Not THAT pumpkin!! (Recipe: Wild Rice Stuffed Mini Pumpkins)

Last month when Himself and I came home from our trip we went right into a special obligation.  The very next day we were demonstrators at the county Extension Homemakers 'Holiday Cooking School'.

Yes... WE.

But first let me back up a bit.

I was on the committee for setting up the cooking school.  Each year one person from each Homemaker Club does a quick demonstration of a recipe (think Rachel Raye and the like).  As the group worked out details, it was decided that since the cook book that was part of this event was titled "From The Family Table" that the recipe demonstration was going to be a Homemaker and a family member or friend.

And that is where the "we" came into play.

You betcha I roped Himself into my able bodied assistant!

However we weren't going to play it straight!  Seriously, some of these ladies have been cooking 60+ years.  How interesting is it to watch someone dump ingredients and stir?

So we decided to do a fun skit through which I would talk about a portion of the recipe.

When it was our turn, we headed up to the demo table.  As I introduced the recipe (Wild Rice Stuffed Mini Pumpkins), Himself brought out our crate of ingredients.... looking all 'husbandy' and put-upon.   He sat sat the two small pumpkins up on the table, then started fooling around with things in the crate.  

When I asked him to get out the large pumpkin, that's where the fun began.  He pulled out a BIG pumpkin we had carved a face in and set it down with a thud.  I 'jumped' at the thunk and looked at the jackolantern... then slowly turned to him with the 'Wife look'.

"WHY did you bring that?!!"

"Because we need to do something with it.  I know how much you paid for that thing..."

"It's a jackolantern!"

"Well, you said we needed pumpkins.  Can't you stuff it?"

"It's a jackolantern!  If I stuffed that there would be enough rice to feed a battalion!  Besides, how will you get the rice to not fall out of those holes?"

We went back and forth for a bit... with lots of laughter from the audience.

(Unknown to us, there was also a MC we had to work around (someone didn't send us the memo on that one!) so we just pulled her into our ad libs.)

Eventually Himself pulled out the 'right' pumpkin then I did my bit on how to select and prep the pumpkin for the recipe.

(Notice the jackolantern on the table?  LOL)

The final portion was some questions from the floor.

(BTW, this recipe is one that I finaled with in a cooking contest a few years ago.  The below is a photo from  the contest so you can see what the finished recipe looks like).

Wild Rice Stuffed Mini Pumpkins

1/2 cup uncooked wild rice

3 to 4 cups water

4 mini pumpkins

Juice of 1 orange

2 teaspoons honey

Salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup dried cranberries OR tart dried cherries OR pomegranate seeds

2 tablespoons chopped pecans

1 teaspoon orange zest

1 teaspoon chopped mint

Preheat oven to 375°F.

In a small sauce pan, add wild rice and fill with enough water to cover and allow room to boil like cooking pasta. Bring to a boil and then simmer for approximately 30 to 40 minutes. Rice is done when it starts to "pop" the grain.

While rice cooks, cut tops off pumpkins. Using a large spoon, scoop out seeds and strings. Place pumpkins upside down in a pan with 1/3 inch of water. Bake for 15 minutes. Carefully turn pumpkins upright and return to oven until flesh is tender when pierced with a fork, about 5 to 10 more minutes.

When rice is cooked, pour into a colander and rinse with cold water. Place the rice in a medium size bowl.

Juice orange and add honey, mixing together. Pour over rice. Add salt and pepper, and stir well. Stir in cranberries, pecans, orange zest and mint. Adjust seasonings if needed. Stuff rice into pumpkins and serve.

(Does not have to be done up in the mini pumpkins... but it does look cute!)

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