Leftover Pumpkins?

It's nearing the end of October and you've been thinking about all the pumpkins you have out in your front yard.  They've been providing great decoration so far, but you wonder what you'll do once Halloween has come and gone.  Don't let all that delicious goodness go to waste.  Like I showed you last week, one thing you can do is toast your seeds.  Today you I will show you how to bake your pumpkin.

Quarter your pumpkin.  I have the best luck using a made-for-kids pumpkin carving knife.  It's not sharp, but it cuts pumpkins and squash better than any utensil I've tried.  Then take a spoon and scoop out the guts.  Be sure to save the seeds for toasted pumpkin seeds!

Lay your pumpkins cut-side down on a large baking sheet then cover loosely with foil.

Bake pumpkins at 350 degrees for 1-1/2 hours, or until they are golden and are easily pierced with a fork.

You can see the color has changed and the flesh is easily scooped out.

Any pumpkin can be baked, but the best for baking are small pie pumpkins.  The ones shown here are from Breezy Gardens, a local farm.  They are, by far, the best I've tasted in a long time.  The flesh was smooth and creamy and though I made to use in recipes such as Pumpkin Bread, I ate some of it alone as a side dish with butter and salt.  Delicious!

Baked Pumpkin

Great for using in recipes instead of canned, though it may be less dense depending on your pumpkin variety.  

Ingredient:

pumpkin

Preheat oven to 350.  Cut pumpkin into manageable pieces.  Place cut-side down on a baking sheet.  Cover with foil and bake 1 hour.  Check with fork.  If fork does not go in easily or pumpkin does not seem tender, bake at 10 minute intervals until the right consistency is achieved.

You might also like:

Pumpkin Bread

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds 

Autumn Blessing

Each fall I think of taking a trip to the White Mountains in New Hampshire to look at the foliage.  Then I stop for a moment and realize I have the beauty of the season already surrounding me.

The smell of the leaves, the bright oranges, reds and yellows.  I only need to step outside my door to enjoy what's already here.

Just a few days ago I took this picture of our tree. Today it sits bare.  It's amazing how quickly the changes take place.

Some green still shines through, though after a few frosts, it will be wilted and bare.

What feels like a nuisance when it's time to clean, is our next generation of soil.  

Not to mention, leaves are a whole lot of fun for my kids.  They revel in making giant jumping piles.

There is beauty in the change, the knowledge that in a blink white will blanket the land where now abides a vibrant canvas of color.  This is the blessing of Autumn.

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

Pumpkins are good for far more than just decoration.  It's only in modernity that we use things for a single purpose and then toss them.  Make use of this wonderful gift of nature and you'll wonder why you ever threw your pumpkins away.

Today I'll give you recipe on how to toast the seeds.  If you are carving a pumpkin don't let all of those tasty morsels go to waste.  Bake them up for a tasty treat.


Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

Ingredients:

Pumpkin seeds
salt or seasoned salt - my favorite seasoning is Goya Adobo

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Rinse your seeds in a strainer being sure to remove any goop that might still be attached to the seeds.  Spread rinsed seeds on a baking sheet and salt.  Put in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.  Check the seeds and continue cooking at 5-10 minute intervals until your seeds are a nice golden brown.

Giant Granny Square Blanket

I love receiving handmade gifts from people who care about me!  Each time I use the gift, I think of the person who gave it to me.  My friend, Annie, gave my husband and I a giant granny square blanket for Christmas a few years back.  It keeps us nice and warm on cool fall nights.

The simple granny square is a classic crochet pattern at which even the novice crocheter can excel.  Yet, for it's ease, it is a beautiful project.  The blanket that I made here is a take on this classic.  It's a version with three double crochet stitches in the spaces, followed by two chains.  Some people make the granny with only one chain between shells, or even none.  It's entirely up to you.  The more chains, the looser and lacier the look of the afghan.

A close up of the single crochet edging.  Row one is in the cafe late followed by one row of green.

Classic Giant Granny Square Afghan

Materials:

3 jumbo-sized skeins of yarn (you will have some extra but not too much)

size I hook

needle to weave ends

Shell -three double crochets together in one space

1.  Begin by chaining four.  Put your hook in the furthest chain from the hook and slip stitch.  Pull to make a circle.

2.  Chain 2.  Double crochet two into the space.  Chain two.  Double crochet 3, chain two.  Repeat this two more times.  Once you have four groups of three double crochet chain two, slip stitch to connect.  Slip stitch to the corner.  

3.  Chain 2.  Double crochet two, chain one, then double crochet three.  Chain two and make two shells in each corner followed by chain two.  Slip stitch to join and slip stitch to corner.

4.  Continue pattern with two shells in each corner separated by chain one, and one shell in each chain two space, separated by chain two.

This is a throw-sized blanket measuring approximately 53" X 53"

Here's a great YouTube tutorial if you would like to see a visual.  Videos like this one are how I taught myself to crochet a few short years ago.  Her pattern is a tiny bit different, but really, you could follow her and end up with a blanket basically the same as mine.

Changing Seasons

Just outside the laundry room window there is a big maple tree.  It must have been there for a hundred years.  It may be there when I die.  When I gaze upon this beauty of nature, I am reminded how quickly time moves on.  I think of the subtle daily changes leading to the ever larger change of the seasons.  These things happen bit by bit each day until I realize summer is gone and fall has arrived.  This beautiful maple reminds me of the cycle of which we are all part.