Pumpkin Recipes 4 and 5 (and a Bridal Shower)

I had the lovely opportunity to help host a friend's bridal shower last Saturday and I claimed making the appetizers and desserts (my favorite parts of party food!) It also gave me an opportunity to use up my 15 cups of homemade pumpkin puree.

So, for the appetizer, I decided to make this pumpkin hummus recipe from Slash Food . 

PLEASE go out and make this. It was PHENOMENAL! oh, and if you don't have tahini, you can substitute peanut butter but check your local Indian or Oriental store because they will most definitely have tahini paste for a lot cheaper than a normal grocery store.

I also made pumpkin cupcakes from Gimme Some Oven. Also outstanding. The cinnamon cream cheese icing was perfect because it was sweet and cream cheesy, but the focus was totally on the pumpkin cupcakes. underneath. They were also easy to make :) I used a candy mold of wedding rings from Hobby Lobby and dark chocolate candy melts to top the iced cupcakes and some random fall sprinkles.

To round out the desserts, I made carrot cake cookies from Martha Stewart's Cookie Cookbook. They were labor intensive and the oven royally messed with them (although uniform as dough balls, some refused to flatten out and others flatted out to 3 inch diameter cookies... it was the oven's fault). They weren't super attractive, but boy, does Martha know cookies! They were super delicious and decadent. 

Overall, I had a great  time making some good food for a friend's party. It was a wonderful shower and the bride-to-be got some great stuff for her married kitchen (which I'm SO going to take advantage of, I mean use when I bake with her after she's married). 

All of the recipes were a hit, so try them before fall goes out of season (haha)!