November Hostess Specials

Roasting a Pumpkin

 

I have a blog that I subscribe to that I love and get some great ideas for it! I could never be that good. If you have never checked it out...you should: http://simpleorganic.net/

That is where I got this great idea from and now I'm sharing my own experience:

The fall is such a wonderful time for warm, familiar scents and foods. And I LOVE pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, breads and cakes. (I'm not a pie fan, but my husband covers that area.)

I have always used canned pumpkin. It never occurred to me how easy it would be to make my own. We went to a pumpkin patch this year and carved two out of the three we picked before Halloween and today I roasted the third. The best thing about this is teaching my son where parts of his food come from (instead of straight from a can) and avoiding uncessarry preservatives, etc.

Step 1: Preheat oven to 400'. Place pumpkin on a cookie sheet and coat with oil.



Step 2: Roast pumpkin for 45 minutes. (See top picture.) The pictures don't do the wonderful color justice.

Step 3: Cut in half to let cool.



Step 4: Option 1, Scoop out seeds and roast with various recipes. Option 2, discard them along with the strings.

Step 5: Peel off skin. This was fun, but too messy to take pictures.

Step 6: Add chunks of the pumpkin "meat" to blender with a little water. Blend and get LOTS of puree. Next comes the fun and yummy baking!

"Green" Halloween: Decorations

http://www.free-home-decorating-ideas.com

Get back to the basics for your home this year. Halloween decorations can be natural and non-commercial, with gourds, pumpkins and Jack-o-Lanterns! Lower your emissions on Halloween by buying locally grown pumpkins, and then lower your waste by composting them after Halloween is over. Use recycled paper to make window decorations, and then send them on for another round of recycling after the holiday. Paper grocery bags can be cut and molded into spooky Halloween trees, masks, and painted white for ghostly effects. (from earthshare.org)