MMM, pie

I'm thankful for Chocolate Pecan Pie.  It is about as non-local a food as I can get and I love it.  I'm so thankful for all that my life holds.  I hope your Thanksgiving is as wonderful as it should be.

Fun with paint

We are the house that the kids play at.  I really like that.  Its nice to see what they're doing.  Its nice to let the kids have some freedom to create and use their imaginations. 

The neighborhood kids like coming to my house even though I almost never let them play video games (we have a Wii), or watch TV.  They are free to climb, run, bike, make forts and just play.  I'm not very picky about my yard.  In back of the play house they have dug an enormous hole in the hill.  I only stopped them when I worried about the playhouse falling down the hill.

This wonderful playhouse was built by the previous owners.  The gentleman did lots of carpentry, including building the addition that now houses my schoolroom/office.  When we bought the house, they asked if we wanted it to stay or be torn down.  We looked at them as if they were crazy.  Noah was 20 months old at the time and we were thrilled that it was there.  As soon as we moved in we bought swings for it and Hubby built the slide onto the side.  It is getting a bit rickety over time, but we keep fixing the broken steps as they need it. 

Over the weekend the kids decided they would like to paint it.  They got out the paintbrushes and tempera paint and went to work.  Its washable paint and as I type this its raining.  The paint seems to be holding up well so far.  I love how they personalized it and had so much pride in their work.  If the paint washes off, it will be a great project for them another day. 

Making pumpkin puree

One of the things I'm asked a lot, is how to process pumpkins.  Its very easy and while the whole process takes a while, it doesn't take much of your actual hands on time.  We got these pumpkins on a field trip with our wonderful nature club.  They've decorated the house for about a month and its time for them to do their part. 

First you need to wash the outside of the pumpkin.  They can get dirty and you don't want that in your food.

Then cut them in half.  This is actually harder than it looks.  The shells of pie pumpkins are very hard.  Hubby used my cleaver to whack these pumpkins for me.  We ended up with shards of pumpkin and seeds all over the place.  You then scrape the guts out.  I saved some seeds for next year's garden.  I'll show the process in another post.  The remaining seeds and insides went to the chickens, although you may want to roast the seeds.  My family isn't big on pumpkin seeds, but the chickens are.

Then lay the pumpkins cut side down in a baking pan.  I slide it in the oven and then put about a quarter of an inch of water in the pan to help them steam.  Let them bake at 350 for about 50-60 minutes.  Then pull them out and let them cool for 30 minutes so that they can be safely handled.

Scoop the flesh out and put it into the food processor or blender to break up the strings.

I then put the pureed pumpkin into a colander lined with paper towels or cheesecloth.  There is a remarkable amount of water in that pumpkin, so be sure to do this step.

Lastly, package it up.  I like to put mine in bags with 2 C of puree, the same amount in a can of pumpkin.  They can be stored in the freezer for quite a while.  Ours is usually gone by the following summer.  I got 6 cups of puree from 3 medium sized pie pumpkins.  Considering how many pumpkins will grow from just a few seeds, its not a bad option for the garden.  

Pasta e Fagioli soup

One of my readers, Karen Sue, requested the recipe for this soup.  Its a knock off of a similar soup found in a certain restaurant that serves soup, salad and breadsticks.  My kids have loved it forever and a few years ago, I decided I'd rather make my own.  This is what I've come up with.  Its been adjusted several times over the years, but is pretty easy.  It ends up being like an Italian chili with pasta.  Mine is pretty thick, but you could certainly thin it out. 

Past e Fagioli

1 lb ground beef

2 carrots grated

1 small onion chopped

3-6 cloves garlic

4 cups swiss chard (this will melt down to about 1 cup of cooked chard)

1 qt pasta sauce (use anything you like)

1 qt tomatoes

1 t oregano

1 t basil

1/4 t hot pepper flakes

1 can kidney beans

1 can cannelini beans

2 cups beef stock

pasta of your choice

Brown beef and veggies in large stockpot.  Add remaining ingredients and salt and pepper to taste.  Let simmer for 2- 3 hours.  Serve with pasta.

I always keep the pasta and soup separate until serving.  This will allow the pasta to retain its shape and not get soft if the soup is not all eaten at once.  I also will can this up without the pasta.  To do so you need to thin out the soup, so that it is less chili- like in consistency.  Pour into prepared jars and process at 11 lbs pressure for 75 minutes for pints and 90 minutes for quarts in the pressure canner.  If I'm making a large batch for canning, I also don't let it simmer for 2 hours since it will cook so much in the pressure canner.

Finally!!

This morning the chickens were making a lot of noise.  I didn't want to get too excited and decided I would go out in a little while to see if they had done anything.  A half hour later, I got a knock at my front door.  There stood J and his whole family with this beautiful egg.  They decided that they wanted to see my face and wanted me to have the first one.  I've done the lions share of the day to day care for them, so they felt that was fitting.  The girls are still making lots of noise, so hopefully we'll have some more soon.

I feel like its Christmas, I'm so excited.  The kids were so thrilled, they both wanted to have their hands photographed with the egg.  So above we have Noah and below is Morgan.

The egg is about 1/2 the size they will be in a few months.  Its so neat!  I just can't stand it!

First catalog of the year!

Something for me to pour over this weekend in the rain.  I love seed catalogs.  

Who doesn't like homemade bread?

I love bread.  Its something my mother has almost always made from scratch.   Although she will deny it, she was a bit of a hippy in her day.  I grew up with homemade bread made from flour that she would buy in huge bags and store in trash barrels in the basement.  She would make white, oatmeal, rye and cinnamon raisin breads.  She has never been much of a whole wheat girl.  I remember when I was 8, going to school with my tuna fish on homemade white bread.  It was delicious, but everyone else had wonder bread, and so I thought I should too.  Silly me. 

Now, it seems ridiculous that I would want something so awful.  There is nothing better than the smell of rising and baking bread.  The anticipation of that first slice to be slathered in butter, honey or homemade jam.  I can never wait as long as I should.  What I make however, is wheat bread.  Warm and nutty. 

Since I had the canning class this summer, I've been asked to teach bread baking.  Time has gotten away from me, so I thought I'd post the recipe here.  The recipe is my mother's, but I've made quite a few changes over the years. 

Whole Wheat Bread

3 C warm water ( you can use milk)
1/4 C honey
1 T salt
2 T yeast ( I use active dry)
7- 8 C flour ( can be all white, all wheat, or a combination)
Whole grain bread improver  1 T per cup of whole wheat flour used (optional)

Combine first 4 ingredients in bowl with 2 cups flour and whole grain bread improver if desired.  Beat for 2 minutes. 
Add remaining flour until you have a nice cohesive dough.  You do not want it too dry. 
Knead with Kitchen Aid or by hand for 8- 10 minutes. 
Place dough in greased bowl, rolling dough in oil to make sure it is coated on all sides.  Place a clean kitchen towel on top and place in a warm place for 1 hour, or until dough has doubled in size. 
Divide dough in half. 
Gently flatten dough into a roughly 12x 6 rectangle.  Roll dough into a cylinder and place in greased bread pan.  Do this for each half.  You will now have 2 loaves. 
Oil the top of the loaves and place kitchen towel on top.  Allow to rise for another hour. 
Bake at 375 for 35-45 minutes.
When done, remove loaves immediately and allow to cool on a rack.
Try to be better than I am and don't slice into it for at least 15 minutes. 

Notes
I generally make this with water instead of milk.  You can add up to 1 cup of oats, or other grains to replace some of the flour.  I almost never make this 100% whole wheat.  My family likes it best 50/50.