Warning...

If you make pumpkin bread with ground cumin instead of ground cloves, it may still look pretty, but it won't taste yummy.

World Hello Day, National Pumpkin Pie Day, November 21st

World Hello Day

Today is the 34th annual World Hello Day. To celebrate today you simply need to greet ten people with the simple world "hello." Why? To encourage world peace through personal interaction.

National Pumpkin Pie Day

Why should you eat pumpkin pie? Because 1 cup of pumpkin puree contains:

80 Calories
No Cholesterol
Less than 1 gram of fat
588 milligrams of Potassium
2.4 grams of Protein
310% of RDA for Vitamin A, &
20% of RDA for Vitamin C

I dare any other pie ingredient to try to be so healthy. And pumpkins were once believed to get rid of freckles. So, if you have some extra pie filling left, spread a little on your face for a healthy facial.

Yum, yum. I can't wait!

Halloween!, Books for Treats Day, Carve A Pumpkin Day, October 31st

It's Halloween!

I am upset with blogger because it lost what I spent hours writing up for today. Stupid blogger. So this will be a short post, when it should be a long one about the traditions and other cool things about Halloween. But, there is plenty out there on the web if you feel that you need more information about Halloween. But, all we really need to know is that it is fun.

Books for Treats Day

Book treats! What a novel idea! Honestly, I wish that Books for Treats Day was popular when I was a kid. This would have kept me happy for months after Halloween. So, don't give out candy, give out treats for the imagination!

Carve A Pumpkin Day

If you haven't already, you really should carve a pumpkin today, because if we weren't carving pumpkins, we would be carving turnips, which I think would be very hard. If you don't believe me, read the history of Jack O' Lanterns. Or, if you are a frutarian, you probably want to tell people about the horrors eating vegetables like pumpkins, and doing useless things like carving them, so watch this video.



Whatever you end up doing or reading today, have a happy and safe Halloween!

International Frugal Fun Day, Ripe Pumpkin Day, October 7th

International Frugal Fun Day

This site has lots of ideas for frugal fun... but, I think we can combine the two celebrations today.

Ripe Pumpkin Day

It's a good day to go visit a pumpkin farm an pick out that pumpkin for Halloween! And maybe even one to cook dinner in. That's right a pumpkin to cook your dinner in. (And thanks to freshman roommate Christy for the recipe!)

Dinner in a Pumpkin

1 medium to large pumpkin
1 1/2 - 2 lbs hamburger or ground turkey
2 cups cooked rice- wild rice is nice for texture
3-4 stalks chopped celery
1 chopped med. onion
1 chopped green or red bell pepper
1 cup of mushrooms or 1 sm. can of mushrooms
2 tbsp Italian Seasoning
3-4 cloves garlic minced
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp pepper
2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 c. light brown sugar
4 tbsp. butter or olive oil
1 cup broth- chicken, vegetable, or beef

Cook hamburger until brown in skillet and drain. In separate skillet saute onions, garlic, mushrooms, peppers and celery with butter or olive oil. In a bowl mix together hamburger, and vegetable mixture with rice, and broth, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, Worcestershire Sauce, and brown sugar.

Cut off top of pumpkin; clean out inside seeds and strings. Wash out pumpkin. Add all your ingredients into pumpkin. Put top on pumpkin. Place on cookie sheet in a preheated 375 degree oven for 1 - 2 hours or until pumpkin is soft. Scoop out pumpkin squash with the hamburger for a hearty meal. Serves 6-10.

Elephant Appreciation Day, Hobbit Day, Egg Equinox Retraction, September 22nd

Elephant Appreciation Day

Elephants are not my favorite animals. Well, mostly because I never liked zoos, because I hate monkeys. I did sort of like elephants because of the Kipling Story, but was always turned off by the smell. But after reading this web story which shows that elephants love to eat pumpkins, I now have a new love for elephants. Elephants love pumpkins; I love pumpkin food stuffs. It's almost like we are the same being! I must now say that I love elephants because they love pumpkins.

My favorite pumpkin recipes are:

Pumpkin Melt in Your Mouth Biscuits

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp. allspice
1/3 cup butter, cold
3/4 cup pureed pumpkin (cooked or canned)
3/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Sift flour into mixing bowl. Stir in remaining dry ingredients. Cut in butter with a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly. Stir in pumpkin and milk to form a soft dough. Roll out on floured surface to 1/2-inch thickness. Cut out biscuits with biscuit cutter. Place on greased baking sheet. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Makes 24 to 30 biscuits.

Pumpkin Smoothie

2 cups canned pumpkin
1/2 cup almond milk
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
1 tablespoon pumpkin spice
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 dash vanilla extract, plus 2 dashes
1 1/2 cups crushed ice
Cinnamon for garnish
In a blender, combine pumpkin, soy milk, yogurt, pumpkin spice, juice of half a lemon, and 1 dash of vanilla extract. Blend together until smooth, and begin adding the ice while continuing to blend. When mixture is thick and creamy, stop and hold in refrigerator at least 30 minutes. Sprinkle with cinnamon

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Spread
This is absolutely the best with bagels or crackers! As good as Einstein's!

1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Beat all ingredients in a medium mixing bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours. Makes 1-1/2 cups (24, 1-tablespoon servings).

And what would pumpkin recipes be without a pie?

Buttermilk Pumpkin Pie

This pie is lighter in texture and a little tangier than traditional pumpkin pie. The buttermilk flavor is wonderful. This pie is best served chilled.

1 disk, Pie Crust
3 eggs
1 egg yolk
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon cinnamon., 2t ginger, 1 t nutmeg, ¼ t ground cloves
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
3 tablespoons melted butter
1 1/4 cups milk + 2 Tablespoons lemon juice till curdled

Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 12 inch round. Carefully transfer to 9-inch pie pan. Press into pan. Trim and decoratively crimp edges. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Bake crust until just golden, about 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F.
Meanwhile, whisk eggs, egg yolk and sugar in large bowl until blended. Mix in flour, spices and vanilla. Stir in pumpkin and butter, then milk & lemon juice mixture. Pour filling into crust. Bake until set (center will puff slightly) about 45 minutes. Cool completely.

And with that we are almost ready to celebrate the Month O'Pumpkins! Woo Hoo!

Hobbit Day

If you have any bad rings laying around... please toss them into the nearest volcano, so that we don't have a dark lord and armies of orcs taking over the country... oh, wait... Who ever has the one ring, get rid if it now!

Happy Birthday Bilbo and Frodo!

Egg Equinox Retraction

After further research, I have found that the eggs balancing on the Equinox is an urban legend. Sorry. Apparently, eggs can balance on any old day of the year. It has nothing to do with the tilt of the earth. This astronomy facts website helps answer some of these questions, and guides us to further egg balancing experiments, and blames the media for continuing to do news stories that promote these rumors. Check the site out, see if you want to do your own experiments. Can you balance an egg today? How about tomorrow- Equinox? And then the day after? Be your own myth-buster!