Saturday, October 31, 2009

Spiced Pumpkin Seeds

Here's another pumpkin recipe we're trying out this year. I haven't baked the pumpkin seeds out of our pumpkins for years...thought I'd give it another try.

Spiced Pumpkin Seeds

Rated:
Submitted By: Carolyn
Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Cook Time: 1 Hour
Ready In: 1 Hour 10 Minutes
Servings: 8
"Make this snack by roasting fresh pumpkin seeds in margarine, Worcestershire sauce, and garlic salt."
Ingredients:
1 1/2 tablespoons margarine, melted
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon garlic salt
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 cups raw whole pumpkin seeds
Directions:
1.
Preheat oven to 275 degrees F (135 degrees C).
2.
Combine the margarine, salt, garlic salt, Worcestershire sauce and pumpkin seeds. Mix thoroughly and place in shallow baking dish.
3.
Bake for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Pumpkin Puree

We're trying some new things this year. I'm giving this a whirl...has anyone tried this before?

Pumpkin Puree
http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/recipes/sidedishes/pumpkin-puree/?print=1
Added by Ree Drummond on July 29, 2009 in Sides, Vegetables
Prep Time 45 MinutesCook Time 45 Minutes
Servings 6
Difficulty Easy
Ingredients
2 whole Small Pumpkins
Preparation Instructions
Select a couple of small-ish pumpkins. Cut the pumpkin in half. With a spoon or a scoop, scrape out the seeds and pulp from the center. You don’t have to be too thorough with this.
Place all the seeds into a bowl (you can roast them later and make pepitas). Repeat until all the pumpkin pieces are largely free of seeds and pulp.
Place pumpkin pieces on a baking sheet (face up or face down; I’ve done both) and roast in a 350-degree oven for 45 minutes, or until pumpkin is fork-tender. They should be nice and light golden brown when done.
Peel off the skin from the pumpkin pieces until you have a big pile of the stuff. If you have a food processor, throw in a few chunks at a time. A blender will work, too, if you add a little water. Or you can simply mash it up with a potato masher, or move it through a potato ricer, or process it through a food mill.
Pulse the pumpkin until smooth. If it looks too dry, add in a few tablespoons of water during the pulsing to give it the needed moisture. (Note, if the puree is overly watery, you should strain it on cheesecloth or over a fine mesh strainer to get rid of some of the liquid.)
Dump the pureed goodness into a bowl, and continue pureeing until all the pumpkin is done.
You can either use this immediately in whatever pumpkin recipe you’d like, store it in the freezer for later use.
To store in the freezer, spoon about 1 cupful of pumpkin into each plastic storage bag. Seal the bag with just a tiny bit of an opening remaining, then use your hands to flatten out the pumpkin inside the bag and push out the air. Store them in the freezer until you need them.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Favorites...

What's a book on your "must read" list?

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Our Wild Game Drive: Reno Style

I know we're not in Africa...but we took a Wild Game Drive today!
Wild horses can be seen near Reno!! There are an estimated 40,000 wild horses in Nevada. The horses roam the public lands and are under the watchful eye of The Bureau of Land Management. We literally got face-to-face with several of these beautiful wild horses. It was amazing!
We even saw lots of cattle, lambs, and even a donkey or two....
What a Game Drive!






Pumpkins for the Pumpkins!







M Turns 8!











Out For a Walk

Is that a Barn Owl??









Fall=Soccer

The B-Boy is back playing soccer again this year....he LOVES it!

Balloon Races!!

We woke up on a beautiful Saturday in September and headed to see the Balloon Races...it was a spectacular sight!

KK Turns 2!

Posted by Picasa

Oh, The Joys of Summer!




We had a fabulous time in Utah this year. Nana took us on a great adventure and we got to go all over the valley and visit all kinds of great places. We went to the Planetarium, the Children's Museum, the Lion House and Temple Square, the Zoo, and the Aquarium. If you have a couple free days in Salt Lake this year, get a Salt Lake Connect Pass. We'd highly recommend it!
http://www.visitsaltlake.com/visit/activities/connect_pass/





It's Jolley Time!