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My sister gave me some mead jelly that she was told would pair well with blue cheese and it did! Or, if you aren't into jelly-making, what happens if you reduce it to a syrup and pour it on stuff (ice cream, sharp strong cheese, whisk a little into a vinagrette for bitter greens...)? Or use it as a poaching liquid for fruit (fresh or frozen) and make a cobbler or pie or topping for french toast or waffles? (N.B. I've never had vanilla mead, so this is all just speculation on my part).

Both Redemption and Bulleit are lovely. I took a flask of Bulleit to a party and, as I was lacking pockets, the flask got tucked into my waistband, and I was very pleasantly surprised at how the flavors shifted as the whiskey warmed up over the course of the evening. I suspect that this is similar to the flavors that emerge as the spirit warms and opens up in your mouth (and now I'm gonna stop before this starts sounding dirty).

@Adam: Female creepiness is similar to male creepiness in that it 1) involves behavior that makes the creep-target uncomfortable; 2) does not quite approach the level of intrusiveness that results in being immediately bounced; 3) demonstrates an inability or unwillingness by the creep to respond to subtle "leave me alone" cues. But female creepiness is often perceived as flattering to male targets or a sign of the creep's patheticness, whereas male creepiness is more likely to set off red flashing clanging alarm bells in female targets, because women are at much higher risk for sex-based assault than are men and thus women are trained to see creepiness as a potential threat rather than a mere nuisance.

Creepiness is not necessarily lecherous in intent; I finally got a guy 86'd from the bar where I work after he kept inviting himself to other female and male people's tables because he took their failure to tell him to get lost as a invitation to sit. And creepy women abound too, but female creepiness tends to have a different tenor than male creepiness. Particularly when a male is being what I think of as creepy towards women, it can be hard to tell if the women agree with me, because women in our society are well-trained to be polite and never tell someone, especially a male someone to F*&% OFF. So patrons: never underestimate the power of public shaming. If someone is being creepy and bugging you, simply state in a clearly audible voice, "Excuse me barkeep, could you help me get this creep to leave me alone?" (and then follow up on that assistance with a nice tip!).

Last night I had a risotto with spinach, taleggio, and strands of prosciutto.It was so freakin good that I want to bathe in it.

Any knife that's sharp and clean will do

sweet and white in the AM, black later in the day

One technique that I find quite productive, whether cutting people off or defusing a potential fight, is to avoid any comments about the patron and to focus instead on my role as bartender and the other patrons around them. For instance, I had a couple come in the other night, order one round, and start yelling at each other really loudly and angrily about halfway through their drinks. I went over to their table and said,"Hey folks, whatever's going on here is none of my business, and it's not the business of anyone else here either." The guy got up and left, the woman apologized and followed, and my boss (who was a bit in his cups at the time) was amazed that I'd gotten them to leave without even having to ask them to leave! When I'm cutting someone off who starts to get belligerent, I break out the "mom" voice: "Since you can't behave around the other children, you have to go outside and think about why you are misbehaving." Works like a charm!

Bread, butter, and a heap of arugula or parsley or watercress or celery leaves (or any bitter green, really).

Might I suggest subbing parsnips or even turnips or rutabaga for carrots? I tried this a couple times recently, since I had an abundance of root veg from my CSA, and the results were delicious!
Also, I'm wondering if you tried removing some of the pumpkin flesh first, and if so, how much one should leave so that the pumpkin maintains its shape and doesn't collapse.

@yuppicide: I made tomato skin powder last week. I cut a bunch of Romas in half, scooped out the seeds, and roasted them with a bit of olive oil at about 225 F until squishy and the skins came off easily. The flesh became sauce, and the skins went back into the oven with no heat but the pilot light for a couple days until they were utterly dry. Then into the (clean) coffee grinder and voila! The powder tastes almost like a paprika but tomato-y rather then pepper-ish, and since I didn't need to add heat or additional ingredients, I essentially have a free paprika substitute!

I agree with @BrianM; deprecating humor is a great way to go. I work in a very small bar (12 bar seats, 9 tables) and even one table of campers can put a serious dent in sales and tips on a busy night. A well-placed joke about charging them rent usually gets the message across.
It's a lot harder in a restaurant, though. My last night working at a miserable sushi joint, I had two tables seated at 5:30 and 5:45. They were my only tables all night, and when we closed at 11 they were both still there, just chatting away with a half-sip of wine in their glasses and regular requests for more water. But because each table had spent a decent amount on food and wine, there was nothing I could do. I blame all of those movies and TV shows that romanticize the date that goes so well that the couple loiters in the empty restaurant as staff puts chairs on tables all around them. I HATE those scenes with a fiery passion.

I grate the cheese in a food processor, add some cream cheese and cut back on the mayo, definitely add a good pinch of mustard powder, whiz it around until it's smooth, and mix in the peppers by hand. Most jarred pimentos have no flavor whatsoever, so I generally use a combination of sweet and hot red peppers, roasted and diced finely.