisle of the store. I poured some into my crock pot with a couple of orange slices and a cinnamon stick. I don't even like apple juice-type of things and I really enjoyed it.

Pumpkin seeds... Oh, such a treat.

 

Just separate them from the goop and rinse them in a colander. Spread them out on a cookie sheet, top with some salt, and cook for 45 minutes at 350, stirring them every 15 minutes.

Summary:

Carved pumpkins... check


Happy belly and a nap in the afternoon sun... check and check.


1 comment:

Laura said...

Ok this is just freaky. We had a pumpkin patch party and the menu was eerily similar. It included cupcakes, gf chex mix, and gf pigs in a blanket. Great minds think alike I guess!