The Saga of the 37 Pumpkins - Installment No. 2 - Pumpkin Muffins with Cream Cheese Frosting

Everyone had seen a capture before. Pepo was not an exception to this rule. He knew what was happening when large appendages descended from the sky and removed him from his home. In life, Pepo had been a loud voice for the liberation of pumpkins from their universal destruction. His final moments were incongruous with this legacy. Fear placed a vice upon his voice and it left him feeling pureed.

Though in life his words had fallen upon primarily unheeding ears, Pepo's silent death was as a martyr's.

Those pumpkins who silently agreed with Pepo's radical ideology felt that his philosophy must not die with him. The night following his capture, four pumpkins convened in secret to discuss this new way of thinking. 

Catherine

"They're going to kill me!" shouted Catherine, her voluptuous body trembling.

"Be quiet, Catherine. This is supposed to be a secret meeting," Gourdon's rind seemed to raise with annoyance. His wife was always shouting at the wrong time.

"But really, they're going to KILL ME!" Catherine threw her stem into the air, quaking even harder now. 

A tiny pumpkin shifted in its sleep.

"See? You're going to wake the children, Catherine." Gourdon was very nervous now.

"Gourdon, look what's happening!" A squat fellow pointed to Gourdon's left, where Catherine had been standing.

"HELP! MY BABIES! SAVE ME! OH, NO!" Catherine shrieked. She was now rising into the air and screaming all the while. "TAKE CARE OF MY CHILDREN! OH, MY CHILDREN! OH, DON'T LET THEM DIE LIKE THEIR MOMMA DID!"

The two children were fully awake now. They stood next to one another, staring at the horrendous sight. Gourdon reached out his stalk and covered their ears as Catherine disappeared from sight and her yells for help were replaced by primal screams, then silence.

And then there were 35...

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Pumpkin Muffins with Cream Cheese Frosting


Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 15 oz. fresh pureed pumpkin (canned pumpkin may be used)
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 4 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1-1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Directions for muffins:

Thoroughly blend sugars, pumpkin, butter, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl with a whisk or electric mixer. Combine flour, cinnamon, ginger, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl. Stir into pumpkin mixture. Add nuts. Pour into greased muffin tins and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool and spread with cream cheese frosting. Makes about 2 dozen muffins.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 1/2 cup cream cheese
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 2 to 3 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions for Frosting:

Beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons milk and vanilla until smooth. Add additional milk if needed to make a frosting consistency.

Enjoy!