The Saga of the 37 Pumpkins- Installment 17- Pumpkin Crescent Rolls

The piece of pie (perhaps it should be called Cucurbita from now on) jogged over to where Patch lie, still recovering from his blow.

"You see how they act?" she asked, reaching out her stalk to help Patch right himself. "They act like they want to go to the afterlife, as though it makes any difference. I hope that you don't join their wacky cult. I hope that you understand me when I tell you that it doesn't matter. Life, death, what's the difference? I could be a yellow blossom wavering in a spring breeze, I could be an ugly old squash, I could be a jiggling pile of pumpkin puree and evaporated milk, and I'd be the same to you."

"What's evaporated-" Patch interrupted.

"Never mind that. It's beside the point. What I'm trying to say is that I'm never going to go away, not until everyone I've touched has been forgotten, and that's not going to happen for a very long time."

Patch thought he might have seen a teardrop dribble down her side, but he could have been wrong. His vision was a little blurry at the moment.

"Don't be afraid of anything," Cucurbita whispered, "Not even what's about to happen now. Please don't be afraid of that. I'm not."

Patch reached out to touch Cucurbita, but she shooed him away. "The evaporated milk is very shy- he doesn't like to be touched.

"Shy WHO?" the pie shouted, "Just because I don't like talking to whippersnappers like him doesn't mean I'm shy!"

While Patch stared at the pie, a keeper carried the last of the humming girls to the chopping block, while another pulled a fork out of a drawer, saliva bubbling up in her mouth.

And then there were 19...

For the complete Saga archives, click here.

Pumpkin Crescent Rolls

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups bread flour
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 1/4 tsp yeast or one packet
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup pureed pumpkin
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Instructions:

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and yeast. In a small bowl, heat the milk to 116-130° F. Once it is warm, add the pureed pumpkin and melted butter to the bowl and stir to combine. Then gently incorporate the wet ingredients with the dry ones until you have a soft, slightly sticky dough. 

On a well-floured surface, knead the dough for 8-10 minutes, until smooth and elastic.  Cover with a damp towel and let rest in a warm place for ten minutes.

Then pat the dough into a circle about 1/4-1/2" thick and slice the circle in half to yield two semicircles and cut them into triangles. Each semicircle should give you 6-8 triangles, but the size of your rolls is up to you.

Now roll the triangles from wide end to pointed end and arrange them on a buttered baking sheet. 

Cover the sheet with your damp towel and let the rolls rise in a warm place for 45-60 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Bake the rolls in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown. 

Enjoy!