Thank you mango person

This weekend we went out to say Goodnight to the stars and lock up the house and a surprise bag was hanging on the door knob. Was this a mistake? How did the baskets of raspberries and mango's get on my door?

I've made a big mango lasse, and only a tiny handful of people know my passion for mango lasse!

So who ever you are.....mango person......You put a smile on my face on a week I was really down. So thank you for your kindness!

Oh if you don't know what a mango lasse is, it is a yogurt mango drink from India. Far away daughter introduced me to it on a visit home and I've been enjoying mango lasse ever since!

Once again Thank you to the mango door dropper!

Pumpkin Pie Cake

Easy to make yummy with a dollop of whipped cream

Pumpkin pie cake

1 box of yellow or white cake mix (set aside 1 cup)

1/2 cup butter melted

1 egg

MIX the above well and press firmly in 9 X13 pan

1 large can pumpkin (3 1/2 cups)

3 eggs

1 teas cinnamon

2/3 cup milk

3/4 cup sugar

Mix well and pour over cake mix. Using the remaining 1 cup of cake mix add

1/4 cup sugar

1teas. cinnamon

2 Tablespoons melted butter

1/2 cup chopped nuts any kind

Sprinkle over top of pumpkin mix and bake at 400 degrees F. for 10 min. and then 350 degrees F. for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Pumpkin bread Valley Spinners Guild 1982

A blast from my past. I've eaten this but not made it. It was so good I had the maker write it on a paper bag (all we had with us). Thanks Marge Bentley where ever you are!

Pumpkin bread

3 cups sugar

2/3 cup butter

4 eggs

2 cups cooked mashed pumpkin

2/3 cup water

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp baking powder

3 1/2 cups flour

1 cup chopped nuts if you wish

Beat sugar, butter & eggs together in a large bowl until light. Add pumpkin and water. Sift dry ingredients together. Add to pumpkin mixture, stirring just to blend.

Add nuts and pour into 3 well greased loaf pans and bake 1 hour at 350 degrees F.

Yes it makes 3 loaves but with the holidays coming wrap 2 loaves in freezer wrap and put them in freezer bags and freeze. On one of those busy holiday afternoons with company coming your loaf of defrosting pumpkin bread Will be nearly ready to cut and serve.

Soften some cream cheese and mix with vanilla and sugar and you have a lovely spread for the bread. You can replace the vanilla for lemon and yummy!

Janet's really good Pumpkin cookies

My dearest friend Janet gave me this recipe for pumpkin cookies. Back when school had lots of goodies sent in I survived making these cookies. They are fast! They make a lot! AND they are really good. It's a rainy, cold, wet day here in the Northwest and nothing is better than the smell of pumpkin cookies in the oven. Make some too!

Janet's Pumpkin cookies

preheat oven 375 degrees F.

makes 6 dozen cake like cookies

1 cup veggie oil

3 Cups sugar

2 eggs

1 large can pumpkin......what is a large can? When we were making this recipe it was three and half cups

1 cup chopped nuts

1 large package of chocolate chips (2 cups)/ raisins Opt but necessary!

5 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp nutmeg

2 tsp cinnamon

Mix oil, sugar, eggs, pumpkin, vanilla and spices in a large bowl using a large spoon. Mix dry ingredients together, sift to blend in leavening ingredients.

Stir dry ingredients into wet stirring just enough to mix, too much stirring makes tough cookies, Add the nuts, chocolate chips and raisins

Drop by teaspoons onto greased cookie sheet. These cookies rise and get big so give them space to do so.

Bake for 12 minutes or until lightly brown. The baked cookies freeze well remember it is 6 dozen after all!

2009- I've had lots of questions about this recipe. Yes it is large you can split the ingredients in half and know that Pumpkin in a small can is (15 oz. can) equals 1 3/4 cups pumpkin puree.

Freezing these cookies is just fine. In a good freezer they last about 9 months. Wrap them up good. I don't recommend freezing the dough from cake type cookies like these, the dough will freeze it just doesn't raise into the lovely puffy cake cookie as well. However butter based cookie doughs freeze very well, and bake up perfectly.

My favorite Lazy way to make Pumpkin Mash

Raising 5 children induced some lazy ways or as I like to think of it some speedy short cuts. I finally took the Sugar pumpkin (rounder, less seeds, mostly just meat!) off the porch and got it ready for pie, cookies etc last night. Join me as I show you how I do it.

Oh #5 daughter heard I was working on this and said the Pioneer women did it early in Oct so check both ideas out and come up with your own spin on Lazy pumpkin puree. Can't wait to make pie and the recipes on the cans of pumpkin, can's of milk etc are just fine but I am going to post some great pumpkin recipes. I love pumpkin and have tested tons of great ways to eat it!

# 1 Wash your pumpkin well

#2 take a big knife and cut the pumpkin in half

Do be careful

#3 Pull out the seeds

I just stick my hand in and pull the seeds out. Sugar pumpkins are not as wet inside but if you have a jack O lantern pumpkin type it is gooey. Use a spoon to remove seed threads.

#4 All scooped out and ready to bake.

preheat oven to 350 degrees F. #5 Put foil on a cookie sheet lay pumpkin skins side up on foil We put them in this direction so the extra moisture will steam out on the foil I have never had wet pumpkin to work with since starting my lazy method long ago

#6 Bake 30 minute and check. If you can put a fork in the skin and it floats through then they are cooked if not try another 15 minutes. This pumpkin took 45 minutes and the house smelled wonderful!

#6 Allow to cool It looks like this when you flip it over flip after cooling #7 Grab a big spoon you will find the meat spoons out very easily #8 it's a bit chunky at this point and you can put it in the fridge and do the next step at any point. See the light yellow areas? That is where all the pumpkin was removed. The other orange areas can have much more to be spooned out. You can get a lot of pumpkin scraping with the spoon. #9 puree, I use a hand held blender, mine is a Bamix, which I love! Go around and around in the bowl until very smooth You can do it in the blender but my lazy method was designed to not have anything to wash. Remember 5 kids....they took a lot of my time! YUMMY ALL READY FOR RECIPES CHECK MY BLOG FOR LOTS OF PUMPKIN RECIPES

#10 When you have it nice and smooth you can use it or store it in freezer bags

seed saving

Fresh yummy beans for eating

Dried Seed pods from the same bean plants

It's fall in the great Northwest. You can see it everywhere, the trees dropping those colorful leaves, the spiders making their last webs, the frost on the pumpkins well not exactly but soon enough. It is time to winterize the rototiller, put away the timers on the soaker hoses, shear the Cashgora goat. There is one more chore that will help you sustain yourself. Every year I leave the best, biggest bits of the garden so I can collect seeds for the next year. Now that they have enjoyed the time on the plant and collected the best of the sun and soil they have started to dry and I have collected the pods that hold the seeds. I lay them on paper towels in the house in a darkish place and in a week I empty the pods and put them in paper envelopes (well not any more, remember the mouse!) and then in glass jars......

I'm happy to tell you more about this process but I need to see interest, maybe you didn't leave any seeds for harvest. If not come next spring you will begin to hear about sustainable living and collecting your useful seeds for next year. Now my big question will be "Are these seeds from non Hybrid beans? The plants were shared with me from my daughters garden. I'll let you know when I plant them, we may not get beans from them at all. Awe the mystery!

finger play for little people 5 little pumpkins

One pumpkin Two pumpkin Three pumpkin

Four pumpkin

Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate

The first one said "Oh My it's getting late!"

The second one said "there are witches in the air"

The third one said, "But we don't care!"

The fourth one said, "Let's run and run and run!"

The fifth one said, "I'm ready for some Fun."

Ooh, went the wind and out went the light and the five little pumpkins

Rolled out of sight!

Hold up our hand and point to each finger as you say each line. Put hand behind your back when you say "rolled out of sight!"

Need a fun party story? Spooky but fun

Prepare the items below and tell the story of The Body of Mr. Brown. As you tell the story begin to pass the items before they hear what it is. Turn the lights off and read with a covered flashlight.

Head of cauliflower oiled

Corn silk

popcorn kernels

rubber glove filled with cold water and tied at the wrist

peeled grapes

liver or something that feels like it

dried apricots

Chicken bone

cooked, oiled spaghetti

The Story

The truth it is, please do not frown.

that there once lived a man called Mr. Brown.

It soon became his sorrowful lot

To die quite very near this spot.

We now will give you some of his remains....

First we'll pass you Mr. Brown's Brains (cauliflower)

The head once covered with curls for fair

And now we pass you Mr. Brown's hair (corn silk)

When Mr. Brown would smile at all the girls

His teeth they shined like the whitest pearls. (popcorn kernels)

The next thing we pass you'll soon understand

Is Mr. Brown's cold left hand. (water filled glove)

Mr. Brown's sight was once keen and wise.

And now we'll pass you Mr. Brown's eye's (peeled grapes)

This old world Mr. Brown hated to part

But to prove that he did we pass you his heart. (Liver)

The songs of birds he lived to hear

What we pass you now is one of his ears (dried apricots)

The flowers he did like to smell

Is that his nose? We won't tell (chicken bone)

That's all there is of Mr. Brown except for these worms

Feel them and see if they make you squirm (spaghetti oiled )

A Halloween maze, avoid the Bats

Click to enlarge

There's no such thing as a witch and Halloween

Happy Halloween!

An odd day of dress up and fun

When I was a child we sang these two songs in primary

(it was week days)

I loved these songs and finally got a copy to play for myself as a pre-teen.

I'm still not on my computer so can't make you a recording of the songs but they are very fun....enjoy

Click on music to enlarge and print, that doesn't mean this old music will be easy to see, he he!

Cheese Garlic Biscuits

Do you have some of your master mix around? Here is a great recipe for it!

Cheese-Garlic Biscuits 9 biscuits

2 cups of master mix or Bisquick

2/3 cup of milk (I used buttermilk)

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

2 tablespoons butter melted

1 clove of crushed garlic or garlic powder

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees F.

Melt butter and garlic fresh or powdered

Stir master mix, milk and cheese until soft dough forms. Drop dough into 9 spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet

Bake 8-12 minutes until Golden brown Remove from oven and brush with melter butter and garlic.

Yum Yum......

If you didn't get this when I passed it along before.....here it is!

.

Master mix

large recipe

9 cups of white flour

1/3 cup baking powder

1 tablespoon salt

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

4 tablespoons sugar

1 cup nonfat dry milk (opt) I never use this but add fresh milk when water is called for in the recipes

1 cup veg oil

mix all the ingredients except the oil. Use you mixer with the whisks and slowly add the oil and mix and mix until well blended. OR cut in the oil with a pastry blender until is looks like course cornmeal.

Store in a covered plastic container at room temperature.

Be careful when measuring to fluff the mix and load into the measuring cup with a spoon, do not pack into cup.

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

Good for you, tasty, and novel. Making your own pumpkin seeds for eating is all those things! My pumpkins are decorating my porch a few more days so I can't show you the step by step photos until the end of the week. But here is how you do it. 1) Put your hands in that opened pumpkin and pull that wet, sticky wads of stringy seeds out! I drop it on a paper bag. It will stick to paper towels forget those. Pull it ALL OUT.

I let this sit a bit so the wet soaks into the bag.

2) Start pulling those seeds out of the mess one by one. Get the kids to help!

3) Soak the seeds in salted water (1 1/2 tsp salt to 2/3 cup water) soak over night

4) drain the seeds, pat dry with paper towels

5) place seeds on a low baking pan, I put foil on a cookie sheet. Bake in 300 degree F. oven for 20 minutes, or until just golden. DO NOT over cook. Yuck.

It's hard to figure out how long to cook pumpkin seeds. It depends on how large and how moist they are. After 15 minutes begin checking every 5 minutes. Mostly it seems to take about 30 minutes.

You can eat the shells or remove the shells it all depends on how big the seeds are.

OPT.

Once you remove the shells you can toast them under the broiler, watching all the time, until they pop!

1/2 cup pumpkin seeds has 350 calories and 18 grams of protein

Country Cinnamon rolls

I make cinnamon rolls and my family knows what I mean when I say this. These are my fast recipe, good but fast. If you made some of the basic baking mix then you have the "Fast" part of this recipe. I don't use the whole grain baking mix, you may like to try it but I just can't enjoy cinnamon with corn meal. If you find the recipe has a bit of an odd taste it is that your baking mix is getting old and the baking powder is going odd. I'd had that happen now and again.
Ingredients
1 pkg active dry yeast or 1 tablespoon
1/2 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees F.)
1 egg
1 tablespoon sugar
3 cups of Bisquick mix (use your own if you make it)
2 tablespoons butter softened
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teas of cinnamon more if you prefer
1/2 raisins soaked in hot water first and dried off
a big hand full of chocolate chips
Walnuts chopped coarsely if you wish

1. Dissolve yeast in warm water, stir in 1 tablespoon sugar. Stir well

Add eggs and baking mix. Beat with a spoon vigorously.

2. Turn dough onto well floured board or pastry cloth. Knead until slightly blistered about 60 times. The photo below shows what blistered looks like.

3. Roll dough into a rectangle 12x10 inches. Spread with the softened butter. Mix sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over rectangle. Sprinkle on raisins, chocolate chips and nuts.
Roll tightly, beginning at wide side of dough. Seal well by pinching edge of dough into roll. Cut into 1 inch slices. Place slices cut sides down in well-greased muffin tin.

cover lightly with wax paper and let rise for 30 minutes.

see photo below

Heat oven to 375 degrees F. bake 12 to 15 minutes until lightly brown. Remove immediately from pan. Place on cooling rack. Place wax paper below rack.
Allow to cool 5 minute then frost with icing. Feel free to serve these warm, they are wonderful that way.
icing: Mix 1 cup confectioners sugar, 1 teas vanilla, 1/2 teaspoon almond extract. Mix until smooth. This is thick but melts on hot rolls. If too thick add a touch of milk....only a touch. I had a bit of softened butter left and stirred it into this batch I like how it worked.
From a young age I would mail in for product recipe booklets. This is from the Betty Crocker Folk Breads U.S.A. printed in 1973. I promise to share some other fun recipes from my collection.

sunshine, little kids and pumpkins what could be better!

looking for something on my blog?

Maybe it's the boat folding or frog hopping or the recipe for coconut cake that you remember seeing on my blog but can't find it. On the top left of my blog is a search bar. Type in your request and my hope is it will take you to the month that you need. Or just put a comment on any page and I will see that you are looking for something from the past and I will pass it along to you. Smiles

origami jumping frogs for Eden

This looks hard but after your first one it is really easy! Try my may 10 frog blog for a simple frog.

Paper boats back by popular demand

Remember in japanese books the directions read from right to left so begin in the right hand side......

The next boat is in English, read left to right. Or maybe it's an airplane you'd like......see the next blog

Maybe it's paper airplanes you'd like to make

Bleach boy makes really amazing paper airplanes and I can't begin to tell you how to make those but here are some fun Japanese paper planes that fly very well. Remember to read the patterns from right to left. Where are those who can translate when you need them?

you can click on the photos to enlarge and print