HAPPY THANKSGIVING! and.....Pumpkin overload

Hubby had to work today so we are had Thanksgiving Dinner with family yesterday.  My brother and sister-in-law flew in from out west a few days ago to see family and we had a wonderful thanksgiving feast.  Of course, 3 special people were not able to join us - My sister in law spend dinner with her family and My step father and my brother-in-law are currently out of the country for work.  

Darren and Kev went to help out a friend close up his parent's cottage and do some work around the property that needed to be done.  This friend lost his baby girl a few weeks ago so Darren and a bunch of work buddies are heading up to get everything done for them.  I wanted to go but given I'm still forbidden to do manual labour of any sort because of my back injury, I stayed home with Miss Em. 

After  a restless night, Em was up bright and early at 6:30am despite trying to get her to nap for just a little bit longer -- it wasn't going to happen.

By 7:30 we were starting the prep for making pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving Dinner.  

We made the crust from scratch, put it in the fridge to cool and set a bit and we started on the pumpkin pie filling.  Since I didn't have any left over from last year in the freezer (we lost everything in our freezer in July when we went away and the freezer door was left open 1/2 an inch.  Yep - quite the mess). I had to use <gasp> canned.

Just kidding - in all fairness, canned pure pumpkin is just fine.  However - since I'm trying to watch what my family eats and am attempting to feed them more locally grown, fresh, organic food and produce, I question what nutrition is lost in the commercial canning process.  I already know the taste isn't as good as fresh but since canning pumpkin puree at home is not safe, sometimes canned is the only option.

Yes.  You did read that correctly.  Home canning, using any method (boiling water or pressure canner) of pumpkin puree is not safe.  I have done a lot of research on this topic and other than canning pumpkin cubes (which still can be questionable) it cannot safely be done....so I won't do it.

Freezing pumpkin puree is perfectly fine.  So I do that.  

After we got the pumpkin pies made (Em 'decorated' the crust edges - she's awesome!) and into the oven, I cut the 6 pie pumpkins I picked up saturday in half and scooped out the seeds.  

Pumpkins ready to go into the oven.

Pumpkin pies out of the oven and starting to cool - she did a great job on the crusts eh??

Back to the pie pumpkins....

I baked them at 350 for 1 hour and took them out to cool for about another hour (just until they were cool enough to handle).  

When they were cool, I scooped out the meat and put it in the food processor.  Once pureed, I took the pumpkin out and put it in a food strainer to strain out the water.

Once that was done, I filled ziploc bags (already labeled with name/date/amount).  Then into the freezer they went.

Next time I want to make pumpkin anything...pancakes, bread, pie, cookies, cheesecake, scones, cake...I just need to take out a bag and let it thaw in the fridge.

Pumpkin Puree

Ingredients

·      6 pie pumpkins, halved with the seeds removed

Directions

1.     Bake halved pumpkins in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour.
      Remove pumpkins and let cool
      Scoop out pumpkin meat and blend in food processor
      Drain water out of puree
      Place in ziplock bags, labeled with amount and date.
      Freeze.

Yield

·     12 cups

Cost

·      Pie Pumpkins - 6 for $10

·      Total - $0.83 per 250ml.

Stain, stain go away - come on back another, wait - Never??

I don't get how Martha Stewart does it. Or did it before she was famous (and had servants to do her work).

How the hell do you get rid of an old SET IN STAIN!

I've read the tips, I've tried the tips.  The tips don't work half the time.

I have kids (and a husband) therefore I have stains on clothes.....and as such, many are thrown out when i have given up trying to get the stain out.

So....along comes my friend Mr. Google and we look for a homemade product that just might work.

I found a recipe, tried it, and O. M. G.  It works.  The photos don't acutally do the product as much justice as it deserves....but it works.  My husband has this beautiful stark white Canada hat I purchased for him during the 2010 winter olympics.  Why I decided white would be a good colour for my gets everything covered in stains husband, I will never know.

His hat was gross.  The sweat-dirt stains were all over it and I banished the hat to a spot where he couldn't FIND it so that I wouldn't be embarrassed if he tried to wear it out in public.  I had already tried throwing it in the wash to no avail.

So.  I pulled it out (hey honey I "found" your hat LOL!!).

Spray on the homemade stain remover.  Wait 10 minutes.  Rinse off.

Holy white hat.

The photos below are from the first time I did it.  I should have taken more after I went through the process a second time and actually scrubbed the hat.....but I can't find the hat anymore.  Pretty sure that hubby has hidden it so I can't get my hands on it again.  haha.  It's amazing - it looks brand new.

Since the hat, I have used it on nearly every set it and fresh stain that comes up.  It's been great.  New stains come out perfectly and as for the old set in ones...well....I took a pile of 20 pairs of kids underwear (my daughter had 'bathroom issues') that I was about to pitch.  I sprayed each and every one, threw them in the wash and crossed my fingers.  Out of 20, I  completely saved 8 pairs.  Not a hint of any stain left anymore.  The remaining 12 were better but not completely stain free.  And these stains were old, set and had many bleach/commercial stain removers applied with no success.  I've also recently used it on a cat barf stain in the basement.  Took it out completely in less than 2 minutes.

The commercial stuff I had been using was either the Clorox 2 Laundry Stain Remover ($3.47 for 650ml) or OxyClean Gel Stick Pre-Treater ($3.99 for 6.5 oz)

Here is how I did it and what it cost.

Laundry Stain Remover

Ingredients

·      1 cup dawn dishwashing liquid

·      2 cups Hydrogen peroxide

Directions

1.     mix toget

Yield

·     750ml

Cost

·      Dawn dishwashing liquid ($2.49/750ml) = $0.83/1 cup

·      Hydrogen Peroxide ($1.97/1 L) = $0.985/2 cups

·      Total - $1.81

Updating the 13 year old birdhouse - a la 5 year old.

13 years ago, when Darren and I moved into a quaint little house in Nova Scotia, his mother gave us a beautiful birdhouse for the yard. It has proudly stood outside in our backyard no matter where we lived. It's a beautiful structure and I've never come across another one I've liked nearly a much.

5 years ago it started to show major signs of wear and weather. The finials were being eaten away by rain, the bird perches were mostly gone and the roofs had begun to crack and break.

When we moved here last year the birdhouse went into the shed. I had intended on fixing it up but didn't know where to start and didn't have time.

I have time now.

A week ago I found the finials on eBay for $1.00 each. They arrived yesterday. Em asked what they were so we pulled out the birdhouse and I showed her where it was broken and we had to fix it.

I hadn't intended to fix it up right then and there but she suggested we do it and honestly, one look in her beautiful hazel eyes and I couldn't say no.

Out came the wood glue and we fixed the roof. The one remaining finial was unceremoniously discarded and the dust/bird poop/dead grass and such was cleaned off the rest of the structure.

Paint. Crap. I have no idea where the paint is!!!. Emily helped me search through our crazy mess craft boxes and we found a few suitable (to a 5 year old) paints that were still usable (and pitched the crappy hard-as-a-rock 10 year old paint).

I gave her complete control of the colours. A dangerous suggestion but she carefully held the bottles of paint to the roof, sides and finials and decides that purple / green and ivory would be the best.

Once the wood glue was dry we started painting. She did an amazing job and the end result looks great.

A few coats of outdoor sealer and this house will be back outside for the birds.

Thanks for the help Emily - today was fun.