Spicy Pumpkin Curry

Some of the beautifully colored ingredients

My homemade Coconut Milk-yummy!

The finished product. Ok, so it doesn't look restaurant worthy, but it was delicious!

Ok, I've never done this before, but I'm going to make an exception and blog about food. I absolutely love ethnic foods and am very happy working my way slowly down the international strip on Central Ave. in Charlotte, experiencing a little taste of different cultures through the flavors of their food. For many reasons, there's no "ethnic" section around here. You can't walk down the street here and see an African woman carrying a basket of clothes on her head, a Vietnamese man squatting in the cool of the shade or hear the tinkling of the bell as the Mexican guy goes riding by on his bike, selling ice cream from South America. For those of you who always said that I lived in the ghetto in Charlotte, you have no idea what fabulous cuisines you have missed by not spending more time on that side of the city. Ah, how I miss that. Yes, there are a few ethnic restaurants here, but not many, and they're not cheap. So tonight was a lovely reminder of fun times at Lang Van with Margaret, or Ben Than with Jon and Carrie, or at any of the other Vietnamese, Thai and Korean places that line Central Ave. It was time consuming, but oh so worth it.

Mix together: 1 c. water, 1/3 c. peanut butter, zest and juice from one lime, 1 tbsp. soy sauce and 1 tbsp. tom. paste

Saute 1 carrot and one onion(cut as desired) for a couple of min. Add: strips from 1 bellpepper, 3 lg. pressed garlic cloves, a healthy shake of ginger powder(or one inch fresh root), and 1 tsp. cayenne. Cook for a minute or so.

Add peanut butter mixture, cooked and mashed pumpkin(mine was from a baked pumpkin, but it was about the amount of two cans) and coconut milk(I made mine with 2 c. milk, 1 tbsp. sugar and 50 g. coconut flakes boiled very low for an hour until it reduced to a cup and a half) and cook until thickened. I added a bit of flour to thicken mine. Serve over brown rice with ground peanuts.