Stuffed Pumpkins

Ingredients

• 1 pumpkin, 2½ to 3 pounds
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• ¼ pound stale bread, thinly sliced and cut into ½-inch chunks
• ¼ pound cheese, such as Gruyère, Emmenthal, cheddar or a combination, cut into ½-inch chunks
• 2 to 4 garlic cloves (to taste)--split, germ removed and coarsely chopped
• ¼ cup snipped fresh chives or sliced scalions
  
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
  
• ⅓ cup heavy cream
• Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

Directions

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350°. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.* Using a very sturdy knife, cut a cap out of the top of the pumpkin (like a Halloween jack-o’-lantern) by working your knife around the top in a circle at a 45° angle. Cut out a large enough cap to make it easy to work inside the pumpkin. Remove the seeds and strings from the cap and from inside the pumpkin. Season the inside of the pumpkin generously with salt and pepper and put it on the baking sheet.
2. In a large bowl, toss the bread, cheese, garlic, bacon and herbs together. Season with salt and pepper to taste and pack the mixture into the pumpkin. The pumpkin should be well filled (you might have a little too much filling or you might need to add to it). In a small bowl, stir the cream and the nutmeg together, seasoning the mixture with salt and pepper, then pour it into the pumpkin (again, you might have too much or too little--the ingredients should not swim in cream but they should be nicely moistened).
   
3. Put the cap in place and bake the pumpkin for 90 minutes. Remove the cap and return to the oven for another 20 to 30 minutes, until everything inside the pumpkin is bubbling and the flesh of the pumpkin is tender enough to be pierced easily with the tip of a knife. Remove the pumpkin very carefully (it will be heavy, hot and wobbly) and place it on the table or transfer it to a platter. To serve, either spoon out portions of the filling and pumpkin meat, or dig into the pumpkin meat with a large spoon and mix it into the filling before spooning out portions.
   

Key Lime Yogurt Pie

Ingredients

2	tablespoons cold water
1	tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 1/2	teaspoons unflavored gelatin
4	oz (half of 8-oz package) fat-free cream cheese, softened
3	containers (6 oz each) Yoplait® Light Thick & Creamy Key lime pie yogurt
1/2	cup frozen (thawed) reduced-fat whipped topping
2	teaspoons grated lime peel
1	reduced-fat graham cracker crumb crust (6 oz)

Directions

1. 1 In 1-quart saucepan, mix water and lime juice. Sprinkle gelatin on lime juice mixture; let stand 1 minute. Heat over low heat, stirring constantly, until gelatin is dissolved. Cool slightly, about 2 minutes.
2. 2 In medium bowl, beat cream cheese with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add yogurt and lime juice mixture; beat on low speed until well blended.
3. 3 Fold in whipped topping and lime peel. Pour into crust. Refrigerate until set, about 2 hours.

To make it vegetarian, do not include the gelatin.
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Homemade Ice Cream in a Bag

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 cup half and half
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup salt (The bigger the granules, the better. Kosher or rock salt works best, but table salt is fine.)
• Ice cubes (enough to fill each gallon-size bag about half full)
• 1 pint-size ziplock bag
• 1 gallon-size ziplock bag

Directions

1. Combine the sugar, half and half, and vanilla extract in the pint-size bag and seal it tightly.
2. Place the salt and ice in the gallon-size bag, then place the sealed smaller bag inside as well. Seal the larger bag. Now shake the bags until the mixture hardens (about 5 minutes). Feel the small bag to determine when it's done.
3. Take the smaller bag out of the larger one, add mix-ins, and eat the ice cream right out of the bag. Easy cleanup too! Serves 1.

The Oreo Roll

Ingredients

1 cup cold milk

1 pkg. (4-serving size) JELL-O OREO Flavor Instant Pudding

1 cup thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping

15 OREO Cookies

Directions

POUR milk into medium bowl. Add dry pudding mix. Beat with wire whisk 2 minutes or until well blended. Gently stir in whipped topping.

SPREAD about 1 Tbsp. pudding mixture onto each cookie. Begin stacking cookies together, standing on edge on serving platter to make a log. Frost with remaining pudding mixture.

REFRIGERATE overnight. Cut diagonally into 12 slices to serve. Store leftover dessert in refrigerator.

Make Ahead

Be sure to refrigerate this dessert at least 8 hours before serving to allow the cookies to soften to the desired cake-like texture.
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