Pumpkin Pain...oh I mean Pie! Pumpkin Pie!

I grabbed these pumpkins for Halloween decoration. The sticker said they were "pie pumpkins" but they didn't have to because as soon as Kojak saw them he said "You're gonna make me a pie right"?

For some reason James and Cameron thought they should have candy in them and they were sorely disappointed when I told them otherwise.
So anyway, I decided to take a tip from Pioneer Woman and make some pumpkin puree....to use in Pumpkin Pie, of course.
Only one problem, Pioneer Woman didn't seem to have to hack into her pumpkins.

That's the best knife I have. A 7-inch Santoku, might as well have had a butter knife.

I wasn't aware that some pumpkins came with a very hard, very thick outer shell. Luckily, Kojak had pity on me....or maybe he just really wanted some pie! Either way, we eventually hacked our way into the little suckers.

Pretty huh?

So I baked the first batch on a pan. Then I realized my mistake and corrected.

The next batch I placed in a casserole with some water in the bottom. These came out tender and juicy (except for the shell, of course). Plus they retained that beautiful orange color!

Ahhhh...pumpkin puree!! Looks yummy? Yes?
I used some in the pies below and the rest I put in the freezer. There's enough in there to make roughly 6 pies.

And this is what happens in less than 20 minutes after they came out of the oven. Cameron dug into the one on the right with a spoon.

Lesson learned: Although the pumpkins were a pain I will never make pumpkin pie from a can again. This is THE BEST PUMPKIN PIE EVER!!!!!


Perfect Puree Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients:

• Pumpkin (6-8" diameter)
• 2 & 1/2 cups pumpkin puree (from above pumpkin)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 & 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. ginger
• 1/2 tsp. allspice
• 1/2 tsp. cloves
  
• 1 & 2/3 cup evaporated milk
• 2 eggs
• 3 regular unbaked pie crusts or 2 deep-dish unbaked pie crusts
  

For Pumpkin: Remove stem and cut into quarters. Bake in dish (shell side down) with a little water (water should not touch meat of pumpkin) @350 until tender. Peel off shell or scrape out the pumpkin. Now you can use a hand mixer, stand mixer or food processor to make the puree. Once it's smooth and puree-ish (hahaha), dish out 2 & 1/2 cups for the pumpkin pies. Put the rest in freezer safe container with as little air as possible for future use. No, it won't last forever but it will still be good when pumpkins are out-of-season and you get a hankering for pumpkin pie. Moving on!
For the pie:Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Mix your puree and the remaining ingredients with the exception of the pie crusts. (Sorry, but I must be very clear here....there are some folks out there that just can't understand recipe-nese). Mix until smooth, may be a little watery. Pour into pie crusts, bake for 15 minutes @ 450. At this point I take mine out, wrap the edges with aluminum foil to prevent the crusts from getting burned, reduce heat to 325 and bake for 45 minutes or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean. Or you could skip the aluminum foil by using a pie crust shield that I need and don't have! Either way, don't burn the pie!
ENJOY!!!!

Girl time!

It has been totally crazy around here for a few weeks. Kojak finally got started working which relieved a little stress. But then I started the Fall semester and Haley started Kindergarten which added some stress. Mom was losing her job and struggling with what to do.....MAJOR Stress. Well, Haley and I are both getting into the groove of things and Mom's situation has resolved itself for the good. So, to celebrate our stress, de-stress, stress and lessened stress Mom and I decided to do something together this past Saturday. We settled on doing some "bead therapy". We have a place here in the county that hold classes on how to make certain pieces of jewelery. Saturday they had a class on a bird's nest ring that I had seen in there before. So, here's what we made.

One with turquoise beads and the other with an amber color.

Mom's two....one with a pretty stone bead and the other with green glass beads.

Tina took me to class a coulpe weeks ago and we learned how to make a really awesome beaded bead bracelet (picture below). These are the rings that I made at home to go with them.

Bird nest again.

Okay, these are the bracelets that I learned a couple weeks ago and then I taught Mom.

This is the set that she made. Very pretty reds and purples.

NOTE: My nail polish is purple Not black......I only wear black on Tuesdays......JK!!!!!

Memory Lane....

Does anyone remember this? I do....and I did, this morning (bright and early)......*sniff*

(a few months before Haley arrived)

How about this one?

*sniff, sniff*

Lord help me!

Now don't laugh!

Where did the years go?

On the way to kindergarten.

Walking in.

Putting her things in her cubby. (Ignoring Mom and Dad)

Got her name tag and getting ready. (Ignoring Mom and Dad)

Following directions from the teacher. (Ignoring Mom and Dad)

Posing for pics!

Posing!

Playing....ignoring Mom and Dad.

Ignoring...well, you know!

She was all smiles as we were leaving.

Stay tuned for more pics from this afternoon.

Through the tears......

Through the tears, I......

finished Haley's backpack.....

(inside print),

wrote her a note that will be read to her on the first day of class....,

took pictures of her place at the table.....,

her cubby....,

the story rug....,

and this is where I had to suck it up and stop pouting. She only looks unhappy because she was too excited to want to pose for this picture.

She wanted to check out the kitchen.

And the playground that is RIGHT outside the classroom.

It's killing me...REALLY!!!!
Although, I think I will live through it.

She starts tomorrow at 7:30AM......wish us luck!

A honkin' goodbye.....

Tuesday was my last day of the summer semester at ICC. It also marked the day I finished my first college diploma (read~ meaningless to everyone but me). General Occupation Technology Diploma....sounds nice.....but still useless, just a stepping stone on the path to success.
Anyway, I wanted to celebrate my minuscule achievement after I got out of class but couldn't really think how so I decided to go on home. As I was leaving the parking lot, I noticed and heard something odd.

Canadian Geese. This was odd to me because they normally stay on the other side of campus near Lake Imogene. Every other semester I drive right by them on my way to and from class but this semester my class was in the rear part of campus and I haven't seen them at all. Anyway, this is the farthest I have ever seen them from the water. So I thought maybe they came up to Congratulate me and tell me to have a nice break.

Okay, it's a long shot but still a nice thought.....a little delusional but nice!

These are some strange creatures!

Here's another one.....new design!

I made this one last night and I think I may make a few more today after class.

This is what I started out with, the brown is the lining and handle.
Note: the colors are not quite right in any of these pictures.

That's the inside. I don't think you can see it, too dark!

Let me know what you all think!