The Pumpkin Life

Happy Halloween!

Recipe of the day:  Appropriately fall.  This is a recipe I made for a house-warming party for my soon-to-be in-laws a couple weeks ago and it was quite a hit!  After all, who doesn't like to eat out of a pumpkin??

Props go to Ginger Snap Crafts for this great idea!  That link takes you straight to the recipe, so I will just add my pictures with explanations on how I changed it up.  The comments of people who had tried the recipe said it was a bit bland, so I added a couple of extra spices to jazz it up....yummy!

Turkey, corn, green beans, and rice mixture

This is the mixture of spiced ground turkey (instead of sausage...we have red meat allergies in the family) with the frozen veggies.  I want to make this again and really experiment with different veggies!  I added a little bit of nutmeg to the meat as it was cooking since there was nutmeg added to the inside of the pumpkin; it tasted great!  I also added quite a bit more pepper than the recipe called for.  I tried to keep it as simple as possible since kids were eating, but I think the use of more herbs would be even better!  We actually served it with a pumpkin soup piled on top, so we were not lacking in any flavor :)

This is the inside of the pumpkin after it has been scooped out and the salt, pepper, and nutmeg added.  I'm not sure why it looks like the remains of someone's sneeze, but I assure you it was all spices!

After the mixture was added :)

This is the part in the recipe that I felt could have used a little more explanation: the steam tent.  In order to get the water for the steam tent I filled the cookie sheet about halfway with water and then put another cookie sheet opposite way with the pumpkin on it so the pumpkin didn't get soggy.  I don't know if that's the way to go, but its the only way I could think of!  Hope the picture is clear enough.

And this is the pumpkin all wrapped up and ready to be baked!  Full disclosure: I picked too large of a pumpkin for my oven so I couldn't fit whole contraption in.  After spilling the water everywhere and slightly panicking for 5.2 seconds I realized I could just take the lid of the pumpkin since the foil would keep the steam in regardless (and no one was going to eat the lid anyway).  Crisis averted!  

I realized after the dinner that it might have been kind of funny to cut a hole in the side of the pumpkin that looked like a mouth and then drawn some eyes as well- it would have looked like it was puking haha!  Maybe not the most appetizing, but it would definitely be appropriate for Halloween :)  

No good?

Fall Around the World

In light of the fact that I have no pictures of changing leaves this year, I thought it would be fun to post pictures of all the places I have been in the past during this wonderful season.  Enjoy!

Kirksville, Missouri: my college town :)

A view from my home in O'Fallon, Missouri

The fruits of Polish soil!

I made so many things with that pumpkin!  And its 3 brothers....

I was shocked that there were different pumpkins than our orange ones in the States.  These, as you can see, are big and green and have quite a bit more meat than our Jack-O-Lantern counterparts!  I definitely got a work out cutting those pumpkins into small enough pieces to fit in pots to soften them up!

Polish Fall

Poland's Autumn was 99% golden.  The world was literally paved in gold!  It was breathtakingly beautiful.  The few bushes that were ruby red stood out like jewels in a crown.  I would go back in a heartbeat!

Polish Cemetery on November 1: All Saint's Day

Another Cemetery

All Saint's Day is a huge deal in Poland.  For weeks beforehand there are groups of people cleaning up the cemeteries to prepare for every citizen to come traipsing through.  Wherever there is family or close friends buried near you, you go to the grave with flowers, a special candle, and a broom/rake.  You clean up whatever leaves may have fallen on the grave since the massive clean-up, light the candle, place your flowers on the stone, and say a prayer for the soul's release from Purgatory.  My host family and I visited 3 different cemeteries in the Poznan area that day and the Autumn splendor mixed with this wonderfully strange tradition made for one of the most memorable days in my year abroad.  The best part was going back to a cemetery that night; all the candles were still burning and the effect was so lovely that its hard to explain.  Here's a picture to not do it justice at all:

Each candle represents a family/person who visited that day!

And then there is last Autumn...my one weekend of blissful escape from the heat to experience a little bit of New England fall for the first time!!  This is a Vermont Inn that just begs you to come inside and enjoy the fire with a cup of your favorite hot beverage!

Sorry if this took forever to load...hopefully the pictures were worth it :)  I have definitely been blessed in my ability to travel around.  Maybe next year I'll have some new pictures to add to my collection!

What is your favorite fall memory?

Dem Fall Days :)

Day 8/30.  Rockin' this challenge past the week mark!

Song: Sail, AWOLNATION.  I feel so chill and cool whenever I hear this song.  Love it!  Video is a little weird (but also kind of awesome...).

Weather: FREAKING AMAZING.  My windows are open and I have a blankie on to keep me nice and snug.  Just looked at the thermometer (i.e. my iphone) and saw that it is a brisk 70 degrees!  Oh my.  Florida has killed my internal cold monitor.

Confession:  Somewhere in this Land O' Hot there is a tree that has leaves that turn red.  I found evidence of this while at work and standing outside trying to convince people by my happy demeanor that my restaurant was where they wanted to eat.  I looked down and saw there a beautiful red leaf!  I picked it up and stared in rapturous wonder at it while passers-by looked at me strange and walked by with caution.  I then sniffed the leaf with glorious satisfaction; I closed my eyes and imagined walking through a forest saturated with that smell and color.  Needless to say, I was asked to go back indoors so that customers wouldn't be afraid to come eat.

Worth it.