pumpkin bowl

Oh, boy. It's Thursday, and we're rounding third base on our Autumn-themed Week with a real treat.

Now, I know the weather is starting to cool down a bit. We're going a little counter-intuitive today though with my delectable spin on a SoCal frozen staple: once again, we are constructing a smoothie bowl. And not your average, everyday acai and goji berry concotion, either. No, sir. This time around we are achieving peak white girl with a pumpkin spice smoothie bowl, Autumn-inspired, with all of the fixin's. Trust me when I say, this is one that you're gonna want to try at home.

You'll need more than a few things to put this bad boy together. We aren't skimping out here. The fucking holidays are coming, it's time to get in the spirit of it.

for the smoothie:

fresh pumpkin, steamed and then frozen

banana, sliced and frozen raw

a tablespoon of tahini

one quarter of a cup of unsweetened soymilk

one choice medjool date

half of a teaspoon of vanilla extract

cinnamon

allspice

a pinch of salt

freshly grated nutmeg

for the top:

raw walnuts

toasted, shelled pumpkin seeds

shredded, unsweetened coconut

half of a banana

a few slices of pear, pan-fried in

coconut oil, cinnamon, and a dash of brown sugar

some quinoa granola if you made some

I'm not gonna lie. I've been waiting to show you guys this one all week long. It's go time.

Here you can see my banana and pumpkin. In the next photo, you're gonna see this same dish sitting in the freezer.

Here you can see my banana and pumpkin sitting in the freezer. There's probably a way to calculate exactly how long they need to be in there to freeze completely solid by volume. I chose not to do any math on this day, however, as is the standard American way, and stuck 'em in overnight just to be safe. Make sure to either line your plate with plastic wrap or grease it down with some coconut oil before freezing so the produce comes off clean when you try to take them out. They were a bitch to unstick.

Something that should be done sooner rather than later: frying up the pear. Melt your oil in the pan and dissolve the sugar and spice. Once you can smell it, gently add the slices of fruit. Brown each side for a minute or two, just long enough to get a bit of caramelization going.

I actually found this part to be hauntingly beautiful. I'd never cooked a pear like this before, they just looked so pretty in there as they sizzled. I was really worried about fucking it up but somehow it all ended up working out. Set these aside for now while we work on the body of the smoothie.

Fill your blender-cup up to the max-fill line and absolutely no further. Adjust the spice ratios to your liking; I went a little too hard with the nutmeg. It's like I start grating and I can't ever stop. Whiz up what's inside and get it into your bowl.

You already know this is my favorite part, and thanks to ol' reliable we got here faster than I ever thought possible. It looks just like ice cream to me, but that's probably only because I have not had ice cream in a very, very long time.

Again, like yesterday, this is the stage in the operation where you get to run the show. Don't limit yourself to my design; make it your own. The quinoa granola from Monday actually tastes amazing with the pumpkin and really drives home that seasonally-inspired feeling we all know, love, and remember fondly from early childhood. I had a little too much fun here, as you can probably discern. This is my way of showing the world that I, too, can be Instagram Goals.

Who knows. I'll be unemployed as fuck in two and a half days, I could probably find a job somewhere making these for the rest of my life. Maybe my career isn't completely beyond redemption, after all.