Pumpkins, Pumpkins, Everywhere!

Pumpkin season is definitely here, and for the month of October it's hard not to see pumpkins everywhere you look.  Not only are they great for carving jack-o-lanterns, but they are a delicious and healthy recipe ingredient too -- full of potassium, Vitamin A, and Vitamin C, while quite low in calories.  Sweet Pie pumpkins are wonderful if you have the energy to cook down fresh ones (in general, it's always best to go for smaller pumpkins if you want to cook with them -- they are sweeter and more flavorful), and for many dishes, canned pumpkin puree works quite well too (Trader Joe's has a nice organic version this time of year). Probably because they were fresh on my mind, this past week has been filled with pumpkin dishes at our house...so I've posted a few of my favorites:

• Pumpkin, Swiss Chard & Goat Cheese Lasagna
• Pumpkin Cheesecake-Chocolate Ganache Squares
• Pumpkin Bread with Fresh Cranberries