Eating The Jack-O-Lanterns!

You mustn't be a miser with your pumpkins. I am not for stingy frugality....the kind of frugal that means you keep the plastic on your furniture and yell at people for turning in the heat. I do love a deep useful, make-do kind of a mindset, on the other hand! I think that kind of thinking is at the root of my love of thrifting, foraging and making things myself. Its capability and cleverness that saves money but also makes the impossible reachable and attainable.

Love to live that way.

As I said about the pumpkins....there's no need to skimp....get big plump ones for your kids to carve and let them sit out front with each little silhouette design glowing proudly but then.....when the candy has been gorged on and the trick-or-treaters are gone....really impress your kids! Is it over for the pumpkins? Are they ready for the trash? NO way!

Bring those suckers into the kitchen and have a go at capability yourself! Eat the jack-o-lanterns!

I cut the pumpkin into chunks with a paring knife that are about the size of my palm. Then with said knife or with a vegetable peeler (I adore this one....so sharp and efficient!) get all the rind off. Then a quick rinse if you like and chunk it up and toss it into a pot over medium low heat with three or four cups of water. Don't worry about the inside of the pumpkin being shrivelled and kind of leathery and dried out....it will rehydrate and cook down just fine. The other thing that shouldn't go into the pot of actually moldy bits or rind, besides that....it can all stew. Keep adding chunks until you fill the pot and let it simmer at a low heat (adding water any time it gets low,  until all the pieces are soft when speared with a knife and they are starting to come apart. This was kind of an all day process at our house today. Makes for a yummy smelling house! Made me happy to open the door to the piano teacher today when the kitchen was all pumpkiny and sweet.

So then....do whatever you'd like with the resulting pumpkin meat! Snack this afternoon was little ramikins of stewed pumpkin with a dollup of butter and some salt and a spoon each. Very cozy....especially with a mug of tea. You can serve it for dinner just like that in a big bowl. You can also put it in bags in the freezer for later meals, in that simple state. You can also have a homemade pumpkin pie with your own pumpkin pulp....Ru's jack-o-lantern made it to pie form at our house tonight which was a great coup for him. I used this recipe from Mommypatamus. Just remember that the pie you make won't be as dark and vibrant an orange as one you'd make from canned pumpkin....that's because canned pumpkin isn't pumpkin. Libby's packs butternut squash which has a higher sugar content, richer flavor and deeper color than your jack-o-lantern meat. Nothing to worry about, just a heads up for expectations.

Another super simple option is to make pumpkin butter. This means stirring as much sweetner as you like (I love honey or maple syrup) into the cooked pumpkin and adding cloves, ginger and cinnamon and pureeing in a food processor or with a stick blender, right in the pot. Its great on biscuits and other breads, stirred into  oatmeal or plain yogurt and or just eaten out of the spoon like you would apple sauce. Hope your Halloween was fun and that the holiday stress ahead of you keeps its distance for a while. May the pumpkin simmering on your stove slow down time and give you some sweetly scented now to carry you through.

Fall Basics

We have been having so much fun at our house lately....although the garage does still loom, full to the brim with our excess. We are going on leaf-kicking day trips on the weekends, starting to schedule those dinners with friends and field trips with local mamas that we mean to do. We have been eating baked potatoes, carmelized onions, sausages, roast chickens and mushrooms of every kind. This afternoon I put an apple cake in the oven impulsively after we got back from our afternoon walk.

We spent more money than I like to admit on the Goodwill run for procuring supplies but we are well into the process of Halloween costumes...a mixture of purchased and hacked together. We are talking to our family regularly, spending time reading long chapter books, eating outdoors, and taking all the weekly hikes we said we would when we moved to this amazing state.

I feel like our life has finally calmed down a little and we're hitting a more normal rhythm again. Getting back to the basics has helped. I've cut objects from the house, I've cut things from our schedule, I've cut complications out of the instructions for the kids routine, I've cut dinner one night a week in favor of a cheat meal, etc. etc.  Its easy for me to get all in a dither about "things" all the many, many things that seem like they need doing and celebrating and making.

 Fall is a time to slow down....a time to curl in a little and to think more carefully about what's needed for the upcoming winter. Its basics time. I made myself a little list today of what I think is basic to fall for me....the other things that I think are important really take second chair and end up being extra credit. Here's how it looks from here, in Autumn.

Little Autumn Basics

• Harvesting something might be my number one essential. I always say I am part squirrel. Head outdoors for mushroom hunting, apple picking, nut gathering or pumpkin harvesting and kick a few leaves for extra credit. Breath deep, smell the fall air. 
• Roasting things in the oven. It can be so many things or just one delicious meal. So many good options: parsnips tossed with thyme and oil, pumpkins whole in their shells, apples stuffed with nuts and cinnamon, a big juicy beef roast, a chicken from the farmer's market or a tray of oysters topped with butter and tarragon.
• Wearing plaid. I'm a Scot and a girl from the woods and a Northern soul....flannels are my favorite. My boys all have them and I have them and my patient husband finds he keeps getting them for gifts. They keep you warm, they can dress down and add a cozy charm to outings, work days and evening snuggles by the fire. Extra credit for plaid lined jackets and wool blankets in tartan shades. 
• Seeing some colors. Go catch a brilliant maple show on a favorite local road, hike the mountains to see the aspens flare or just stay up in the cool of the evening to catch a spectacular autumn sunset. Wherever you are, even if maples and cool evenings aren't part of your world, there is "autumn color" in some form. I have to have pretty leaves...do your bit however you can.
• Thanksgiving. The origins are murky and the politics are sticky but beauty that is unquestionable remains. Family gathering is powerful and rhythmic and right, celebrating harvest and abundance and the gathering in of nature is a beautiful thing, offering gratitude to The Creator who sustains all things is peace-giving and honorable.  Bring on the turkey!
• Boiling potpourri on the stove always ends up happening. I throw in whatever I have that smells cozy....bits of pine branch, cinnamon sticks, cloves, orange peel, etc. Its fast and simple and makes me feel like housekeeper of the year and most festive girl in the neighborhood.
• Having cozy drinks is always in order in the autumn. I love fresh, raw cider, hard cider, mulled wine, hot cocoa (extra credit for cinnamon!) and chai tea myself. 
• Extra sleeping always seems to be inevitable if-not perfectly appropriate. Snug naps after chilly-aired hikes, sleeping in with the one I love on cozy weekends, hitting the hay early when the dark and the fog push us indoors and make us snoozy...so many ways to get extra zzz's and wind down the way that nature pushes us this time of year.  
• Taking long walks is rythmically autumnal to me. I grew up walking through the woods deer hunting with my papa in the fall, but it was also a time to go out for mushroom walks and follow-the-truck-down-a-two-track treks to find wild apples by the bushel. Everything in me wants to pack a napsack in fall and go stretch my legs...maybe all day! My husband grew up with trail hiking, following plotted state-park walks and looking for blazes and map following through the woods. We both like to get out and if  you call it a walk I'm un-intimidated and if you call it a hike he's eager. 

Things That Matter

We are working and working on settling in....I keep taking more things out to the garage again, we keep finding spots for things to live, this week I put up some pictures on the walls and the boys and I bought bulbs (science, you know) and double used them as biology lesson and garden improvement. The garden has suffered, the whole yard has from vigorous tiny-male use and motherly neglect while I have been working on the inside. So many balls to juggle.

Last night something gave and I stayed up....way past my bedtime...I snapped and washed every single dish in the whole house, then swept the floor, then wiped down the counters and polished the stove. And then, I had a cup of tea.

And then I got out my paints in the quiet glow of the office and I made colors swirl together and image magically appear on the blank page...until about 3am. So beautiful, so feeding, so irresponsible. Tonight I am going to bed early.

Boxes matter, dishes matter, gardening matters, school work matters....but painting in a silent house with a mug of tea beside you matters too.