Pumpkin Flavored Milkshake

As I promised I said I would do a recipe with pumpkin.  I like pumpkin but not like big sis, she is a fanatic about it.  I think the best pumpkin anything I ever had was a couple of years ago in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan when I bought some pumpkin fudge from one of those little fudge shops on the main street of Houghton.  In fact that just might be the best fudge I ever had, it was soooooo good.  If I remember we were lucky and got the last of what they had for the year.

I didn't make pumpkin fudge, since I am not a baker, but I decided to make a pumpkin milkshake. I originally came across the idea from searching through web sites one night and saw a picture and thought that might be pretty good and since it looked simple enough I decided to give it a go.  I came across a lot of recipes for pumpkin shakes, all about the same, but finally decided on the one below. 

The cast of characters is fairly simple........

One different idea I found in another recipe was instead of using graham crackers was to use ginger snaps. 

There is one character in this cast I want to introduce you to that deserves mention......

This is the absolute best vanilla ice cream you can buy.  Aldens Ice Cream is made with  real cream, real, honest to goodness cream with real honest to goodness vanilla bean specs throughout.  This vanilla ice cream is good all by itself.  We find it at Whole Foods Market, I'm not sure if it is available anywhere else.

As far as making the milk shake it pretty simple, put everything, except the graham crackers, in a blender and blend it all together.  Crush up the graham crackers on top and insert a swizzle stick, in this case a cinnamon stick.

Pumpkin Flavored Milkshake
(Printable Recipe)
1/2 cup pumpkin, canned or homemade
1/4 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 pinch cloves
1 pinch nutmeg
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 cup vanilla ice cream
1graham cracker.
1 cinnamon stick for garnish.

Directions:
Put everything but graham crackers and cinnamon stick in a blender. With the normal household blenders it works best if the ice cream is soft.

Sprinkle with crushed graham cracker crumbs and add cinnamon stick before serving.