Thanksgiving Dinner Centerpiece

Thanksgiving is always a fun and happy time in our home. We are so thankful for all of our family and friends and the idea of gathering for an evening of family fun is next to Heaven! After all the cooking and stress, the most important thing besides your food is the mood you set for your guests – including the table and all of its trimmings.

I cannot remember just where I came across the idea, but I began making the Pumpkin Dinner Centerpiece several years ago and my guests have always been no less than impressed. This fun and unique dish takes many of your favorite flavors and spices them up with a little pumpkin. By using the actual pumpkin as your serving dish and a decorative element, you can create a table centerpiece that is festive and delicious!

Here is my personal recipe, but feel free to make it your own. The filling can be made to your liking with any number of ingredients.

PUMPKIN DINNER CENTERPIECE

Ingredients

• 1 -1 1/2 pounds ground beef
• 1 pound ground pork sausage
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups long grain and wild rice (feel free to use a mix)
• 2 (4 ounce) cans mushroom, well drained
• 2 (14.5 ounce) cans French cut green beans
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can Campbell’s condensed cream of celery soup
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can Campbell’s condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1 large pumpkin

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Cut top of pumpkin and scoop out seeds and strings. Set aside top of pumpkin.
3. Mix ground beef and sausage and cook over medium heat in large skillet, stirring frequently until browned. Mix in brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and salt and pepper to taste.
4. After draining your meats, mix in rice and chicken broth. Cover, and cook 25 to 30 minutes, or until rice is tender.
5. Mix cream of celery soup, cream of mushroom soup, mushrooms and green beans into the meat mixture. Spoon mixture into the pumpkin, and replace pumpkin top.
6. Place pumpkin on a large baking sheet, and bake 1 hour in preheated oven, or until pumpkin is tender.
7. While serving, drag your serving spoon up the side of the pumpkin, making sure to scoop both filling and pumpkin.

Enjoy your lovely centerpiece and delicious dish! This receipe can feed about 10, depending on how much food you are serving. I have found that it is more than enough for 10, if you are serving turkey, ham and all the trimmings.

This year at Thanksgiving, surrounded by my loved ones, I will treasure the moments that will become memories. I hope that this idea will become a treasure for your table as well as mine.

Happy Thanksgiving!

~ Delilah