Harvesting My Little Crop

Hello Again.

Pumpkin seeds found their way into every corner of my various garden spots this year. Having never planted them before, I thought the little sugar pumpkins would be my best choice since they're so good for cooking - the thing that I do. The vines had wilted and all ten of the orange globes waiting to be picked seemed to call my name, "Judi, don't let us go rotten sitting here all winter, like you sometimes do when you forget about your seedlings". So, I baked several, pureed the meat, and bagged most of it for the freezer and my favorite pie.

Some of the seeds were put aside to dry for next year's planting, and the rest, I roasted. But first I checked out a couple of pumpkin seed roasting recipes, as mine never seemed to be edible, if you know what I mean: burnt, boring, mushy, hard, etc.  This time they were great, which tells me that you can't always fly by the seat of your pants. In other words - paying attention to recipes that others have tried successfully is often a good idea.

My wonderful buddy, Jacki, brought over some tasty red wine and a copy of the old 60's movie starring Terence Stamp, "The Collector". It was a bit creepy, but well acted and unique. I've been told that the nurse in the last scene of the movie resembled me at that age, and I believe it's true. She was awesomely cute, I might add. Okay, so sometimes I lack humility; sorry about that.

While watching the movie, Jacki, Rod and I ate those yummy pumpkin seeds and popcorn along with our wine. I threw together a simple apple crisp for dessert and used some of my fresh pumpkin puree for a lighter version of Cream of Pumpkin Soup. What a relaxing evening. The soup was comforting and delicious, if I must say so myself. Plus, it's actually good for you.

If you'd like to make some humble pumpkin soup (without using cream) try the recipe on my recipe page. You may use canned pumpkin if you don't have fresh, and how easy is that? We ate it all so fast that I forgot to take pics this time.

Hope your weekend has been as good as mine.

Gotta go wrap birthday presents and take them to my sister, Jill. She's older today than she was yesterday. That's all I'll say about that.

It's sunny outside. ;o)

Judi