The Thanksgiving Pumpkin Appetizer

I love to cook Thanksgiving dinner, especially when there are lots of family and friends around. This year was no exception. Steve's parents were visiting from WV and we had 8 other friends joining us. I like to blend traditional fare with new ideas. This year's highlight in the "new" category was an pumpkin "fondue" appetizer — a huge hit with the whole crowd.

I cleaned and dried a baking pumpkin, saving the seeds to roast later. Next I layered the pumpkin with slices of baguette and a mixture of Emmenthaler, Gruyere, cream and chicken stock seasoned with salt, pepper and nutmeg. I roasted the pumpkin in the over for an hour or so (until the flesh of the pumpkin was soft. We served it with slices of seeded baguette, making sure everyone scooped into the "fondue" mixture along with the pumpkin.

Out of this world... I can't wait to try it again!

Oh, and those seeds... After they dried, I combined with the ones I had dried at Halloween and roasted them in the oven with a blend of Salt, pepper, lime, Cholula hot sauce and a dash of cayenne. Spicy, salty, crunchy goodness!