pumkin muffins

split pumpkin in half with gigantic knife

So Ireland doesn't believe in Thanksgiving, ergo Ireland doesn't believe in Libby's canned pumpkin with the spices already mixed in. Fail. I was getting a craving for pumpkin-flavored baked goods and after visiting 6 grocery stores I decided to do it the Amish way--with a real pumpkin. This pumpkin was originally meant for children to carve for fun on Halloween. I bought it at Tesco for €2. I found the muffin recipe here, the roasted seeds recipe here, and the pumpkin-preparation instructions here. It takes 1.5 hours in the oven to soften the pumpkin meat, which is a complete joke. I recommend the microwave. This is the saga of the pumpkin muffins.

scoop out seeds with your fingers (ew) and put in a colander

be very scared of the pumpkin

wash away the goopy mess part

stop being immature and clean out the pulp

put the seeds on a pan and shoot with spray oil, s+p, and chili powder. eat.

stick pumpkin chunks (after peeling & microwaving) in bowl.
wrestle with immersion blender until smooth.

add other ingredients and stir.
do not sift the flour, pre-mix wet ingredients, or other time wasters.

eat some raw batter to make sure it's tasty

bake them in the oven. smell the smells.

poke with a fork to make sure they are done and also ugly. let cool.

voila! now you have 12 muffins that you will eat in one sitting.

I forgot to mention that these muffins include chocolate chips. Apparently Ireland doesn't believe in chocolate chips either so I bought a Dairy Milk bar and had hubby turn it into chunks by hitting it repeatedly with a serving spoon. This resulted in holes, chocolate all over the carpet, and some very delicious muffins. Big chunks are OK in this case.