Pumpkin Chestnut Puree Recipe

I prepared a pumpkin with fresh chestnuts today for baby Aria and she absolutely loved it. The texture was a little too thick, so I thinned it with mashed plantains and a bit of milk. The pumpkin chestnut purée was as nutritious as it was delicious.

Who said "baby" food can't be tasty? I’ve made an effort to prepare homemade baby food ever since Aria started eating solids. She's already 16 months old and loves trying new foods. My motto is that I won’t serve anything to her that I wouldn’t eat myself. She seems to appreciate it and has become quite the little foodie! She even says “mmmmm” when we’re watching The Cooking Channel. Bobby Flay and the Iron Chef are her favorites!

Kiem Recipe (Vietnamese Vegetarian Pumpkin Soup)

This year, the Asian New Year celebration (called Tết in Vietnamese) will happen during the first week of February, according to the Lunar calendar. I've mentioned in the past that, traditionally, you're required to eat vegetarian food (ăn chay) on the last day of the previous year and the first day of New Year.

Today, I'm sharing a vegan dish called kiểm that's a staple during the celebration. The dish is a sweet, savory soup made of pumpkin, bananas, coconut milk, mung beans, lotus seeds, wood ear mushrooms, sweet potatoes, ginger, tofu and raw peanuts. This is not a very common dish and it's only made for the celebration. If you know its origin, please let me know in the feedback section.

The winner of this week's giveaway is Amanda O. Congratulations and I hope you enjoy using my first cookbook about gourmet potato dishes as much I did developing the recipes!

Pumpkin Pain d'Epices Parfait Recipe

I made a pain d'epices last week and it most of it went very quickly. Pain d'epices translates to "spiced bread"; it's similar to gingerbread with the exception that no ginger is used. Also it's made with rye flour, honey and spices such as star anise, nutmeg, cinnamon and clove. I'll post the recipe for this moist bread next week. Tonight, I used the spiced bread remnants and made beautiful layered pumpkin cream parfaits for the holidays.

To complete the French dessert, I made it literally look "parfait" with a spun sugar decoration!

Pumpkin Creme Caramel Recipe

If you saw last week's dessert recipe, you know I made a French-style pumpkin flan for my husband Lulu. He had asked me to make a flan, which in his mind meant crème caramel, but instead I made a flan pâtissier (French pie crust with pumpkin custard). I always try to keep my promises, so here's the pumpkin crème caramel, which Lulu loved.

His favorite part is the caramel at the bottom of the cup. You could serve it as is, or flip the dessert onto a plate so the caramel drips all over the "flan". I photographed it in both serving styles so you can decide which you prefer.

Three days to Thanksgiving (or four days to Black Friday, depending on your priorities )!

Thanksgiving Dinner Recipes by Ingredient

It doesn't matter whether you're a newbie or a grizzled veteran; when it comes Thanksgiving dinner, we could use some inspiration. In that spirit, I've compiled a list of my favorite Thanksgiving appropriate recipes. I listed them by ingredient: sweet potato, potato, pumpkin, bread, greens, poultry, cranberries, pecans, so you can decide which one works best for you. Happy planning!

There are many recipes that are perfect for Thanksgiving in my first cookbook "Haute Potato". Two of my personal favorites are the potato cigars and the lavender and white chocolate potato torte. If you order it today from Amazon or Barnes and Noble, there's still a good chance it will arrive before Thanksgiving. And if not, it's packed with great holiday recipes as well!