Pumpkin.......Yum. I use butternut squash it works great.  I make a mean pumpkin pie...but I love pumpkin cheesecake,  pumpkin-zucchini loaf, pumpkin-carrot muffins and......my fav...pumpkin soup...great on a cold winter nights! !

i like to mix a chocolate cake mix with a can of pumpkin puree (only pp, no eggs no oil no water) and i add some bittersweet choco chips -- the calorie count is low and the chocolate power punch is high -- oh and i almost always put a cinnamon sugar sprinkle on all my cupcakes and muffins that won't be iced and when i have vanilla powder a sprinkle of that too -- excellent -- duncan hines never tasted so good

@jchuck pumpkin soup sounds very good

edited to say -- fwiw -- it's an 18,5 ounce box of cake mix + a 15 ounce can of plain pumpkin -- bake at 400 degrees for 20 mins -- makes 12 fudgey muffins and this is paraphrased from lisa lillien's lovely hungry girl  to the max cookbook

CInnamon is good for lowering your blood sugar, so it will counteract the eating of the pie. right??

Here's a link to the bourbon pumpkin pie recipe, but you can be a little more generous with the bourbon...  http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/bourbon-pumpkin-pie-356090

I don't like pumpkin pie, but I agree with k8memphis description. My parent's are from the south, so sweet potato pie.is what was prepared for thanksgiving and Christmas,  but I don't like sweet potatoes pie either. It's funny you mentioned having a friend from the caribbean bake a sweet potato because one year I spent thanksgiving with my Jamaican-American friend and her family I had never seen a more lumpy looking sweet potato pie. Although my friend is a excellent cook, that pie looked unappealing.

amen to the cinnamon theory and that bpp recipe is on the menu for this thanksgiving -- thank you

idk why i never thought of jazzing up a pumpkin pie -- ok wait i know why -- i made a pumpkin something or other recipe from food tv by ina garten and it was blow your molars out sweet and that was that --

i am so making that this year and probably eating some too

 -- (closest thing i could find to pie :)

Nothing is good large amount, not even water.

I am pondering to make pumpkin pie next weekend when we have guest.

I LOVE all things pumpkin........I am that girl who starts drooling august 31 because I am just dying to start baking with pumpkin.   (I have been like this FAR longer than the stupid trend of the PSL from Starbucks......and all the stupid pumpkin spice hype that is rammed down our American throats this time of year ala pintrest and every store)

here are some of my favorite things to do withpumpkin 

pumpkin pie (of course! And served with REAL whipped cream)

pumpkin cheesecake

pumpkin muffins

pumpkin roll (pumpkin cake made in a jelly roll pan filled with cream cheese)

pumpkin cinnamon rolls

pumpkin whipped cream (whipped cream with a small addition of pumpkin and pumpkin spice)

pumpkin bread

pumpkin cookies (try with chocolate chips.....milk or dark....SO good)

pumpkin peanut butter dog treats (my doggie approves)

pumpkin ice cream

and of course the pumpkin spice latte.....but from a place that uses REAL pumpkin....not a syrup.

and I make  these bad boys....they are my pumpkin cupcake/muffin recipe with a mini pumpkin pie submerged inside and topped with a pumpkin SMB or pumpkin whipped cream icing and garnished with a touch of cinnamon.  Seriously, they are one of my proudest creations.  I have played with this concoction to perfect it to have the right amount of spice and texture and fall goodness.   

@mccantsbakes  I am in awe!

seriously me too -- how sweet what a crazy awesome creation! magnificent, mccantsb!

 < fireworks 

submerged. mini. pumpkin. pie. just get outa here -- amazing

Apples go well with cloves but not too many! We, as I have said in a different post, cook fruit before we put them into pies, so there is never the need to add tapioca or semolina or breadcrumbs in the pastry shell. Our apple pie is mostly a golden mush with a few bits of apple showing through it. I make it covered or as apple crumble. I learned a couple of years or so ago that a bit of salt in the crumble will enhance the aroma and flavour of the pie. I was sceptical at first but then tried it both with and without and with won hands down :)

When we come closer to Christmas, I will share some recipes from my country with you so you can try them out if you wish. I will try to take photos step by step to assist you. 

@CatPoet  is it true that saffron is an anticoagulant? And at what doses? It might be my liberation from warfarin. Oh I can only hope!

Shockolata yes it is but you need so much that you  will be either broke or poisoned. Warfarin is much safer to use since it constant  and not like saffron that can vary. I know how restrictive being on warfarin, a friend is on it and  it no grapefruit and he loves it.

No it is not grapefruit and warfarin. Grapefruit is forbidden on the cholesterol reducing drugs. Warfarin is with cranberry that is not allowed but I still eat a few cranberries once in a blue moon. My biggest issue is that it affects my brain function so I suffer from brain fog. Somedays it is really bad and I cannot cook/bake because I completely, utterly forget things that I have been doing for years! Then it distresses me so much and I cry and feel miserable and then I forget about it (literally forget about it) until the next episode. 

Have you talk to your doctor about this?  There might be another drug more suited to you.  And you are right it is one of the others heartmeds  that is no go on grapefruit.  

shockolata -- i hate that for you -- i hope you can bridge your way out of it at least eventually -- i have brain fog from several different things -- but i tell yah getting off of flour and sugar has really helped clear up the frequency of it occuring -- i hope you find something that will help you out of it -- i'm holding a hand out to yah through the gloomin' -- then when i get upset -- not near as often as previous -- i take valerian -- it's an herbal sleep aid but makes a great over the counter tranquilizer -- not suggesting these will work or be good for you just saying keep looking/trying when/as you can -- you'll find your way out more and more maybe not all the way but i'm dropping cake crumbs for yah on the turntable of life... 

Be careful with herbs when on blood thinners and other heart medicine and even depression medicine  it can change how the medicine work.

Thank you all. I am aware not to take medicines without alerting my anti-coag clinic. Even alcohol can be detrimental. Sigh. Loved @-K8memphis  dropping crumbs for me to find my way out of the fog :) So lyrical! X The funniest part about my situation is reading my diaries and going 'wow! did you really not see that coming? How stupid can one be!' and 'you have got to be kidding me! When did this thing ever happen?' But we all have something that bugs us in life and just have to make the best of a bad situation. At least I get so much joy when I get something right. :)