Despite my tardiness in posting, we had a nice thanksgiving. Our main course was gumbo & french bread (here's the gumbo cooking)


I made delicious bean dip from Foodie Farm Girl's recipe. (It's not terribly photogenic in this picture, but we ate it before I remembered to get a better picture!


We also had pecan pie, squash pie, and soybean pie (yum).



(I ate squash and soybean for breakfast and lunch for days afterwards....)

It might be time to get the leaf blower out...

We had Thanksgiving up at our place again this year, with S's parents & grandmother and my parents. I always love to read about what everyone else has on their table, so here's what we had. (I neglected to take pictures of dessert...):

So after carving a pumpkin, you'll have lots of seeds left over. That's my favorite part :-) I love to eat toasted, seasoned pumpkin seeds.

The pumpkin in question was fairly large, so I knew the seeds might be tough and fibrous. After doing a little research, we decided to take the advice of Elise from Simply Recipes, and boil the seeds first to soften them a bit. We rinsed and soaked the seeds in water for about 10 min this is after hand-picking all of that slimy, stringy stuff out.)


Then we boiled the pumpkin seeds in salt water for 10 minutes (that's 10 minutes of rolling boil.)


We spread the pumpkin seeds out in a baking dish and coated them with olive oil, using some salt and garlic powder for flavoring (season yours however you like, but I do recommend at least some salt....although you could always add that later). Then we just tossed them around a little bit with a spatula to make sure that they were coated with the oil.


Then we just put them in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 20-30 minutes (until brown.) Just remember to move them around the baking dish occasionally to get them to brown more evenly (you can just use that same spatula again, for that.)


Once they're browned, they're done--and ready for snacking. We really did find that the boiling helped with the seeds being fibrous--a relative also suggested that next time we soak them overnight in salt water to help with that, too.

Last night the forecast said the temperature would get down to 45. It's not even October yet, but it's pretty obvious that fall's on its way. Call me crazy, but I kinda like fall. The air is so nice and crisp, the apples are ripening, and it's the perfect temperature outside during the day--between 58 and 72. I was always the dorky kid that liked buying new school supplies in the fall :-) It's a time for changes, and for new beginnings.

Some things are still blooming, while others have passed peak long ago. Without fall, mother nature wouldn't have her period of rest....and without rest there would be no spring..no summer. No blooms or harvests. Much as I dislike winter, the plants and ground all need that dormant period. So fall's definitely a good thing...and not just cause of apple cider and pecan pies and beautiful changing leaf colors.

Although those are nice too. :-)