Tuesday 10: Paleo Pumpkin Recipes

I tried to deny it, but I can’t resist. The internet has given me Pumpkin Fever.

Everywhere I click, there are orange-colored treats beckoning me to indulge in the warm spiciness. I don’t even drink coffee, but I’m convinced my day would be perfect if I could just sip a pumpkin spice latte. I’m distracted by the idea of adding pumpkin to everything. (No! Not pumpkin. If I’m being honest, it’s really pumpkin spice I want.) Pumpkin soup? Yes! Pumpkin baked goodies? I don’t really eat those, but OK! Pumpkin added to stew? I’m in!

In case you’re afflicted, too, here’s some science on pumpkin so you can defend your seasonal predilection, just in case it comes up: one cup of pumpkin includes 200% the RDA of Vitamin A, along with beta-carotene, potassium, copper, calcium, potassium, and B-6.

Not convinced? How about folklore and pop culture instead?

According to folklore, we owe our thanks for jack-o’-lanterns to a blacksmith named… Jack. A wiley one, was our Jack, and he tricked Satan into agreeing to never steal Jack’s soul. But Jack was too sinful for Heaven and was doomed to wander after his death. He complained that he couldn’t see where he was going without a light, so the devil tossed him a glowing ember that would never be extinguished. Jack placed the ember inside a turnip — Jack’s favorite veggie! — and carried it with him on his quest for an eternal resting place. He became known as Jack of the Lantern.

And we can’t forget other significant cultural references to pumpkins! Cinderella and her carriage, The Great Pumpkin in Peanuts, the Headless Horeseman’s pumpkin in the Legend of Sleepy Hollow… and the Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte.

As my pal Ferris so eloquently put it: “Pumpkin became an American cultural phenomenon associated with fall, Thanksgiving, and Halloween through a mixture of old Halloween/All Hallows’ Eve/Samhain practices, its part in the first Thanksgiving, color association, seasonal readiness, association with rural customs, and Starbucks.”

And now, let’s celebrate this wholly American ritual with some paleo pumpkin recipes!