We are continuing our pumpkin challenge! Thanks to Colette, we tried pumpkin gnocchi! Here's what she said:
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I like to make pumpkin gnocchis. They're like big pasta so everybody eats vegetables without even knowing it! You will need 500 g of pumkin flesh, 1 egg, about 100 g of flour (not self raising one!), salt and spices to your taste. Once the pumpkin is cooked mash the flesh with a fork. Salt the purée, add spices if you like them. If it's too wet dry it for a while in a saucepan.
Add the egg and mix. Then the flour. You could add more than 100 g of flour until you have a smooth paste , compact and soft .
Divide the dough and roll it between your floured hands until 1cm of diameter . Cut into small pieces .

Plunge the gnocchi in plenty of salted boiling water. Let them cook until they rise to the surface (2 to 3 min) .
Drain the gnocchi , place them in a warm serving dish, with butter on them and sprinkle with parmesan. Or put you could put them in the oven with plenty of your favorite cheese on them to make a gratin!

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We had ours with some peppers, chorizo sausage and sun-dried tomatoes - Toby declared them super-yummy Thank you!!!

Our pumpkin bread, as suggested by Amy. Here's what she said:

Here's one of our favorites from Texas, & we always make our own purée 
Pumpkin Bread Recipe

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups (200g) flour
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 cup (200 g) sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (240 ml) pumpkin purée*
1/2 cup (120 ml) olive oil
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 cup (120 ml) chopped walnuts
* To make pumpkin purée, cut a pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds and stringy stuff, lie face down on a foil or Silpat lined baking sheet. Bake at 350°F until soft, about 45 min to an hour. Cool, scoop out the flesh. Freeze whatever you don't use for future use. Or, if you are working with pumpkin pieces, roast or boil them until tender, then remove and discard the skin.

METHOD
1 Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Sift together the flour, salt, sugar, and baking soda.

2 Mix the pumpkin, oil, eggs, 1/4 cup of water, and spices together, then combine with the dry ingredients, but do not mix too thoroughly. Stir in the nuts.

3 Pour into a well-buttered 9x5x3 inch loaf pan. Bake 50-60 minutes until a thin skewer poked in the very center of the loaf comes out clean. Turn out of the pan and let cool on a rack.
Can easily double the recipe.

...we didn't wait for it to cool down, and it is absolutely yummy!!! Thanks, Amy! 

When we posted a shout-out for ideas to deal with our "surplus polenta", Donna came to the rescue. Here is what she said:

 In Bosnia and Herzegovina we have this really really old and simple but very delicious meal. Other Balkan countries make it too, coz we have similar culture. It is called Pura. Here is the receipe(for 2 plates): 4 dcl of water (2 cups), 200 gr of polenta, spoon of salt, 2 spoons of oil and 20gr of butter, yoghurt, cottage cheese, and garlic (if you like)...Instructions: Boil water together with salt and oil. When it starts boiling add polenta and keep on stirring until all the water has vaporized. Pura is done and you can move it aside to wait until you prepare dressing. In a bowl mix up cottage cheese, a bit of salt, yoghurt and add garlic if you like. (put as much as you like). In a frying pan melt, but just melt and heat 20 gr of butter (don't let it get brown) and put it aside as well. Serve one or two spoons of Pura, cover with mixture of cheese and yoghurt and put just a bit of melted butter on top. Have a nice meal! (Prijatno!)

This was super-easy to make, and great comfort food for winter!

Germany has a lot of very flat "tray bakes", and plum cake is a typical one! The massive sweet plums are not too great for this cake - we used damsons!

Recipe:

8 tbsp vegetable oil
8 tbsp milk
120g sugar
200g quark (or plain yoghurt, we used a mix of yoghurt and sour cream)
1 egg
pinch of salt
400g flour
3 tsp baking powder

plums/damsons
sugar and cinnamon, to sprinkle

Mix all ingredients together (we used our hands, and it made a sticky dough). Put on a baking tray, use your fingers to squish the dough into the corners. Use a knife to take the stones out of the plums or damsons and place cut side up onto the dough. Mix sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle on top (to taste, depending on the plums you use and your sweet tooth!)

Bake at 180 degrees (celsius) for about 25 minutes.

Our dessert tonight was "typical British", so we thought we'd share it - Eton Mess. It might be messy, but it's yummy, and great to make with kids, because there's lots of mashing and breaking involved. All you need is:

- some meringue - a nest, broken pieces, it doesn't matter
- strawberries
- cream (usually whipped)

Mash the strawberries into a good mush (or use a mixer to make them into a sauce). Break the meringue into small bits (if they aren't small already. Whip the cream (squirty cream will do at a push) and use a big spoon to gently mix it all together.

Spoon into a glass and serve.

I seriously doubt that there is a simpler cookie recipe than the one that Chris shared with us. Here's what he said:

Peanut butter Cookies I learned to bake as a kid in Rapid City, South Dakota (USA) 1 cup peanut butter, 1 cup sugar (or to taste), 1 egg. Mix beaten egg, sugar, and peanut butter. Bake on 350 degree Fahrenheit (175 centigrade) for 12 to 18 minutes. (depends on size, altitude, oven, etc.) Enjoy.

We did. We did indeed! Thanks Chris!

 Thank you to Ellen for sharing this recipe - we had to adjust it a little, because we couldn't find the right sausage, but here's what she said:

I live in Savannah, GA, USA. Because we're so close to the ocean, a lot of our recipes involve shrimp. The Low Country Boil is super simple and can be adjusted to feed a crowd of people. If you do, just spread brown paper on a table, pour out the food, and let everyone dig in. It couldn't be easier to clean up!


 Ingredients

Old Bay Seafood Seasoning, 2 teaspoons per quart of water 
12 red new potatoes 
6 (4-inch) smoked sausage link sausage 
6 ears corn 
3 pounds fresh shrimp, unpeeled

Directions

Fill a large pot with enough water to cover all of the ingredients. Add the crab boil and bring to a boil. Adjust the crab boil to suit your taste. When the water boils, add the potatoes and sausage. Cook on medium heat for 20 minutes. Add corn and cook for an additional 10 minutes. Add shrimp and cook for no more than 3 minutes. Drain

Melissa shared this recipe for "Easy Lamingtons" from Australia. We can confirm that they were, indeed, super-easy, as well as very, very yummy!

Ingredients: 

2¼ cups self-raising flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
185 g margarine
¾ cup caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
3 eggs
4 cups pure icing sugar
⅓ cup drinking chocolate
4 cups coconut

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
2. Grease a lamington tray.
3. Sift flour and baking powder into a bowl and set aside.
4. Beat margarine and sugar until creamy, then add vanilla essence and eggs and beat until
combined.
5. Fold through sifted flour and ⅓ cup water, then pour mixture into tray.
6. Bake for 20 minutes or until firm.
7. Let cool then cut into squares of desired size.
8. Sift icing sugar and drinking chocolate into a bowl and add enough hot water to make a
smooth mixture.
9. Place bowl over a hot water bath and stir.
10. Dip squares of cake into icing and roll in coconut.
11. Allow to set on a wire rack.

Recipe taken from: http://www.bestrecipes.com.au/recipe/easy-lamingtons-L1768.html

Stanna shared a recipe for grilled Halloumi cheese, which made a lovely lunch for us one day!!

Ingredients:
An 8-ounce package of Cyprus Halloumi cheese, cut in 3/8-inch slices
1/2 teaspoon of olive oil
For the garnish
fresh rocket leavesfreshly ground black pepper
oregano or mint leaves
4-5 cherry tomatoes cut in half
balsamic vinaigrette
Preparation:
Preheat a nonstick frying pan over high heat.
Place the halloumi slices on a plate with the olive oil and brush lightly to coat both sides of each slice of cheese.
Sear the cheese in the pan, 1 minute on the first side and 1-2 minutes on the other side. It will smoke (open a window), and form a deep brown crust. The cheese should soften but no liquid should escape - poke with your spatula to test - but it will not melt.
Place fried cheese on a plate and garnish with pepper, herbs, tomatoes, and vinaigrette.
5-6 pieces

Shannon told us about Nanaimo Bars from British Columbia, Canada. These were super-yummy - we took the picture a bit early, because we were so impatient to eat it - they were easier to cut a bit later on, with extra cooling time!

Recipe taken from here: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/nanaimo-bars-iii/

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup white sugar
5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
powder
1 egg, beaten
1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 cup flaked coconut
1/2 cup finely chopped almonds (optional)
 
1/2 cup butter, softened
3 tablespoons heavy cream
2 tablespoons custard powder
2 cups confectioners' sugar
 
4 (1 ounce) squares semisweet baking
chocolate
2 teaspoons butter


DIRECTIONS:
1.In the top of a double boiler, combine 1/2 cup butter, white sugar and cocoa powder. Stir occasionally until melted and smooth. Beat in the egg, stirring until thick, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat and mix in the graham cracker crumbs, coconut and almonds (if you like). Press into the bottom of an ungreased 8x8 inch pan.

2.For the middle layer, cream together 1/2 cup butter, heavy cream and custard powder until light and fluffy. Mix in the confectioners' sugar until smooth. Spread over the bottom layer in the pan. Chill to set.

3.While the second layer is chilling, melt the semisweet chocolate and 2 teaspoons butter together in the microwave or over low heat. Spread over the chilled bars. Let the chocolate set before cutting into squares.