Recipe for Entertaining Fun: Eat Fall Desserts and Remodel the Kitchen With Friends

Harvest Pumpkin Trifle (click on the link for the recipe) isn't the right name for this scrumptious autumn-inspired dessert. Perhaps 'fall in a glass' suits it better. As leaves pile up on lawns, so do the sweet ingredients pile up within this wine glass. At the bottom are sherry-soaked pieces of pound cake. Tart, sweet and flavorful cranberry topping spreads on top of them. Next, a mixture of pumpkin, vanilla pudding, cinnamon and ginger fills the glass. This is topped with toasted walnuts. And lastly, a dollop of whipped cream dots the top remeniscent of an early snow unevenly concealing the ground beneath.

I served this fall dessert last night to good friends. While waiting for our Northwoods chicken to bake, we enjoyed Octoberfest beer in front of the family-room fire.  Naturally, our October-in-Wisconsin conversation first focused on home insulation, especially the cauking and sealing around windows and doors, then moved on to a comparision of heating costs of a standard furnace versus those of spot heating the house with fires in a wood stove or gas fireplace.

Then it happened. Kay stood up, looked pensively around the room, she announced, "I'm feeling creative."

Much like nervous Piglet looks to Christopher Robin for reassurance when Pooh has just announced the sighting of a heffalump, my eyes darted to Dan, Kay's husband. And like Christopher Robin, Dan showed the calm, steady willingness to embark upon whatever adventure Kay would suggest.

"This room feels drab to me." Kay spoke as if channeling a deceased interior decorator. "The colors..."

"I like these colors." I defended.

"Hmmm..." Kay was respectful, but undeterred. "The room needs livening."

As a conceeding gesture, I disclosed my dream of replacing the end-quarter of the family room wall with floor-to-ceiling windows. This would give my light-hungry house plants southern and western sun exposure.

"Aahh, Yes!" Kay leapt upon the idea, her zeal emboldened "You must!" Dan explained how Kay routinely advises friends to tear down walls in their homes.

And now, I had just opened that door, I thought. Where would we go with this? Kay strode into the kitchen. She was inhaling deeply, but I don't think the intoxicating vapors belonged to my chicken. "These cabinets over the counter block the flow! You could move them over there," she pointed, "-on to the outside wall."

I agreed by saying that cabinets along an outside wall would be a useful insulator. My thoughts, like a sluggard Eyeore, were obviously still stuck on winter-home heating. "Yes," Kay continued, "then the eye would have an attractive path along the wall and into the eating area...All four cabinets wouldn't fit, so you could do two rows of two." Dan offered that he didn't think two rows of cabinets on the wall would look very good.

"Do you need all these cabinets?" Kay questioned.

"Uh, not really," I hemmed. "I could put the trivets, appetizer dishes, and mixing bowls in the basement."

"All right. Then lets see how many of these cabinets we can fit in a row along this wall." Dan started to measure the cabinet width with his vest, but I offered him a tape measure. They determined that exactly three of the four would fit...unless I wanted a little decorative shelf between them, then only two would fit. "Now, that will really open up this kitchen!" Kay declared. You'll be able to stand here and see the fireplace."

Getting into the spirit of let's pretend, I said that I'd always wanted a wood stove in the kitchen. It would give this main room in the house where everyone always congregates a warm, comfortably relaxing atmosphere. Dan and Kay agreed, and our conversation reverted to wood stoves, with Dan describing the technical logistics of venting a wood stove out of my kitchen. "It would be nice to see the fire from the dining room," I mused.

"Of course!" Kay exclaimed and extended her arms as wide as possible. "Remove these cabinets and this wall between the kitchen and dining room and install a fireplace here!" Dan and Kay discussed whether the fire should be gas or wood-buring while I pondered where to put the displaced canned goods.

We agreed the refrigerator would block full view of the kitchen fireplace. So with the wave of a hand, we blithely banished the refrigerator to the outskirts of the eating area. But Kay relented, acknowledging the convenience of having a refrigerator in the same room as the sink and stove. Dan suggested that a newer model of refrigerator be purchased, - the kind that comes as separate freezer and cooler modules which are installed beneath counters. Again, the question was posed, "Do you need all these cabinets beneath the counters?"

"Uh, well..." I paused, and with the practical nature of Rabbit, I imagined myself hurriedly fetching pots and pans up from the basement. Then Kanga's soothing sweetness interjected with, "It will be such good exercise, dear."

"Oh, yes! Pots in the basement! Let's do! Let's do!" cheered Roo.

My immersion in the Hundred Acre Woods abruptly ended when I heard the words, "We'll call Jeff the contractor; he can do it."

My widened eyes spoke for me. Kay assured, "He's very good, and reasonably priced. We've used him before."

And so just as the oak seed, chocked-full of planned potential, sealed tightly in the acorn's shell waits for spring rains and summer sun, so too waits my winter-sealed kitchen for those migratory greenbacks to fund its renewal. The season for remodeling is a distant dream. Now's the time to cook fall squashes and soups. It's time to eat pumpkins and enjoy them. And there's no better way to start than with a Harvest Pumpkin Trifle. I'm living large in my acorn.

I'm also entering this fall dessert in the autumn 2008 food blogging event Art You Eat #5.

To make Harvest Pumpkin Trifle you'll need

Gourmet Sweet Cranberry Topping which is a wonderfully versatile topping that I've baked into cheesecakes, meatloaf, and steak. It's even makes a bowl of plain vanilla ice cream a gourmet dessert.

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Other gourmet tricks for entertaining are:

Quartet of Ice Cream Toppings Gift Box

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O & H Almond Horns Pastries

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Cherry Pie in a Gift Box

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Door County Ice Cream Toppings

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Comments

[Supra Vaider]

[ this is good]

[jordan 13]

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[Nike Dunks]

I am very interested in your blog! Involuntary people liked it! Very beautiful people in the enjoyment! I am lucky to see it! I do feel honored

[Amanda and Linda]

You're right! - And the desserts themselves really make your mouth water! Move over Betty Crocker.

[cheap laptops canada]

These desert recipes are really very mouth watering.