The Demise of a pumpkin

Today we decided it was time to cut into the pumpkins....we've been reading all these great books and couldn't resist!


Out of all the books we read, I think this one left the most lasting impression...it's about a class who wants to know how many seeds are in their pumpkin with an underlying story that bigger isn't always better....gotta love a good wholesome story!




Before starting the demise...we all took a guess at just how many seeds we would find...

Small Pumpkin guesses...

J- 60
R-29
DH-342 (we thought he was crazy!)
Me- 99

Larger Pumpkin guesses...

J-176
R-80
DH-190
Me-300





and the results?


Drum roll please...

Small pumpkin seeds totaled....

321!

So I guess DH wasn't so crazy afterall! lol



And the big pumpkin?




Are you beating on the nearest surface?


.......I can't hear you....


drum roll please.....


506!!! How cool is that?







We got to make lots of comparisons about the differences we found...like the color of the meat inside...




and the size of the seeds too!






After soaking them in salt water over night these are going to make a great snack!

And the small pumpkin was quickly turned into these...



Chocolate chip pumpkin cookies!

(Recipe thanks to my dear friend Aimee!)

Enjoy!



2 1/2 C flour
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1 1/2 t pumpkin pie spice
1 c butter
1 c sugar
2 eggs
1 16 oz. can 100% pure pumpkin
1 t vanilla
1 c chopped walnuts (I left these out-not much of a nut in cookies fan)
1 12 oz. bag semisweet chocolate chips


Directions:1. Preheat oven to 375.


Grease 2 cookie sheets.


Mix flour, powder, soda, and pumpkin pie spice in a bowl


Beat butter and sugar together in another bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time until smooth and well blended. Mix in the pumpkin and vanilla until smooth. Gradually add the flour mixture, stirring to make a smooth batter. Stir in nuts (if desired) and chocolate chips.


Drop by T sized spoonfulls onto prepared sheets.


Bake in preheated oven until edges are golden, 18-20 minutes. Cool briefly on sheets and then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Don't you just LOVE fall? My house is smelling so yummy these days!

A day of dragons

While exploring the Waldorf approach to schooling, we've happened on to a few celebrations that we otherwise wouldn't have known about. Some of these festivities are small and others are much more exciting and detailed...whatever the case my be, they are all simple and beautiful and I wish we were close enough to a Waldorf school to experience them fully. Until that day (hopefully someday) we just have to learn the best we can from what others share with us and make each festivity our own...




With that said, I introduce to you our day of dragons in the spirit of Michaelmas...a fall celebration of courage and determination. This is one of those celebrations that I knew/know little about, however we have always loved dragons so we thought we could give it a try! As I unpacked our book collection, I held out all the books we have about dragons. Surprisingly we had quite a few and the girls were anxious to read them all...all in one sitting if I'd let them...but then we wouldn't have had time to make this...











The girls loved decorating him with almond teeth, walnut spikes and cranberry eyes!







He looked a little rough after being baked...but boy was he yummy! lol This dragon bread was a nice addition to our chicken noodle soup for dinner and yummy spice cake for dessert! I had lots of other ideas for how the day would go but for a first time go around I thought it was pretty good. The girls played outside on the "new" swingset while I read this story of St George and how he slayed the dragon...by the end of it, the girls were sitting silently watching me read and so intend on listening that I could help but smile...I love homeschooling!






If you'd like to know more about this celebration, please check out these great blogs...they are great and such an inspiration to me. The education I have gotten from my fellow bloggers and homeschoolers is better than anything I learned in college! :)




Watkinseveryflavorbean


Crookedmoonmama




Frontier Dreams



Ancient Hearth



Twig and Toadstool


Our Little Nature Nest


The Lothians




I hope this season of change is a good one for you...and that you have the courage to slay the dragons in your life!

Apple goodness

Since moving to the northwest, I've been taking more interest in the fact that we have good apples more readily available and loving every minute! :) Not only are they a bit cheaper to buy but they aren't all bruised up and old by the time we get them! Sorry, I don't mean to make you jealous, I'm just so excited and have to gush! lol We are big into apples for juicing so this is just such a thrill!

My MIL also brought us some of her apple bounty from Montana, so I needed to find something to do with them in a hurry. (bags on my counter drive me crazy!) Hers were very pretty little apples but also VERY tart! OH my! You should have seen the girls' faces when they tried them! They are used to the very sweet taste of Pink Lady and Fuji so they weren't expecting the tart tastes! lol It was rather entertaining for me tho! ha!

Anyways, we decided to sit down and make applesauce! The girls were just beside themselves that we were going to make homemade applesauce and even more giddy when I told them they could help! We set down to the table with a big bowl of mixed apples (I've heard that makes a better sauce) and I commenced to peeling and coring them.... note my pretty "new" 1950's Pyrex bowl? I just love quality made vintage! ;) Oh, and I already have an apple peeler, slicer, corer on my list of things to get! lol

....after I was done, I'd pass the apples off to my helpers who were armed with their own little cutting boards and butter knives. (We had cold water in the pot we were adding the apples to to keep them from browning) The cutting kept them pretty busy and we just sat, all three working on apples and visiting. And while I can't remember any particular conversations that stand out to me, we had the nicest time just chatting and working together....it was so enjoyable!

When the apples had all been transferred from my pretty bowl to the large soup pot, I poured the water off, added about an inch of water to the bottom of the pot, threw on a lid and put it on high heat till it really got cooking and then turned it down to a medium heat and kept stirring it occasionally...eventually this is what we got! It really was like magic!

I added some sugar and cinnamon for taste and just kept stirring till it looked like this!

....wait for it....

Can you hear it?

The angels were singing....it was HEAVENLY!!!!

When I asked the girls what they thought....as they were stuffing their faces with warm applesauce.... J responded "It's mag-na-fic!" (like on Ratatouille) and then added in " It's better than I could imagine Mom!"

The smile on their faces and the smell that filled my home made it SO worth the mess of apple scraps that littered my floor...I am learning time and time again that it's the joy we find in the little things that seems to last forever. I hope these are memories that the girls will look back on and want to recreate with their kids someday....

What are some memories you have with your loved ones? Were they the big flashing ones, or the simple ones like this? I'd love to hear!

I so kneaded that!

It's funny the silly little insignificant things you miss when you can't have them...for me it was homemade bread, cloth napkins and my sleep number bed! Ok, I missed other things too (books being at the top of that secondary list) but those three seemed to be the most missed while staying in the trailer....

Today was our first full day without DH, and while it felt good to get back into a schedule...the day also seemed to last a bit longer than usual. Now, that might have something to do with the fact that I got up at 5am with him or maybe it's just because it was a long day without him...it's been awhile since he had a full day of work and his days will be a bit longer here than we are used to anyways. Never-the-less, I'll be glad when he gets home again...


I did manage to get quite a bit done today tho. Two cups of coffee, emails, blog roll, bath and phone call with Mom...all by around 9am! Who knew you could get so much done! lol Oh, and of course we had to go visit the chickens and check for eggs....that's right...you read it...we have chickens!!! It's pretty funny but I knew this house was "the one" when the owner asked if we would be interested in keeping the 4 laying hens and rooster with the house!! The girls were thrilled and have a new love of eating "chicken eggs" as if they are something different than the ones we buy at the store! lol Now hopefully they won't lose interest in checking for eggs, their enthusiasm is so fun!






Back to the things I missed the most...sleep number bed was the first to check off the list...then I unpacked the napkins (including the adorable chicken ones I got in KS)....and today I made bread!!!





I have tried many recipes but this is one of my favorites. I think I found it in an old Taste of Home magazine. Yep, I did! Boy was that easier than typing it all out! I love this recipe because mine actually ends up looking like the one in the magazine! lol


Ok, I guess I really should get to making some dinner to go with that bread...the natives are getting restless! I feel so blessed!