"pumpkin" news and stories

Pumpkin pie gets downsized into easy, portable treats. Autumnal-spiced cookies are topped with cream-cheese frosting for a little bit of sugar-and-spice-and-everything-nice.

Get the recipe to this classic along with many others after the jump.

'Long Nights and Log Fires: Warming Comfort Food for Family and Friends'
Commissioning Editor Julia Charles
Photography by Ryland Peters & Small
Ryland Peters & Small -- 2009
Buy it on Amazon

"When the cold wind blows and the snow piles up outside, where better to be than at the heart of a warm kitchen, enjoying the aromas of good home cooking wafting from the oven?" ponders the intro to the supremely satisfying "Long Nights and Log Fires" cookbook.

Crafting a comprehensive repertoire to all things comfort food, the gratifying collection dishes up everything from "soups and snacks," "sides and salads" to "one-pot wonders," "bakes and desserts" and even heart-warming drinks, including Mocha Maple Coffee and Mexican Chocolate with Vanilla Cream. Using a bevy of autumnal ingredients -- relying on fresh produce, flavorful herbs and spices and a comforting dairy element -- this cookbook features everything sweet, spicy and savory to satisfy palates on cold nights.

See what we tested and find out whether the book's worth buying after the jump.

• As wine sales have dipped with the failing economy, the results of the annual Plonkalooza, which judges 50 local wines -- half whites, half reds -- priced at $12 or less, are more promising than ever.
• L'Ecluse 16 in France's Alsace region serves "traditionally French [fare] with an inventive twist," with consideration of seasonal produce.
• An interview with Boston "Rising Star" Jiho Kim, head pastry chef at L'Espalier.
• A gallery guide on how to satisfy your "pumpkin palate," from its savory cameos in coffee and beer, to inventive pancakes, pastas and whoopie pies.
• Reminiscent of collegiate endeavors, the Boston Globe goes on an informative pizza crawl, sampling everything from cheese-loaded dive pizzas to the upscale quality-ingredients of refined Italian eateries.
• Restaurants: Jamaica Plain's Bon Savor serves French and South African cooking and is "as much about charm and personality as food;" "the coolest place in town," Trina's Starlite Lounge dishes up delicious bar fare; Barbara Lynch's flagship restaurant No. 9 "is still tops" for French and Italian seasonal cuisine.
• Recipes: A brothy, vegetarian Mexican-Style Soup; a refined Cod Wrapped in Phyllo with Pea Puree; Apple-Plum Crumble with maple syrup and oats; a spicy-sweet Vietnamese Caramelized Chicken.

Although Halloween treats are typically served as desserts, we love the excuse to start the day off sweet provided by these delectable Pumpkin Five-Spice Sweet Rolls.

As if the sweet roll weren't intrinsically indulgent enough, blogger Rachel of Coconut & Lime updated the treat for fall, using pureed pumpkin as a base and Chinese five-spice as an unexpected yet pleasantly subtle filling. Pictured here, the seasonal bonne bouche is positively delectable, with a hint of orange revealing its autumnal base, a generous helping of gooey cream-cheese frosting, and -- one can only imagine -- a springy, moist texture that will melt in your mouth.

If you can afford yourself some autumnal decadence, go ahead and bake up a batch.

Become a member of the Slashfood Flickr pool to get a shot at having your photos featured in Feast Your Eyes.

• The craft beer hype has brought stout beer into the mainstream -- but the public's perception of it as purely "stout" is inaccurate.
• Playwright humorist Paul Rudnick disproves parents everywhere in his new book, "I Shudder," by living 51 years subsisting mainly on candy -- and sveltely, at that. "What I love about Halloween is its childhood honesty," he says. "It's about what children want rather than what parents want them to want."
• A touching story on the "softening" of chef Thomas Keller preceding his last meal with his once-estranged father.
• Tater tots and Tecates have started to replace caviar and Chardonnay as foodie first dates take a more casual, adventurous note.
• Prompted by a resourceful reader in Beijing, a New York Times writer matches Italian wine with Chinese fare In a pairing fit to make Marco Polo proud.
• After ruinous delays for restaurateurs, the liquor license process has been streamlined by the new New York State Liquor Authority chairman, David Rosen.
• Restaurants: Flushing, Queens' Imperial Palace is "at the zenith of Cantonese cooking in New York City;" Green Apple BBQ in East Harlem proffers a Mexican influence on Southern cuisine; Brooklyn's Rocky Sullivan's in Red Hook tackles steamed lobster, successfully.
• Openings and closings; plus Dining Calendar -- highlights include Day of the Dead workshops, a pumpkin dinner and a meal in memory of Sheila Lukins of the Silver Palate.