Merry Christmas!

Have you ever heard/seen Brad Stine?  He's a smart-aleck Christian comedian.  Just my style.  Cuz...as you all know...I'm a real smart-aleck myself.  :-)
Well, a few years ago he teamed up with Go Fish and made this recording:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAckfn8yiAQ&feature=PlayList&p=584EFE756F44F04F&index=0
So when I saw these buttons

at Christian Book Distributors, I bought them.  They arrived this week...in a plastic ziplock bag (very fancy packaging).  I ordered enough for everyone in my family (the guys' buttons are still in the bag b/c they don't want to wear theirs until after Thanksgiving)...but as people at church are seeing them and commenting, I can see that I should have ordered more. 

My pantry.

Since you've been bored with pumpkin posts, I thought I'd keep with the food theme.  Earlier this fall I think I posted that I would show you my pantry when we were done canning.
Every time I tried to snap a picture of it, the camera wouldn't work. It turns out the batteries died.
Right. There. In. My. Camera.
It was awful.
So I bought new batteries, charged them up and...got busy with life stuff.
But I hadn't completely forgot.

And while I realize that you haven't exactly been waiting on pins and needles for this picture, I do want to prove to myself that I am not a slacker.  I did not, however clean this up before snapping pictures. You'll have to suffer through it.

Here are what's left of the green beans we canned last year:

Here are the tomatoes,

grape juice,

and salsa

that we canned this year....with glimpses of the home-canned spaghetti and pizza sauces. 



And while I don't EXPECT to get snowed in this winter, I AM prepared in case we do.  We have enough store-bought peanut butter to hold us over for weeks. We're about due for a blizzard.  Any year now.  If you run out of food at your house, just strap on the snowshoes and come on over--I'll share.

Mmmmmm...Pumpkin Pie

Last night I baked a pumpkin pie using my fresh pumpkin puree.  That's it, hot out of the oven and decorated.

Some assembly was required to get it to that point, though.

After making a pie crust, I mixed these ingredients together,

and poured them into the crust.

Hmm? What did you say?

Oh, what's this?

This is the leftover pie crust that I rolled out and cut with the tiny pumpkin-shaped cookie cutter that I bought while hubs and I were in Amish country last month.  Cute, eh?  I had just pulled them out of the oven--did you notice the potholder in the bottom corner of the pic?

When the pie was done baking I put those pie-crust-pumpkins on top of the pie.

Like so.

I love those tiny cookie cutters. I bought an apple one, too.  I'll use it to cut the vent holes in (what else?) an apple pie next time I make one.

Who can handle all that cute-ness?
Next week I'll give you step-by-step instructions on gutting and butchering a deer.

Just kidding.

Pumpkin Puree...what I didn't tell you.

Jen,
If you're going to make your own pumpkin puree, here are a few tips:
Cut the pumpkin in half...top to bottom,
scoop out the insides with a cheap plastic ice cream scoop. I have two plastic ice cream scoops. They aren't good to scoop out ice cream, but I use them for lots of other things. Put the pumpkin innards in a bowl and deal with them later.
Clean the inside of the pumpkin, scraping it with the ice cream scoop (I suppose a spoon would work, too--just don't know how *well* it would work).
Put the pumpkin, cut side down, on a cookie sheet and place in a 350 degree oven for *around* an hour (it all depends on the size of the pumpkin). Turn the pumpkin half over and test the pulp with a fork for doneness. You want it to be soft.

Mmmm...pumpkin puree!

So far this fall I've done up 8 pie pumpkins into puree.  I bought 3 of them in Amish Country when hubs and I took our little Anniversary trip there last month.  While I was baking them, oldest son came home from helping an older couple from church with several pumpkins--one of which he was told was a pie pumpkin. I quickly cut it open, gutted it and popped it in the oven with the other three.  It wasn't really a pie pumpkin--just a small pumpkin, but it worked out fine.  I usually just cut up the Jack-O-Lantern pumpkins, but I may never do that again...at least not for pies. I'm sold on the pie pumpkins.
Anyway, I picked up four more pie pumpkins at Walmart last week and baked them last night.  Let me tell you--Walmart is NOT the place to buy them.  They were a little "juicier" than the ones from the Amish farmer (actually, he was a Mennonite) and the shells...oh, the shells were a story in themselves!  Two of the pumpkins had such thick shells that *I* couldn't cut into them with my sharp knife, so I called my oldest son---the one who looks like a football player.  *He* had trouble cutting them open, but he didn't give up (like his Mama).

After scooping out the goodies,

 I stacked them up. Check it out.

*NORMALLY* the shells are flimsy and collapse when you scoop out the pulp. They should NOT be able to hold their shape like this. It was bizzare!

Then I had all this wonderful pumpkin meat (pulp).

So I puree'd it.

Then I measured it and packed it into bags for the freezer.  I had 7 bags--2 cups each.

 Actually, I kept one bag in the fridge to make a
pumpkin pie. 

Or maybe some pancakes and muffins.  I haven't decided.

But with all those pumpkins comes pumpkin seeds.   I'm so glad I saved some out of the first batch to use as planting seeds for next year. (I sure don't want any thick-skinned, juicy pumpkins growing next year!)  Then I roasted about a quart of pumpkin seeds for eating from that batch.  I have at least that much this time, too.   I just boiled them in salt water,

dried them, then slow roasted them in the oven to dry them out.

Now the guys have something to take for snacks while hunting.

Next week I'm going to help our youngest son bake his Jack-O-Lantern pumpkin to make Pumpkin Butter for Christmas gifts.  He's so excited.

A new set of clothes...

My oldest son wanted to go shopping today after church.  I wanted to go for a walk in the beautiful, warm sunshine.  Hubs decided we'd go shopping.
So we drove a half hour to town and our first stop was (insert name of home improvement store here).  He'd seen a tool set in the ad that included a canvas bag and drill bits.  So I helped him find it (read: after walking down the aisles and not spotting it *I* was the one to hunt down a store worker and ask for it).  After that I took the youngest boy with me and we went to look at the mistint paint. 
Many of you have heard the stories about how I've painted the entire interior of our home with $5 a gallon mistint paint.  It's about the only reason I go to this store.
We had to look for where they'd moved it (once again---as if they're afraid people will find it). It was on a shelf with other clearance paint items. There were two gallons of mistints and they were on an upper shelf.  I tipped the first gallon towards me so I could see the color on the lid.  It said it was grey.  So I grabbed the one behind it and tipped it forward.  I never saw the lid--but the paint was white.  Very, very white.  And it was now all over me.
Oh. Yes. It. Was.
You know what? They're going to do MUCH better job at making sure they fasten the lids down on paint from now on.
When we finally got to talk to the manager (another story in itself) he asked if there was anything in the store we wanted.   I looked at him. And blinked.  OF COURSE there were things in the store that we wanted--but I'm not the type of person to take him to the cleaners over it.   I looked at hubs--he had the same thought.  We said nothing.  The manager offered to give us a shopping card.  I said that sounded fair because I obviously had to buy new clothes and it would offset that cost.  So he took us to the service desk and talked to another manager.  When he came back to us he said to go purchase the clothes and bring the receipt back and they'd reimburse us.  Oh, and the item that was in the cart--he was giving that to us, too.
So hubs is happy that his tool set was free. I got a new shirt, jeans and shoes.  And we will be able to sleep tonight.
But you know what the strangest thing about this whole deal is?  Nobody batted an eye and me walking around the store covered in paint. Nobody!  Even at the store where I purchased the new clothes I ran into someone I know and she just said "hi" as if there was nothing strange about my appearance.  Just minutes before that I looked at hubs and said, "People pay real money to look like this!"  He agreed.
I smelled like latex house paint. And my clothes were getting stiff. I was not enjoying the look.
Hubs just smiles and says I took one for the team.

So...I'm all over it now.

I was over it long ago...but life got busy.
Anyway, the post I had written...you know, the one that got eaten by Blogger...was a clever post all about how I read on a message board somewhere that candy corn and peanuts together tasted like a Snickers.
So. Sorry. You. Missed. It.
Cuz this post isn't nearly as clever (or funny).
I could have been my BEST-WORK-EVER!
But we'll never know, will we?
{wink}
The following day after my post was ate by Blogger and I went on strike, I mentioned the candy corn/peanut thing to my BFF and she said she had tried it. She thought it tasted more like a Payday, though. Still good.  So I told her that someone suggested adding chocolate chips.  She thought that really would make it taste like a Snickers.
But neither one of us went right out and tried that theory.
There's always next year, right?
But you know what, when dh and I were in Amish Country for our Anniversary celebration, I remember seeing bags of candy corn with peanuts mixed in.   It all finally made sense the day I read that message board.  
So, hey, if you're too lazy to mix your own candy corn and peanuts then take heart. Someone out there is willing to do all the "work" for you.  And charge you for it, of course.