Pumpkin Soup and Finger Foods

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Creepy looking fingers, served on bread plates, add a real nail-biting touch to a regular Saturday night at home with the family and the cat. Throw in a Halloween-themed lounge-act that was turned into a CD at least ten years ago, and you’ve got yourself a party.

Also, you’ll want to get your hands on some soup to dip your finger-shaped breadsticks into. My soup of choice last weekend was pumpkin soup. While it bubbled and boiled, we helped ourselves to some cheese and cold cuts, along with dip and chips. We had ourselves a R.I.P.-roaring good time. If you would also like to have a R.I.P.-roaring good time, let me point you in the direction of the steps I took to make the finger breadsticks and the soup:

Finger Breadsticks

Ingredients:

–Bread dough—use your favorite recipe. (Mine takes about 10-15 minutes to make + 10 minutes to rise: 2 ¼ teaspoons of dry active yeast, 3 cups of flour, 1 ¼ cups of warm water, 1 teaspoon of salt. Place the yeast and water in a bowl, mix them together, let rest for five minutes. Add the salt + the flour, one cup at a time. Knead for about ten minutes. Let rest 10 minutes.)

–Almond slices (for the fingernails)

Method: Slice off pieces of the dough and roll them into twisty “snakes.” Flatten out the end of one part of each twist and stick an almond slice on it for the nail. Brush with water. Sprinkle with sea-salt, if desired. Bake in a 450-degree oven for 15 minutes.

Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients:

–one teaspoon of olive oil

–one 15-ounce can of pumpkin puree

–2 tablespoons of shallots, chopped finely

–1 teaspoon of garlic

–3 tablespoons of fresh thyme

–4-6 cups of vegetable stock (could use chicken broth as well)

–salt and black pepper to taste

–1/4 cup of Greek yogurt (optional)

–chopped Italian parsley (for decoration)

Method:

–Heat the olive oil, and then add the garlic, shallots, and thyme—cook for about one minute.

–Add the pumpkin puree, stock, and salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 30-60 minutes.

–If desired, add a tablespoon of the yogurt to each individual bowl + the parsley for garnish.

Results:

I couldn’t quite put my finger on it before, but now I realize that the breadsticks look more like worms, so this recipe could maybe work for Earth Day as well, though it would definitely give the day a creepy twist, if that’s what you’re hoping for. Nate said the pumpkin soup would taste even better with a sprinkle of curry powder, and I agree, so if you make this soup, you might try it with curry powder, but good luck getting the stain out from underneath those breadstick fingernails. Or maybe just leave it—for an effortless way to create that “look what just came from the crypt” effect. Some people might think you’ve gone too far, but no one’s pointing any fingers.

Your Turn: What’s your favorite finger food?

Published by ckennedy

Author of the DIY blog: Fixin' Leaks and Leeks. Paper/Rock Writing Consultation, Sole Proprietor.

23 thoughts on “Pumpkin Soup and Finger Foods”

  3. The breadstick fingers are a fantastic idea for dipping into the soup. It made me think if you baked cranberry jam into the middle, when you bite off the tips it might look like blood in the “finger” tips too.

    Liked by 1 person

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  9. I love the breadsticks! They look very Halloweeny! 🙂 I have to confess anything I bake has the potential to become scary. I don’t know what it is, I guess maybe a curse? Maybe I should take advantage of this month to figure it out! Cheers!

    Liked by 1 person

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