Kay Wheeler Moore

Welcome to my blog

Hello. . .

The Newfangled Country Gardener is for anyone who has a garden, would like to have a garden, or who simply enjoys eating the garden-fresh way. I don't claim to be an expert; in this blog I'm simply sharing some of the experiences my husband and I have in preparing food that is home-grown.

About the author

Kay Wheeler Moore is the author of a new cookbook, Way Back in the Country Garden, that features six generations of recipes that call for ingredients that are fresh from the garden. With home gardening surging in popularity as frugal people become more resourceful, this recipe collection and the stories that accompany it ideally will inspire others to cook the garden-fresh way and to preserve their own family food stories as well. The stories in this book center around the Three Red-Haired Miller Girls (Kay's mother and aunts) who grew up in Delta County, TX, with their own backyard garden so lavish that they felt as though they were royalty after their Mama wielded her kitchen magic on all that was homegrown. Introduced in Kay's previous book, Way Back in the Country, the lively Miller Girls again draw readers into their growing-up world, in which a stringent economic era--not unlike today's tight times--saw people turn to the earth to put food on the table for their loved ones. The rollicking yarns (all with recipes attached) have love, family, and faith as common denominators and show how food evocatively bonds us to our life experiences.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Pumpkin Apple Dip is smooth, cool, spicy, and versatile

Pumpkin days march on. Pumpkins--and pumpkin fests--are everywhere you look. The whole world seems to be turning orange in these hours leading up to Halloween, with Thanksgiving just around the corner as well.

His mommy and I recently took the new little sweetie grandperson to his first pumpkin patch; we left with three small pumpkins--one for him and two for me to bring home to boil and use for pumpkin dishes. My recipe album overruns with pumpkin ideas I've filed away.

Last night Hubby was eager for a tiny evening snack to put out the fire of some Tex-Mex food he'd eaten at a p.m. business meeting, so I whipped up this Pumpkin Apple Dip, very light and soothing with some chunks of cool, fresh fruit. Although the list of ingredients calls for 1/2 cup brown sugar, by using brown-sugar substitute (tried with Splenda brand) I'm able to cut that amount in half, as the package directs.

Pumpkin Apple Dip, which I obtained from a Kroger grocery-store flyer (always a good source of unusual recipes), was just wonderful as a late-evening snack but also would be great as a topping for pound cake or for a baked sweet potato, among other versatile uses that I'm sure inventive cooks could hatch up.

Pumpkin Apple Dip

1 (8-ounce package) cream cheese (I use low-fat Neufchatel cheese), softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar (I use 1/4 cup brown-sugar substitute)
1/2 cup pureed pumpkin (or canned pumpkin)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
apple slices or other fruit, sliced

In a medium bowl beat cream cheese, brown sugar, and pumpkin with a mixer at medium speed until mixture is well-blended. Add cinnamon and beat until smooth. Cover and chill for 1 hour before you serve. Serve with apple slices or other sliced fruit.


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