How to Kill a Pumpkin

Once you have located your victim, you need to sneak up on the little orange critter. You might find it setting silently on your front porch or sidewalk, or even on a hay bale out in the yard. Reach out and grasp it firmly around its middle, pick it up and run into your kitchen before it escapes! Now grab hold of the biggest knife you can find, the kind that Psycho made famous. The first cut is the hardest, and it might fight you on this one, but you need to stab the pumpkin about an inch away from the stem, and slice it all around the circumference of this stem. This disables the pumpkin so he won't roll away.

The hard part comes next because he might fight you still. You need to cut it in half, laying both halves out so you can gut it. This can get bloody. Those stringies and seeds just stick to everything when you scrape them out. I recommend a big bowl set aside to put the guts in, so you can decide later whether to dry the seeds in your oven or throw them out. The birds love dried pumpkin seeds by the way, and they are a big hit mixed with the sunflower seeds in your backyard bird feeder.

Next you preheat your oven to 325 degrees and invert the two cleaned-out halves onto a cookie sheet, and you are ready to bake it. If you have a pumpkin bigger than your cookie sheet, you can cut it into 3 or 4 big pieces, making sure that the skin is showing outside. Bake at 325 degrees, for ONE hour. You can start to smell the delicious fragrance of that pumpkin all over the house while it bakes. When you have removed it from the oven, you will notice that the bright orange has faded to a dark brown, normal markings for the species.

Finally, after you let the halves cool down sufficiently to begin the actual butchering process of this meat, you scoop out the flesh, all the way down to the inside of the skin, putting it into a large bowl.

Your average pumpkin, sized about 12-14 inches in diameter, should yield about 6 -7 cups of shredded meat. I puree it in my food processor, and then pack it in freezer cartons, measuring out one or two inch cups for future recipes.

Finally to those pumpkin seeds....I wash the stringies off the seeds, and this can get messy, and then dry the seeds spread out on parchment paper, on a big cookie sheet, at 225 degrees for 20 or 30 minutes. I stir them about every 5 minutes or so, and you can tell when they are starting to dry completely. If you are saving them for a human treat, you can sprinkle some salt on the seeds before drying, and then after drying, add sugar and spices as you desire. Otherwise, let them cool down and mix them into your bird feeder.

Happy Hunting!

Happy Fall Y'all!

We came back from the Ozarks and the first frost had arrived. Our tomatoes were toast, our peppers were past,and our impatiens had been impaled by the frost. But we do still have mums and marigolds, and parsley and pumpkins. So here are the pictures of summer leftovers which will hopefully give you a taste of our Fall.

Fall Field Trip

Remember those field trips we used to take with the kids--a day spent on a school bus with a lot of rambunctious kids eager to learn anything unimportant, but anxious to explore everything? Well, when you reach Senior-dom, you can take field trips too! We did last week, because we had an errand to run down I-70 to Columbia, to take some old sewing machines out to PET.

Personal Energy Transportation is located in a huge old warehouse on the edge of Columbia, off Route B, and they are a non-profit organization founded to provide mobility services to people who have lost the use of their legs due to polio, landmine injury, amputation, etc. all around the globe, so far reaching into 90 countries. They also send used wheelchairs, walkers and crutches to fill the same needs. And they recondition and spruce up old sewing machines, and ship them out to women in these countries, who want to establish a sewing business in their own homes. I packed up a bag of fabric, and a bag of sewing notions, some new, some extra of mine. They do an amazing job, using all volunteer help. Check out www.giftofmobility.org

Anyway, on our way home, we passed the exit to Arrow Rock, and decided to take it to explore. Arrow Rock is an historic old town perched on the Missouri River bluffs. It is the home of George Caleb Bingham, and his original house, built in 1837, has been lovingly restored and tended. The StateVisitors Center has a fantastic museum, with scale models and actual parts of the Boonslick Salt Mines and Licks, a riverboat, and antique furniture. We explored the original courthouse, about the size of a small garage, but it actually had a side room where people had to stay overnight, to await the arrival of the judge and jury members for trials. We ate at the Huston Tavern, another old building, from 1834, and have to say it was a wonderful luncheon, served by friendly waitresses. My favorite part of this trip? We took a "golf-cart tour" of the town and the buildings, our docent was fantastic, and we learned so much about Missouri's famous artist. Plus the added thrill of traveling in a golf cart! On our way home, we finally made it to downtown Blackwater, another place whose exit we always pass on the highway, commenting, maybe we will go there someday! Resolution for the future: take some more exits and explore more interesting places.

Summer beading

I finally created a few pieces of jewelry incorporating some pieces of redwood from the redwood forest where our daughter got married. Hubby had to do the solders for me, setting the oval rings around some acorn and pinecone charms. I sent them out to her and her mom-in-law, as wearable memories. Then I had to string a strand of Swarovski glass pearls and earrings to match, for another friend who is getting married in a few weeks. I used 10mm for a more dramatic effect.

Summer crafting

When we returned from Alaska, I began a project that became a great memory of our trip--a table runner made from fabric I had bought up in a quilt shop in Sitka. The fabric pieces were all shades of blue, and prints of the Alaskan state flower, the forget-me-not, so I thought the table runner would be a great way to never forget our Alaskan journey. I finished it in time for the local fair, and entered it in the quilt show, at which I volunteer. Imagine my surprise, when I saw a red ribbon on it! We have People's Choice Awards, no other judging, and no other prizes but the hand-made quilted and embroidered ribbons, so I really treasure this prize. Now I have to quilt some placemats to match.

Alaskan Journey--Our First Cruise

We had never been on a cruise ship before, so this was all a new experience. The closest thing I can compare it to is staying in an RV (size of cabin is comparable), and not having to drive to the scenic destinations (the ship docks there instead). We had fun on board, exploring the ship, watching the ocean, watching the humpback whales, orcas, sea lions, sea birds, and other ships, taking classes of many different kinds, and just relaxing in a deck chair. There were shows in the evenings, Broadway type musicals with fantastic talent, a comedian who was clean and funny at the same time, a show presented by the ship's crew, bingo games, culinary tours, and Park Ranger and historian presentations to aide in understanding the Native American culture, and the natural resources in the National Parks we visited. I would attend the culinary classes, hubby would get his computer fix with techno-classes. Tai chi helped me in the mornings or evenings, and we sat in the Crow's Nest lounge, drinking chai latte and iced coffee, watching the world go by. Our cabin steward was awesome, leaving us fresh towels every night, in the form of fantastic creatures. Of course I could have taken the class to learn how to fold towels too, but then I would feel compelled to begin changing our linens into creatures every night--NOT! There were two formal nights, when we dressed up. Hubby rented a tux, which was hanging up in our cabin when we arrived, and which saved him from schlepping around a suit for two weeks in a 40 pound suitcase. We especially enjoyed the chocolate night, which followed a formal night of dining, with a chocolate dessert bar set up all around the pool on the Lido deck. The chefs competed for best chocolate presentation, and the passengers enjoyed the samples. All in all, a great cruising experience on the Oosterdam, and we highly recommend it.

Return to the Lower 48

After leaving Victoria, our ship headed on south to Seattle, where we docked, cleared customs, and loaded onto another tour bus, this time to see the sights of Seattle. We stopped at the Pike St. Market area, but they weren't throwing any fish at the time, so we had some lunch and iced coffee. Then we went to the lock and dam area, and saw many commercial fishing boats moving through. This was spring still in Seattle, so the poppies were in bloom, alongside the walkway of the locks. We visited the Space Needle, and I was more impressed by their monorail commuter trains. Wish KC had something like that. While driving by the harbor, we spied a Chinese container ship loaded full of imports--hubby said those were all the LTD and beading supplies I had ordered. We spent the night in Seattle, resting up from our travels, then headed on home, back to summertime in MO.

Oh Canada!

Our ship left the Alaskan Maritime Highway, and traveled on south to Canada, where we docked at the port of Victoria BC. The local guide told us they call Victoria the "land of the newly wed and nearly dead", because many people honeymoon in Victoria, and many retired people move there. This is a beautiful city, and famous for its Empress Hotel and their high teas.

We arrived at Butchart Gardens in the evening, but because this is a higher latitude, the sun doesn't set until late, so we were confident to view most of the gardens before dark, and as the sun set, there were lit walkways all through the gardens. As we began exploring the paths, someone in our group remarked, "Why does it smell like a candy store?" I began sniffing at all the blooming plants, and discovered that the "candy store" fragrance was coming from all the rhododendrons, in spectacular full bloom. Wish this were a scratch and sniff blog, but it isn't, sorry! We boarded our bus, headed back to the ship and were on board in time for a midnight snack.