happy halloween

A little pic of our pumpkin creations carved earlier this week. Will post pictures of the kids' costumes soon too (just need to get them all dressed and posed together). Have a Happy Halloween!

pumpkin patch time

Ok, I am just catching up on my Halloween postings right now.... so there's going to be a bunch of Halloween themed posts today and tomorrow. This past weekend we went to the pumpkin patch.... well, this was actually our second trip... the first trip (as you can see from the bottom pic) there was quite a bit of rain so it was a rather short and soggy one. Second time faired much better, so I was able to get some more snaps of all the decorated jack-o-lanterns. I will post more photos soon of our decorated house and, of course, Jasper's Halloween costume!

happy halloween!

Happy Monday and Happy Halloween! Here is a little snapshot of our little pumpkin family! I am crossing my fingers that tonight will be nice and rain-free... we'll be taking little Jasper out trick-or-treating, and there is nothing worse than a soggy costume. Will take pictures and share soon! 

pumpkin patch kid

A few pumpkin picking pictures to share today... and yes, I had to dress Jasper accordingly for the occasion. I have been waiting for the day that his noggin could fit this hat I got him last year, and that day finally came... it was perfect for his first wheelbarrow ride on the pumpkin farm. I swear he is smizing in the last photo... or maybe that is just me watching too much Top Model.

my little pumpkin

We went to the local farm on the weekend to pick up some fresh local veggies and were pleasantly reminded that pumpkin season has started! I refrained from getting one this early, since there is nothing grosser than possible rotting gourds sitting on our balcony, not to mention the added task of having to keep it away from one very curious toddler. So it was decided that pumpkin picking will have to wait a couple more weeks in this household. Jasper did get to have a practice run though... the whole time we were there, he insisted on trying to sit on every single one... perhaps he was playing musical pumpkins in his head.

pumpkin family

We have finally carved our pumpkins! We carved them a bit last minute this year, and sadly one of three big ones we got from our trip to the pumpkin patch was a wee bit rotten...ugh. So, instead I carved a wee baby pumpkin fella for our wee baby. Here is our pumpkin family! Hope everyone has a Happy Halloween with lots of treats! We will be enjoying some yummy sweets (yummy store bought pumpkin and chocolate tarts)... mmmmm.

oh gourd-ness!

I hope everyone up here in Canada had a great Thanksgiving long weekend! We had a great weekend with family and visits (ie. ate lots and lots and then complained about it afterwards), as well as enjoyed the very autumn-ey weather (woo-hoo, fall sweater time!). Thought I would share a pic of some gourd branches my sweet friend Carley (check out her blog Secret Squirrel) gave me the other day... aren't they pretty?... they almost look like tomatoes. Not sure if they are edible or not... I am thinking not... it always seems the prettiest plants tend to be the most poisonous and non-edible. Perhaps it's their way of luring prey in... mwahahahaha.

spill the guts

So after much digging around the internet, I stumbled upon a Bobby Flay recipe for roasted pumpkin seeds... but alas, I didn't have the right chili powders in my pantry, so the recipe took a turn... and we ended up improvising a bit... ok, a lot. We took the washed seeds from three fabulously carved pumpkins (yes, I am going to too my own horn here), a tablespoon of olive oil, chili powder, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, salt, and a dash of worcestershire sauce - no measurements, just sort of eyeballed. Into the oven at 275 deg F  for 1 hour and taa-daa... yummy pumpkin seeds! Off to munch on some more!

knives out

We got our knives out and went head to head with the pumpkins... mwahahahaha (that is my evil menacing laugh, btw). We went pretty traditional this year and stuck with the good 'ol classic jack-o-lantern faces... well, with a few twists here and there (I had to add ears and eyelashes on mine). Mmmm... the pumpkin-y smell still lingers. Tonight we'll be roasting the seeds.. still trying to find the right recipe... so if any one has any suggestions, do share!

pumpkin picking

After two sad failed attempts of trying to grow our own pumpkin plant this past summer (yes, they just shriveled up and died before they even got to the pumpkin stage), we brought ourselves some closure by heading to the local pumpkin patch this past weekend. With said dead pumpkin plants now out of mind, we ventured out into the field to find three healthy contenders for our yearly carving rituals. They are sitting on our balcony now, not knowing what lies ahead.. mwahahahaha (that is my attempt at a sinister laugh). Hmmm... actually, I think this is the laugh that my Martha Stewart Magazine makes when I try to attempt to get fancy with my carving ideas after looking at the beautiful ones on its glossy pages.... hmmm.

happy thanksgiving!

It is Thanksgivng here in Canada today... gobble gobble! So I hope everyone up here is having a relaxing holiday! The big One of a Kind show is finally over, so I can breathe a big sigh of relief and relax... well sort of... we are making the big dinner tonight... eep! Our turkey is brining, the stuffing is prepped and I have the cranberry sauce all made.... but we are still prepping all the other things for dinner later tonight (this is the first time we have ever made a turkey, so I will keep you posted on how it goes.... I am a wee bit nervous.... I just want this darn bird to be juicy!). Happy Thanksgiving!

pumpkin seed pesto

I ran out of pine nuts to make pesto, so I used toasted green pumpkin seeds (pepitas) instead... and the result? It was really yummy! I didn't actually follow an exact recipe... just blended together the seeds, a big bunch of basil, a garlic clove, some olives, parmesan and olive oil... oh yes and topped the whole dish with crumbled goat cheese (cause anything with goat cheese on it is yum) and ta-da!... dinner is served. Maybe I will try toasted almonds next time.... hmmmm.

pumpkin encore

A couple of months ago, we planted a pumpkin seed in a pot, which did fine until I had tried to transplant it to a proper garden plot - my thumb went from green to brown - Mr. Pumpkin plant totally shriveled up and died. So here is our second attempt - Mr. Pumpkin II. A little paranoid at the thought of killing another one, I am letting this one grow a bit larger before I transplant it... but not sure if I let it get too big already (oops)... our quest for an orange homegrown pumpkin continues!