Pumpkins - Not just a decoration!

"Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all." — Stanley Horowitz Every Halloween I buy a large pumpkin to put out on the front porch, but never carve it (well, not since my kids were young). I simply use it as a decoration near the front door. Immediately after Halloween, I grab the pumpkin and head to the kitchen. First, I cut the pumpkin in half and pull out all the seeds and stringy stuff (I was going to say "guts" but that doesn't sound very appetizing, does it?!). I separate the seeds, wash them off, dry them on a dish towel and pop them onto a Pam-sprayed cookie sheet. I put them in the oven at 325 for a few hours. Yummy toasted pumpkin seeds! Next I cut the pumpkin into manageable sections and take the thick skin off. You need a very large sharp knife to do this with any kind of ease. Once the skin is off, I cut the pumpkin "meat" into fairly large chunks and put it all in a soup pot with about an inch of water on the bottom. I cover the pot and let the pumpkin just simmer and steam for a few hours, until I poke several pieces with a fork and find them soft. I drain off the liquid and mash the pumpkin with a potato masher. I put the mashed pumpkin in collander and let it sit for awhile to release some of it's liquid. Then I put it in ziploc bags in 4 cup servings, and pop it into the freezer. You may not realize that pumpkin is very high in Vitamin A and anti-oxidants, as well as 5 grams of fiber and only 40 calories per half cup! But what can you do with pumpkin? The obvious recipes are for pumpkin bread, pumpkin muffins and pumpkin pancakes. But how about these ideas? --Spread pumpkin on a slice of your favorite bread. Spread a second slice with peanut butter. Add sliced banana in between. --Add 1/2 cup pumpkin to every 1 cup of mashed potatoes. --Add 1/2 cup pumpkin to 8 oz cream cheese, add 2 tbsp honey and a pinch of cinnamon for a great bagel or toast spread. --Add 2 tbsp pumpkin and 1 tsp maple syrup to your oatmeal in the morning. --Add 3 tbsp pumpkin to 1/2 cup applesauce for a nice sweet treat. --Add 1/2 cup pumpkin to your favorite boxed macaroni and cheese mix in place of the butter/margarine! --Add 1/2 cup pumpkin to your favorite corn muffin recipe or mix. --Add 1/2 cup pumpkin for every 1 cup of rice to the cooking water or broth of your favorite brown rice. Makes a nice risotto-like rice. Whatever recipe you can find on the Internet that calls for canned pumpkin or pumpkin puree, you can replace with your own pumpkin from the freezer. And if you can wait until the day after Halloween, pumpkins are usually on sale for half price or less! It's a great nutritious ingredient to add as a staple to your kitchen. NOTE TO COMMENTS BY GRAMMY: In a comment on another post, "Grammy" asked me about the Samosas I mentioned in my Monday Menues. I can't take a picture because we ate them! I purchase them frozen, from the ethnic foods department of our local store or in local Indian supermarkets. They are small triangles, perhaps 2 inches per side, stuffed with potatoes, peas, and spices. I have been reading recipes for them, and some people use puff pastry and some use filo dough. Here's a web site for you, Grammy, that has a photo and recipes. If you make your own, let me know how they turn out! I wanted to email you, but there's no email address on your blog.

Toddler Tuesday

Toddler Tuesday - a day to share activities suitable for Toddlers, ages 18 months to 4 years. Join Toddler Tuesday by posting an activity on your blog, and come back here and tell us about it in COMMENTS. Feel free to "right click" on the Toddler Tuesday banner to use on your blog. Paper Cup Stacking - Warning! Giggles Guaranteed! Buy a bag of cheap 100-count paper or plastic cups (check your local dollar or discount store), and you've invested a very small amount of money in a toy that will be a favorite for several years! From the age of 18 months to 7 and 8 years, my two kids loved to stack paper cups. They made walls to knock down with cars, they made castles and houses and garages. They stacked to see how high they could stack. Grandson Brayden loves his cups. Just like his Mom and his uncle, he stacks to knock the cups down, just to stack them all over again. If he can get Joey the Killer Cat to knock them down, so much the better! Grandson Brayden is currently fascinated with several things - cars, trains and guitars. I found this great activity on Family Fun web site, and plan on trying it tomorrow with Brayden. RACE CAR PAINTING CRAFT MATERIALS: Large sheet of white paper Masking tape Toy cars Washable, nontoxic tempera paint 1. Before you begin: Cover your work surface with paper, keep wipes handy, and wear a smock or old clothes. 2. Begin by taping a piece of paper to a kids' table. Squeeze or dribble a line of tempera paint onto the paper. 3. Now let your child drive his toy cars through the paint and over the plain paper 4. Keep the fun going! When the raceway fun is done, fill the kitchen sink with soapy water, grab a rag, and have a car wash! What's your Toddler's favorite activity these days? Share on your blog (or in comments if you don't have a blog) and come back and leave your posting address. FRUGAL AND SIMPLE CHILD'S ART SMOCK Brayden and I have not yet done any painting (though I know he has painted with his Mom), so it occurred to me that I need to have an Art Smock for him! I found this great idea on the web - a simple art smock made from a pillowcase. You can find easy no-sew instructions on the Blissfully Domestic web site. However, since I do sew, I will change the instructions by not using the Brads they suggest, but instead sewing a seam where the Brads are located, both front and back, and thus creating some pretty cool pockets!

A Simple Woman's DayBook

FOR TODAY, October 7... Outside My Window...soft pastel colors of an early morning sunrise - soft blues, pinks, yellows, grays - perfect colors for a quilt! I am thinking... of what I need to get done today. I am thankful for...a husband who is such a wonderful role model for his grandson. From the kitchen...the smell of waffles and syrup. I am wearing...Jeans, salmon long sleeve v-neck, no shoes I am creating... wallets for Christmas gift-giving, an I-Spy Quilt for Brayden's first "Big Boy" bed. I am going...to the public library I am reading...Greg Olson's A COLD DARK PLACE - not normally my style of reading, but it pulled me in! I am hoping...To get my errands and housework done early so I can spend more time sewing today. I am hearing...the quiet bubbling of the aquarium, Joey meowing at the door. Around the house...A little too much dust, a dishwasher that needs to be emptied. One of my favorite things... That first cup of coffee of the day. A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: More sewing, babysitting for two days, preparing for an upcoming yard sale on 10/18. Here is picture thought I am sharing... Because of Brayden's obvious interest in trains these days, Jeff got out one (of his many) model trains and set it up and showed Brayden how to run it. They both thoroughly enjoyed themselves! Post your own Simple Woman's DayBook - read about it here.

Weekly Menu, Recipes, Frugal Ham for meals

Back to real life... This week's menues were more difficult (and more costly) than normal, as my poor freezer is completely empty after we lost power in mid-September. I normally combine what I have in the freezer (including tomato and spaghetti sauces, vegetables) with what's on sale at Krogers to come up with my weekly menu. Yesterday I spent several hours "studying" the Kroger sale flyer to come up with meals at a reasonable cost. I'm not sure I realized how much I depended on my freezer!

Monday  Spaghetti with Italian Sausage (on sale) Salad  Tuesday  Meatloaf (made last week and frozen) with beef gravy (canned, on sale) Baked potatoes (cook extra for Wednesday) Corn  Wednesday  Sausage Biscuits (homemade biscuits, sausage on sale) Scrambled Eggs Home Fries Thursday - Meatless Meal  Indian food - On sale at local market - Includes: Samosa's - Small pastry triangles filled with potatoes and peas Dal Masala Curry - Lentils with tomatoes, onions and spices Palak Paneer - Cubes of cheese mixed with spicy spinach Garlic Naan - A wonderful spicy flat bread Friday  Crockpot Chicken Alfredo Cornbread Saturday  Leftovers from the week or possibly a homemade soup Sunday Plans to eat out Recipe - Crustless Quiche
I made a crustless quiche yesterday. It's one of those recipes I do "a little of this, a little that" based on what veggies and meats I have in the refrigerator to use up. We had it for dinner last night along with a fresh fruit salad (I had fruit going bad in the fridge, cut out the "spots", cubed up the fruit - kiwi, peaches, bananas and blueberries), and an English Muffin. Much to my surprise, Jeff said, "This is the best quiche you've ever made!" High praise, because he loves all my cooking (except fish). So I quickly wrote down what I put in the quiche, and here's what I came up with. Adjust kind of veggies and meats according to what you have leftover!

Leftovers: 1 to 2 cups diced veggies
10 ounces block swiss cheese, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 cup cubed meat
I used: Vegetables 1/2 cup diced celery 3/4 cup brocolli florets 1/4 cup diced onion Meat 3/4 cup diced ham* 1/4 cup diced pepperoni
Thoroughly Pam-Spray a pie baking dish. Place the cubed swiss cheese on the bottom so it is evenly distributed and almost covers the bottom of the dish. This will actually form a nice solid bottom layer to the quiche, almost like a bottom crust. Place your diced and cubed vegetables and meat on top of the swiss cheese. Then whisk the following in a small mixing bowl until thoroughly blended: 8 eggs 1/2 cup mayonnaise (I use Canola Mayo) 1/2 cup milk (I used half and half) 1/4 cup Ranch dressing 1/2 tsp celery salt 1/2 tsp black pepper 1/4 tsp salt (use 1/2 tsp if you're not worried about the salt content) 1/3 cup Bisquik Slowly and carefully pour egg mixture over your veggies and meats. Pour all around the edges first, then fill in the center. On top of the filled pie, sprinkle 1 to 2 cups of grated cheddar cheese (I've also used pepperjack and Colby). Bake in preheated oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, then turn your oven down to 325 degrees and bake about 30 more minutes or until you can stick a knife in middle of pie and it doesn't come out wet. Let cool for at least an hour. This quiche is best just slightly warm, and even better the next day!

With only two of us, we will get three meals -- our dinner last night, one breakfast and one lunch. Because it's not a "watery" quiche (thanks to the 1/3 cup Bisquick), it wraps up easily for a take-to-work lunch for Jeff. And by the way - I don't like eggs of any kind -- not scrambled, fried, poached, hard boiled - nadda. I haven't liked them since I was a kid. I do, however, love my quiche! It's the only egg-based dish I'll eat because it doesn't have a serious "eggy" flavor to it. Budget Buster Ham: In our area, at the deli counter you can buy "Cooked Ham" (in New England it's called "Boiled Ham") for under $3 a pound, often on sale for $1.99 lb. (compared to other lunchmeats at $6-$9 per pound). I ask the deli folks to give me ONE slice, between 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick, which is about one half pound. I take this home and cut it into small cubes. I can actually get three good meals out of this $1-$2 worth of ham -- In the summer I add it to salads for a Chef Salad. I also add it to cheese omelettes, macaroni and cheese, or canned baked beans, and in the winter I add it to corn chowder or cream of potato soup. Considering the price of meat these days, this is a good value and little goes a long way!

What to write, what to write...

There's so much going on right now that it's difficult for me to focus on one subject to write about today. Some days my To Do List or how I'm going to do some quilting this afternoon seem so inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. Honestly, I never thought I'd see the day that America was in trouble. Raised by parents who suffered through the Great Depression but never talked about it. Raised in a time in the USA when children could roam the streets safely, that the presidency was equated to Camelot, when respecting politicians was easy to do because it was deserved, when America belonged to the middle class working man... It's difficult to see it all disappear like this. It's easy to point fingers at Bush, but seriously, aren't we all to blame? We not only allow our politicians to be shifty and underhanded, but we make jokes about them doing so. Could David Letterman have a Top 10 list every night without politicians to poke fun at? Where's our outrage? Where's the American Spirit that says we won't stand for politicians treating us or our country this way? We ARE the descendants of those who participated in the Boston Tea Party, the American Revolution... Why are we LETTING this happen to our country? Americans have become so complacent that it's embarrassing. We allow our politicians rule us, as opposed to the day when we ruled (via votes) them. We allow the media to tell us who has already won the election (why bother voting when it's already been decided?!)-- when the truth is, it's not decided until WE vote. My generation grew up to believe that voting for the President was the most important vote we'd place -- when in actuality it's now the House and the Senate that apparently hold all the power and where our focus needs to be in time of voting. There was a show on the History Channel for awhile called LA Ports (or something like that). It was simply a "reality" show about the LA Port Authority moving cargo ships in and out of the port safely. Not terribly interesting television, but one comment made by a crane operator at the port has stuck with me. His crane took box cars (the kind that you see on the highway on the back of semi-trucks) off boats the size of four football fields, that came in from China. There were quite literally thousands of these boxcars on each boat, and the stream of boats seemed endless. His comment was (paraphrased) "All these containers are full of goods produced in China. Our [America's] greatest export is air -- because we send them all back empty." I don't know where I'm going with this. I just -- I'm frustrated, as I'm sure many Americans are. But am I frustrated ENOUGH? When will we Americans be frustrated ENOUGH to do something about this? Where is our Boston Tea Party? Where is our "I'm mad and I'm not going to take it any more!" moment? If I hear the word "Change" one more time regarding the candidates for the upcoming election, I swear I'll throw up. There's no change there. Sure, one can spend more (of your) money this way and the other can spend more money that way. One wants money to go to helping corporations succeed so it comes to us via paychecks, while the other wants money to come directly to us (though it comes to us via taxes which comes to us via paychecks). As my son would say, "It's all money out of the same bucket. It doesn't matter which side of the bucket the water is on -- it's the same bucket." There's no change coming. Obama had some good ideas, but you can't possibly think tax payers can foot the bill for this $700 billion bail-out AND implement the changes he's promising. And let's not forget, the House and the Senate are going to have to approve his ideas (he always forgets to mention that)! I'm sorry, but I enjoy being able to buy groceries and gas for my car. He is going to have to make compromises on all those promises he made or we're just going to be in worse economic trouble than we are now. McCain? I can't say I like the man much. I don't think he has anything new to offer us. Obama is too full of himself and McCain is too complacent. Neither is offering the serious change this country needs. I'm not so sure America can wait four more years for the next election in hopes that someone offering some viable and extreme new ideas comes to the forefront. I don't know what the answer is. I just hate seeing Americans waving the banner of CHANGE when it just isn't feasible that change is going to happen -- until AMERICANS make it happen! And the only way to do that is to sweep the House and the Senate and get some new blood in there with some new ideas and some new enthusiasm for America. I'll admit, I'm an Isolationist at heart. I remember learning about it in the 5th grade and here I am (mumblemumble) years later, still thinking it's a good idea. Put America FIRST. Put Americans FIRST. No foreign aid until we get American fixed and back on it's feet. American jobs back in America. Ramp up our industries and manufacturing. Ramp up our own oil production. Put up some walls and tell the world "Sorry, we're closed" for a few years. No money OUT until every child in America has food, shelter, a safe home, a chance for a decent education. No money OUT until every senior citizen can afford medication, health care, shelter. No illegal immigrants coming in to take jobs away from Americans who need to work. No jobs going overseas causing our manufacturing and industry facilities to close down and our middle class to be put out of work. Every American working. Every child educated and ready to join that work force. Every item on our store shelves put there by the hard work of Americans and, in turn, purchased with their paychecks. Now THAT's change.

Let's have coffee

Hey, c'mon in! How nice to see you! I'm so glad you're here. Of course, I always love it when a friend stops by my house for coffee in the morning! I just made a fresh pot, so let's go in the kitchen... Sit down, sit down... Hope you don't mind strong coffee because that's the way I make it! What do you take in yours? Milk? Hmmm.. I have Half & Half or Cream, but the only milk I have is no-fat made from powdered milk -- is that OK? Jeff and I use so little milk that I don't like to buy it anymore because I just end up throwing it away. So every few days I just make 2 cups of milk from powdered milk, in case he wants a late night bowl of cereal. Milk is just too expensive to throw it away! Look at this -- I got a hand-written letter from my sister Sarah yesterday. I just love the fact that she still hand writes letters and isn't dependent on email! She's fine. She wrote the letter during her lunch hour at work... I do feel a little bad for her. She and her husband work SO hard and they are loving, giving parents who would do anything for their kids. Unfortunately, those kids are adults now and take advantage of Sarah's big heart. They all still live at home, move their friends in and out of the house like it's a hotel, bring pets in like it's an animal shelter, and expect Sarah and her husband to foot the bill. But Sarah's a smart girl. She'll get tired of being taken advantage of eventually and set some boundaries and give 'em all the boot. The one thing about adult kids is that if you make their home life too easy, they'll never stand on their own or take care of themselves. I've been there! It's a tough thing to do, but I have faith Sarah will see the light and give 'em all a deadline to move out. I can hear her frustration in her letters already. Isn't this weather gorgeous? Don't you just love the Fall? I should spend at least part of the day outside moving around some perennials, especially down in that front garden where the little wishing well is. Want to hear something funny? Yesterday Brayden and I went outside to see Jeff off to work, and my next-door-neighbor and his family were all standing in front of my little garden taking pictures! LOL! They are from Marakesh and it was a big holiday for them, so they were taking photos of everyone all dressed up. I said, "You're taking photos of my weeds??" LOL But his wife said, "Your garden is so beautiful." Since their house looks over that little garden, I was happy they thought so! I'm sure my other neighbor, the gardener, thinks I'm just plain lazy when she sees all the weeds out there! Brayden? He's doing great. I babysat for him yesterday. I love watching his personality develop. He's SO funny. That child has an amazing sense of humor AND amazing perseverance and he's really observant of things going on around him. Yesterday he and I were sitting down on "the dock" (that's the little deck with the two bench seats down by the creek. We call it "the dock" because a friend of ours in Maine has a 40+ foot sailboat and we told him we built a dock so he could sail over for a visit!) and Brayden collected rocks to throw in the water -- a favorite pasttime. He picked up some very small pebbles, and held them in his hand and said, "Umma, here's some Motrin. I'm going to take my medicine and then sit down for just a few minutes and my back will feel all better." (cough) OK, guess I need to stop complaining about my back problems around him! LOL Later we were in the house and I was cleaning up the kitchen. Brayden had opened up the toy box (that's the coffee table that has storage in it) and gotten out a gyroscope I had in there. Not a little kid gyroscope, but a vintage metal gyroscope that you have to thread a string through a very narrow hole, hold onto the string and wind the string around the post of the gyroscope very carefully. It's tricky to do at best. It got very quiet in the family room, so I looked in to check on him, and he was sitting on the floor, very focused on that gyroscope. I didn't bother him. I looked in again a few minutes later -- same scenario. A few minutes later, I walked in and he proudly held up the gyroscope and there it was -- perfectly wound up! I can't tell you how impressed I was! He wasn't coordinated enough to hold the gyroscope and pull the string, so I did it for him. And he rewound that string two more times! Two years old with that kind of perserverance? I was really proud of him and told him so. I have often told him, when he's trying something new and having difficulty, to "try, try again.." and maybe, just maybe, he was listening :) Jeff's doing good, thanks for asking. This is his "Hell Week" at work, so he's working from 7am to at least midnight, grabbing a few hours sleep and going right back for more. Thankfully, he only works these kind of hours 4 times a year and it's all part of being in a major corporation's top accounting department. I consider it a bit of a mini-vacation for me, since I don't have to cook dinner AND I get to watch whatever I want on TV at night! LOL Last night I sat and worked on some hand embroidery and watched America's Top Model. The embroidery is for a "Twelve Days of Christmas" quilt I have in my head. I like having some kind of hand work to do while watching TV. Doesn't feel like such a waste of time that way! I know! Do you just love the footstool?! That's an old stool from a shoe store -- the kind you used to put your feet on so the sales person could measure your foot! I know, I know - those days are sure gone, aren't they? I see you looking at Granny. Jeff gave her to me for Christmas a few years ago and I just love her. She's called a "smoker". If you put a little cone of incense under her chair, smoke comes out of her mouth! I just love her. I'd really like to collect them. Guess I should check Ebay more. Oh? You have to get going so soon? Well, I've just talked your ear off, haven't I?! I'm really glad you stopped by -- and hope you'll do it again soon! Let me walk you out to your car -- and I'll get the trashcans at the end of the driveway and put them in the garage while I'm out there. Maybe getting outside will encourage me to get out and do some of that weeding I was talking about! Bye bye now! You take care! C'mon back anytime! I just love having company for coffee!