Pumpkin "Cheesecake;" Mushroom/Pumpkin/Leftovers Soup

My day off is almost over, back to work in the morning, which means I have to set my alarm when I go to bed tonight. I'll be up at 4:45AM, but these last two days I have slept until a little past seven. Sure was nice!!

I made the Pumpkin "Cheesecake" I mentioned earlier, and am very pleased, very. The recipe came from a vegetarian starter kit I ordered, free, from ChooseVeg.com, I think. It was free...um, sorry, I already said that...and had recipes in it, which is why I sent for it. So, here's the cheesecake recipe:

Pumpkin Patch "Cheesecake"

12-oz. firm silken tofu, pureed
8-oz. nondairy cream cheese(try Tofutti brand)
1C canned pumpkin
1C granulated sugar
3Tbs. flour
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2tsp. nutmeg
1 1/2tsp. cinnamon
1/2tsp. salt
1/4tsp. baking soda
1 prepared graham cracker crust

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
Puree all the ingredients(except the crust...duh, right?)in food processor. Pour the filling into the graham cracker crust and bake for 50 minutes.
Allow to cool for 30 minutes, cover with plastic wrap or the top of the pie container and refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight before eating.

Now, did I wait 6 hours?!?!? Hell, no, I didn't, I started munching as soon as it came out of the oven, of course. And don't tell me that you wouldn't have, ok? I actually followed this recipe exactly, except for one minor detail: I forgot to buy a pie crust this week, so I made my own graham cracker crust. No big deal, and it was good. Will I make this again? Probably. Most likely, in fact, it's really good.

The best part of it was that there was quite a lot of the batter left in the blender top, so I ate a lot of that, right out of the blender, lol. Yum! When there was about a quarter cup left, I did something strange, an experiment, if you will, that fortunately turned out good.

In the 'fridge, I had a little bit of Zandra's Veggie Noodle Soup, a little bit of the Mushroom and Buttermilk Stroganoff from the other night, about a tablespoonful of the mushroom mixture from last night's burrito, and about four little Brussels sprouts. Figured out where I'm going with this? Are you saying, "Eeeeuuuuuw, yuck," yet? LOL! Yup, I did, I really did...all those little bits of leftovers went right into the blender with the pumpkin mixture. Not only that, but there was half a can of the pumpkin left, so I threw that in there, too, and pureed away! Poured all that into a saucepan, stirred in some soy milk, and heated it in the top of a homemade double boiler, because it was so thick I was afraid I'd scorch it. It was excellent, so good that I've frozen the leftover soup for another time. With it I had saltines with margarine and/or chevre goat cheese. The earthy, tart flavor of the chevre was wonderful with the sweetish soup, too. Would I make it again? Well, I would if I should ever happen to have those exact leftovers in the 'fridge, lol.

Until next time, Happy Eating!