Pumpkin Seeds

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After Halloween I brought home large pumpkins for 50 cents each. I took one look at those cast-offs and said, "Whoa! That's food for a week!"





So I am roasting one of them right now. I can hear the coconut oil I brushed over the quartered chunks sizzling on the baking sheet right now, and I can't wait for the aroma of roasted pumpkin to fill the house.

And I thought I'd give another try at roasting the seeds. I have not tried it in a very long time. Many years ago I tried a couple of times, only to have them come out rather unpleasantly. Sort of like mulch.

I would love to collect some pumpkin seed recipes, tips and techniques if you've got some you love.

Meanwhile, I'm housecleaning and sewing. I repaired Michael's frock coat for our annual Civil War Christmas Ball this weekend. I also did some work on my cape. I was just getting ready to put it all away when Michael requested repairs to the down jacket I found for him at the thrift store a couple of weeks ago.

Picking up feathers and watching the snow come down,

~Faith

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Chewy Caramel!

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I just made a batch. I'd made this recipe last year. I considered it a failed recipe, as it did not set well, but it was soooooo unbeleeeeeeeeeevably delicious that I couldn't wait to make it again. Our annual candied apple party should be happening again soon, so I probably need to made a firmer batch. Until then, this will do nicely.

It's been raining ever since yesterday when we were drenched putting up the two rows of chest high 2x4 purlins on the greenhouse yesterday. We came in absolutely soaked to the skin and rivulets running, but I kept smiling as I looked out the window at the finished frame. I love progress.

Today I've satisfied myself with a more domestic agenda. Namely attacking all these stacks of paperwork on the desk and floor. Mostly this is a variety of things I begin to do and don't finish. My mind works a mile a minute with gobs of ideas. These are the ones that hit me anywhere from 2 am to 6 am, when I can't sleep. I can't resist beginning to flesh them out, then I lay them aside to get busy on what cannot wait to be done around here. Also mixed in are research piles of information on various farm projects, like what blueberries to plant. I've got a stack of blueberry, ribe, and bramble information. Lots of schoolwork folders and papers, records and such.

And the receipts. The ones I never take the time to file away, but just pull out of my purse and drop in one place. Months on end until I can't stand the stack any longer and I'm stuck in the house that day.

So I own my desktop again. I am - Master of the Veneered Particle Board Expanse once again. There is a perfect spot for a cup of tea, just to the left of this screen.

Michael has been doing schoolwork, cleaning his room, and messing with all his airsoft and paintball gear, so he's happy as a clam, with a gun. Hmmmmm....

Working on those idioms...

~Faith

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Strange Facts and Anomilies... July 28, 2010

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Directions for frozen stir-fry vegetables...





And the white chair you see sitting there is the chair that did not move at all when the tornado hit. The arm was broken last year when I went over backwards down the hill while planting strawberries. The oak set, quite heavy, is the set that was picked up and tossed 5 feet. It was about 25 or so feet away from the plastic chair.





Freaky.

~Faith

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That Was Quick - Sweet and Savory Bows.

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For all my boo-hooing yesterday, Flock went and got the huge job done in only a couple of days. Maybe they were giving all of us addicts a worst-case scenario so we'd be even more grateful for this browser when it was fixed.

Anyhow, I'll play a little catch-up.

The day after the flood we were having a movie night here so Michael and I worked to confine the chaos to the sun room.





All the Betty Lukens flannel boards had gotten wet, so we set them out to dry during the day.





I love these things. A leftover joy of childhood that I love sharing with children.









Of course, we played with them as we worked.





So the front room was cleared.





And the family room was filled with any sort of seating we could drag in.





And we watched... what did we watch, anyway? The perks about forgetfulness with movies is that you can watch the again and again!

It's coming back to me now. Alice in Wonderland. Everybody get enough popcorn? There seems to be a little competition going in in this photo.





We were also very happy to share our first harvest of blackberries. We had a band of pickers come on over and it was done in short order. 3 days later, it took Michael and me three hours to pick 5 gallons. We froze most of them.

With the drought, the grasshoppers went through my garden. They are all over the place, a few got in the house, they are on the screens. Just look at what they did to our Swiss chard. Happily, the rains have brought green back to the landscape and they should be kept busier and away from the garden.





A little archery to top off blackberry picking. Of course more time is spent searching for arrows than actually sending them through the air.





Michael and I made this recipe up. The goal? Eliminating leftovers. We judged it to be very tasty.





SWEET AND SAVORY BOW TIES

Standard bowtie pasta, cooked al dente
Fresh blackberries
Milk syrup
Parmesan cheese

Here is the recipe for the syrup.

Get a very large pot, as this bubbles up a lot. Turn heat to medium. Place inside of pot in this order:

1 cube butter
3/4 cup milk or buttermilk
2 TBL corn syrup
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking soda

Stir and bring to a boil. Simmer for 7 minutes and remove from heat. Stir in:

2 tsp vanilla

That's the syrup recipe. Mix the berries in some syrup and cook down, spoon over pasta, and top with the Parmesan cheese. Surprisingly yummy!

We went off on another blueberry jaunt.





This time the berries were more numerous





and sweet.





And we could not resist the grand opening of the new Dunkin Donuts. Small town adventuring at its best.





I'd only been to one once as a child. I sampled a plain bagel, and Michael had a Bavarian cream doughnut - one of our very most favoritestest treats.





Good rest, chatting, and the young people never seem to be without a deck of cards. Challenging the notion that poker is, in and of itself, evil.





A visit with my folks.





Led me off to a simple macro wonderland.









They want to know if this is a poisonous tree. They were told it was some sort of wild cherry. Anyone know?









I got to steal one of my 'daughters' to go shopping.





We got Seth a dog tag.





Then we took off for a Pampered Chef bridal shower.

I was the only one who does not own a single piece of Pampered Chef ware. That stuff is quality; another word for expensive. Call me the WalMart Budget Girl, but what a lovely way to outfit your kitchen!

Gorgeous and delicious cake, made by my too-long-between-visits friend, Pam. She needs to open a bakery. Really. Seriously.





Pam, and the bride to be, wearing an apron made by another of my 'daughters'. She needs to sell these beauties.





Where do guys go when girls are at showers?









Swimming, and....

More archery.





I think we'll be shopping for more arrows soon.

~Faith

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Green Tomatoes!

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Here's how the garden is looking lately.









So far, so good, on the the melons. Here's to hoping we'll get some this year.





A few summer squash.





A poor showing of carrots. The ground is just still too inhospitable. Mulch over winter should help a lot.





Eggplants are doing fairly well.





I've harvested a few brussel sprouts. The little heads are a bit loose. I need to look into why that might be so.





Some peppers.





Leeks.





Swiss chard.





The shady lettuce bed. Not too many of my starts survived. They should have been much more mature before I set them out.





I just love how each year is a new learning experience in gardening! This year I am learning how to deal with green tomatoes. I'm not sure why, but my tomato plants have not done well. Rebels, that's what they are.





It may be because I have them in the same spot as last year. I hoped I was going to avoid trouble in that area as last year was the very first year in that section of ground, but now I'm not so sure. Next year I will be moving things around. However, I am not the only one in this area whose tomatoes are struggling.





In any case, I did not want dessert green tomato recipes, nor a fried delectable morsel, no matter HOW much I love greasy fried things. On a search, I found quite a few savory green tomato pie recipes, however nearly every one of them called for a pound of cheese while using only about 4 green tomatoes. Not very economical.





But I did find a recipe that came from a heritage collection. I knew that would have to be economical! It ended up being very much like a baked summer squash recipe I use a lot.

What else did we do? We supported the movement to retain pioneer skills, no matter what the cost! For about 8 hours of combined work for my very dear friend who offered to come by and help us get ready for the Independence Day party and I, we got 5 quarts of tomato vegetable soup, and 3 pints of hot peppers!





Canning season keeps you busier than you remember being the year before...





Tomato art.









Ah that brings me back to the green tomato recipe.

~~~ Savory Green Tomato Pie ~~~

7 Large green tomatoes (or about 4.5 pounds of whatever size you've got)
2 TBL lemon juice
1 tube Ritz crackers (smash 'em up!)
1 cup of bread crumbs (I like Italian)
1 stick of butter (or two)
1 TBL brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Slice the tomatoes and layer in a casserole.
Sprinkle with lemon juice, then sugar, then salt and pepper.
Then you can mix the crumbs with the butter and brown it all in a pan before applying it to the top of the tomatoes, or you can do what I did, put your crumbs over the top, and then drizzle your butter all over it before baking.

325 degree oven. I'd like to say it will be done in 20 minutes like the recipe says, but it took an hour for my tomatoes. So bake 'em til they are as tender as you like.


Meanwhile, Ashlee and Michael did housework and party prep. They hung some wall decor for me.









And they put together the canopy.





This was the 40 dollar canopy I bought for myself for Mother's Day. It did not go together correctly, and we ended up having to take a hacksaw to shorten some of the pieces. But it finally got up. Whew! The heat wave was beginning to build up a fury.





We watered the grass for about a day, hoping for some green around the house where we'd be using fireworks. But it is much browner now. Sort of like wheat toast... without the health benefits. Or the taste.

Quite a change in summers since last year. Cold and wet last year, hot and dry this year. Wonder what next year will bring?





Manna?

~Faith

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