. . .from stash to trash

Since I'm on a roll with new recipes. . .and because I have a reputation of "stirring" up the holidays with something of the alcohol nature (for the adults of course), I have wanted to try a new recipe of Homemade Strawberry-Watermelon Rum. 

Sweet Potato Pie Recipe

(pie while cooling, top will drop down a bit)

Sweet Potato Pie
(organic ingredients) 

Boil 1 lb of sweet potatoes (I use a kitchen scale to weigh the sweet potatoes) for 45-50 minutes or until cooked, then place sweet potatoes into an ice bath (safe bowl to add ice and water) to cool.  Peel and place in a bowl with:


1/2 cup softened butter.  Mix well - hand or electric mixer works well.

Add:

Overnight Breakfast Recipe

Sharing the recipe as promised.  I'll get the sweet potato pie recipe up soon too.   You are getting two blogposts today, due to this. . .

Woke up to this again.  Rain.  I can't do garden work, work on the barn siding, barn rubble, nor weed the last of the flower bed either.  The rain has been playing havoc on getting outdoor work completed.  And because I'm out of bacon fat, I don't want to roast the last 8 pumpkins either.  No way am I roasting them without roasting the seeds.  My whiskey-bacon pumpkin seeds went super duper fast.  Lick-ity split fast.  I'm out of bacon and whiskey.  Oh, don't worry.  I'll be tearing apart my vacuum sweeper and tackling some cleaning, getting another article written, and possibly some porch time and handiwork in the mean time.

Back to the recipe.

Pumpkin Soup ~ Tidbits

I have never made pumpkin soup of any sort, so this year I did. I roasted one entire pumpkin for this soup. 

The recipe in my "pile" or "stash" called for potatoes.  I did some searching, and found there are so many ways to make this soup.

I didn't follow the pumpkin and red lentil soup recipe I found online, but adjusted it to what I had.  I seasoned it with home canned hot sauce and garlic both fresh (heated with the onion) and some garlic powder to add more flavor.

 I served it with a dollop of sour cream, and freshly chopped parsley.  Some of it is going in the freezer.  The hens are happy gals too.  They are getting the pumpkin "guts" for a treat.

The taste test with the soup?

Delicious!   I used 2 carrots and 2 potatoes in my soup, as well as the pumpkin.

Guess what arrived at the library?

Pear-Walnut Bread (using applesauce) ~ Whiskey-Bacon Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

For the first time in a long, long, long time, I woke up to a day where I had nothing on the list that could be done (for one reason or another).  Rain arrived, and there was heavy cloud cover, making me feel even lazier than ever.  Oh, I could have attacked some deep cleaning with gusto, but I didn't.  I got a few recipes written on cards, but boy I felt lazy dazy.  Maybe I deserved a day off and it just arrived?

Well, I eventually found something I could do.   I mean they are taking up half of a kitchen table right now.

About the bread. . . .

Barn Siding ~ Getting our Legumes ~ Red lentil burgers ~ Beet Hummus

Sorry if this is a boring post about beans, but I have a few new recipes to share - from "pile to file" keepers.  I've found my voice this month, so watch out for long posts.  I think I have blog-i-tis this October.  I can't blame the weather either.  It's been hot out again.

The only other news, is that while I was sitting on the porch with leg up sipping my hot herbal tea yesterday, a car hit a deer just yards from our north drive.  The driver pulled over (a young girl), and the deer flopped around on the road for a few seconds, then got up and ran off.  The same area a car hit one early morning not long ago.  There is a corn field adjacent and north of our property.  

 Before

We also got some barn siding removed last night.  We are tired folks.  Simply tired.

We've been eating more beans than meat lately.  It helps the budget as well as our health.  These meals were over a period of time.

I soaked a bag of organic black beans for all sorts of meals/snacks.  We love it on a burrito for any meal - add scrambled eggs, any leftover rice/veggie mix, jalapenos or cowboy candy, or yellow squash relish (or radish relish)...more total goodness.  

I'll have a post regarding the yellow squash relish soon. 

(these are broiled)

I have also made red lentil burgers for the first time.

Tidbits ~ Barn Rubble Update

Monday madness didn't stop this gal from getting the list crossed off.  Even though I was dog-gone tired.  

Popcorn was all pulled.  I'm not thrilled with the harvest, but it's more than the year we only got 2-3 ears.  I'm happy, but sad to see so many small ears this year.  

I brought in 8 more pie pumpkins.  Had I thought in advance, I would have kept the white one for target practice.  I tossed it.  It was the heirloom variety that went rotten before ripening, and I only got 3 of those pumpkins, out of 4 mounds of seeds planted.  It's not a good variety to plant, but my New England variety did well.  Grand total of pie pumpkins this year is 23.  

I brought in a bit more of the hot peppers too.  I'll be freezing most of them, and tossing a few in dinner.  I had some tomatoes too.  I have been very late in getting those dang plants pulled.

 The day of knocking this barn down.

And for that barn clean up update. . .

"In progress" photo from last weekend.  See all that roofing?  That one piece to the left was a huge pile, but Hubby and I worked it down to the last piece until help arrived.  There was a third pile off to the right of that next large pile.