Warm Pumpkin Smoothie

I got up one morning this week to find my husband studying flaky white patches among the desert plantings of our front yard. He wondered if someone had deposited trash in the yard? Yes, he’s forgotten what snow looks like…particularly when it is surrounded by cactus. You begin to appreciate my idea of a warm pumpkin smoothie!

Yes, I have to admit it; I’m a weather wimp. I particularly don’t care for summer humidity. For that matter, I’m also not so fond of winter’s damp cold; a prime reason for my current residence in the desert southwest. But not all desert winters are sweetness and light, as in warm and dry. This desert winter is wearing out its welcome. We’ve had weeks of cold and rain, followed by weeks of just cold, and now snow! Some days it warms to tolerable temps at the height of the day. But sunset brings a severe drop in temperature, unique to desert climates. And we need the rain, for sure. But folks have had their landscape plants covered to prevent freezing for so long that no one knows if the plants will survive the protection!  And no one here appears to have ever known about the invention of home insulation. Getting out of bed is reminiscent of the old days in our drafty farmhouse. Warm food is in order this Arizona winter.

It’s been several years since I started enjoying breakfast smoothies. I’d no sooner learned to savor them than the temps dropped. I don’t have much appetite for a frozen fruit shake on these cold mornings. It occurred to me that someone living in the bitter cold somewhere had probably developed a warm smoothie recipe. A bit of googling brought me to a recipe for a warm pear smoothie. Life changing on a cold morning, accompanied by homemade toast. But surely pears can’t have a monopoly on warm smoothies?  

Perhaps you remember October’s big pumpkin that we seeded, roasted, peeled, mashed and strained? My freezer is still harboring a few jars of that orange baby from the fall. So, I reasoned one morning while huddled up in my robe and slippers, why not try a warm pumpkin smoothie? A little pumpkin, a little fruit, some seeds and flax for protein and Omega-3’s, a large dollop of almond milk… and the spices, don’t forget the spices… 

My pumpkin smoothie is a little bit sweet, a little bit savory. It’s a terrific way to stuff both some fruit and vegetable into a drink that is spiced, silky smooth, and warm, taking the chill off these frosty mornings. All this before 9:00 a.m. What a deal. 

Thus far pumpkin pie, pumpkin soup, buckwheat pumpkin bread and pumpkin spiced oats with cranberry sauce have been made from that pumpkin. I can now see that my frozen supply is actually beginning to dwindle. But until my mornings warm up, I may have to break down and buy some canned pumpkin… who would have thought?