Pumpkin Fun

Yesterday was such a fabulous day for me. After three weeks of living the single life, first alone in England and then here with kids, I finally had Lou back, my boys all healthy and an entire day with nothing to do. We had a nice late breakfast, watched some movies, ate a little lunch and then decided that some pumpkin carving was in order. Lou hasn't helped us in the past so I think it was an eye opener for him how much work, I mean, fun carving a pumpkin really is. Here are my silly guys with their pumpkins. Oh, and my cat pumpkin too. :o)



Step two of the pumpkin process is roasting the seeds. We had so many that I offered to make a couple of different kinds. Lou wanted just salt and I wanted to try something new... How about pumpkin spice? I tossed them with almond oil and then sprinkled on cinnamon sugar and a little nutmeg. Yum!



We ended the evening by taking supper to Mom and Dad's to celebrate Dad's birthday. We brought chicken and sides and Mom made some more sides and a cake. It was a nice little party for Dad on the day he wanted to forget. Heehee.

This morning I talked Lou into staying home one more day. He had been working thirteen hour days while he was gone and only had one day off the entire ten days. He needed at least the equivalent of one weekend before he went back. Since he agreed I wanted to make some blackberry pie, but found out that I had once again bought only ONE can of pie filling. Hmmm what to do? I searched my freezer and found... figs. Huh. Well after a bit of thinking I thawed one quart of figs, poured in my pie filling, added 1/2 cup of sugar and 1/2 tsp of almond extract and filled up my crust.



It tastes really good, but next time I will add a 1/4 cup of flour to thicken it so it isn't pie soup. I also found the time to make a menu for the week!

Menu of the week:

Wednesday
Cereal
Out to lunch for errand day
Asian Salmon, Salad, fried zucchini

Thursday
Quinoa
Spaghetti
Sweet & Sour Meatballs, Spaghetti squash, asparagus

Friday
Oatmeal
Sandwiches and chips
Chili and cookie bars

Saturday
Hobbit Brunch
Out before trick or treating

Sunday
Church
Out with Mom and Dad
Stuffed Potatoes

Monday
Cereal
Pumpkin Pancakes
Homemade Pizza

Tuesday
Beans and Toast
Tomato-basil soup and Grilled Cheese
15 Bean Soup