Iron Chef - Family Style

Columbus Day weekend is the annual Oktoberfest family reunion for the family I married into. Last year was the first annual “Iron Chef” competition (and where Aaron and I got engaged) and the ingredient, not secret, was pumpkin. We entered two recipes and our Pumpkin Pie Dip won “most unique” while our Pumpkin Juice was not honored in any way (notice I don’t say it lost). Recently I was chatting with a co-worker about this year’s competition, ingredient is apple, and she asked about last year’s recipes. Since she says they sound really good, I’m going to post them here and then make at least the dip for work as well.

Pumpkin Pie Dip
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 C. powdered sugar
15 oz. can pumpkin pie filling
1 t. ground cinnamon
1/2 t. ground ginger
gingersnaps
apples and pears, cored and sliced

Beat cream cheese and sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Add pie filling, cinnamon, and ginger, beating well. Cover and chill 8 hours. Serve with gingersnaps and fruit slices.


Pumpkin Juice
2 C. vanilla ice cream
3/4 C. applesauce
1/4 C. apple juice
1 C. pumpkin pie filling (divided and frozen in ice cube trays)
whipped cream
cinnamon sugar

Combine ice cream, applesauce, and apple juice in blender. Add pie filling and blend until smooth. Add a dollop of whipped cream and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Serve.

Meanwhile, Aaron and I are hard at work devising our apple recipes for this year’s competition. We’ll keep you posted as to how it turns out.