Time To Bake Some Pumpkins

Well, it is that time of year again and Fall is upon us.  My family and I love this time of year.  We go to Fall Festivals, pumpkin searching, nature walks, apple picking and we like to do some canning.  This past weekend we bought some cooking pumpkins because the boys asked if you could eat a pumpkin.  I told them that you could but you needed to buy a smaller cooking pumpkin.  They were very excited so last night we cleaned out our pumpkins.  I cut off the tops of the pumpkins and then cut the pumpkins in half to scoop out the goop inside.  We saved the seeds because the boys remembered that we saved the seeds last year and baked them.  I remember that none of us really liked them but the boys were so excited about baking them this year we did it anyhow.

All cleaned out!

 Once the pumpkins were all cleaned out I washed them up real well.  Afterwards, I put the halves in glass baking dishes and baked them at 325 degrees for 50 minutes.

G enjoyed helping me clean up the kitchen but he found out that sweeping up the pumpkin goop was not a real good idea!

Meanwhile, I washed up all of the seeds and put them on a towel to dry a bit.  Since none of us liked the seeds salted last year I tried something different this year.  I put the seeds in a bowl and used a tiny bit of olive oil, just enough to coat the seeds.  I then sprinkled them with brown sugar, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice.  Once the pumpkins were done baking I lowered the oven temperature to 325 degrees and spread the pumpkin seeds into one layer on a baking sheet then baked them for about 20 minutes.  They smelled good and their flavor was real good too.  However, the boys and I still did not like them because the outer part of the seed was just too hard to eat.

The pumpkins looked pretty much the same when they were cooked as when they were raw except that the skins were darker in color after they were baked.

 Once the pumpkins cooled a bit I cut them into quarters and scraped the pumpkin pulp off of the skin and put the pulp in a bowl.  As I was doing that G took the potato masher and mashed up the pumpkin pulp. 

 Once we measured it out we had enough for two loaves of pumpkin bread and at least one pumpkin pie.  Of course I did not have any light cream because I did not read the recipe earlier in the day so the pumpkin pie will have to wait until today so that I can go to the grocery store.  The boys were cooperating very well and were actually happily taking turns putting in each of the ingredients.  Once the ingredients were in the bowl M would lock the mixer in place and G would turn it on while I supervised.  It is amazing how something so simple can be so exciting for kids.  Once we were done mixing I put the loaves of bread in the oven and began the clean up.  I know that G loves to help clean up in the kitchen so that he can play in the water but sometimes that just makes for even more of a mess.  I decided to turn the television on and put in one of the old Scooby Doo DVDs so they watched that and played with their toy barn.  I was then able to clean up the disaster in the kitchen.

We were able to make the two loaves of pumpkin bread and they turned out so good!  The boys were disappointed when they realized that the bread was not going to be done until bedtime and would not be cool enough to eat but I promised them a piece at breakfast this morning.  Our Firefighter had to work yesterday so he can have some pumpkin bread for breakfast too!

I love how good the baking smells in the house in the Fall!!  Some apple cider would have topped off the evening but we were out.  That gives us another reason to go back to the apple farm this week!

The Apple Picking Season Has Officially Begun

What a beautiful afternoon for apple picking!  This is one of our favorite Fall activities.  We went to Church in the morning and then the Kiwanis Chicken Bar-B-Que afterwards.  After a wonderful lunch, that I did not have to cook or clean up, we were off to apple picking.  The boys had been looking forward to it all week.  We had a long week between preschool, things to do around the house,  and our Firefighter had been gone a lot during the week with shifts.  We were all looking forward to Sunday apple picking!

When we arrived at the apple orchard they were not too crowded so we went in line to pay for our ½ bushel bag.  Once we paid for our bag we were instructed which apple trees were ready for apple picking and then we were off.  The boys were so excited and were running ahead of me.  When we found the section of trees that were ready for picking we all started picking the apples.  We were picking the Empire apples.  One of the trees that we found was really loaded with apples and it had a lot of apples down low so the boys were able to reach more than we needed.

The one part of apple picking that is difficult in the beginning of the apple picking season is trying to keep the boys from biting all of the apples, especially M, because they are so excited.  He kept picking the apples off of the tree, taking a bite out of them and then would put them in the bag.  I had to keep reminding him to stop and only eat one apple at a time, not bite every apple before putting it in the bag.  I think that he was just so excited that he could not help himself!

After awhile the boys took a break to eat an apple while sitting under the apple tree.  I took advantage of the quiet time and picked some of the larger apples that were up a bit higher on the tree.  Once our bag was overflowing we took our apples back to the car and went back into the market to buy some goodies.

We ended up buying some fresh apple cider, a little blueberry pie and some apple cider donuts.  Those donuts are the best and we look forward to them every year.  They also sell 10 cent candy sticks so I usually let the boys each have one.

When we arrived back home with our purchases the boys were quite anxious to get started on the season’s first batch of applesauce.  This year G can not only turn the apple peeler but he is able to put the apples on and take the core off all by himself, with my supervision of course.  M likes to help G with this process.  G hands M the peeled apple, M takes a bite out of it and then puts it in the bowl.  When I make applesauce to give away to people I usually make it by myself after the boys are in bed or if they are out with our Firefighter, that way the apples have not all been bitten before they are put into the crockpot!  However, when the applesauce is just for us I let the boys have fun with it.

As soon as I brought G home from preschool today he went right to the kitchen table and asked for the apples and peeler.  Since we did not make that much applesauce last night I let him peel some more apples and it looks like we are going to have a large batch of applesauce today…or maybe I will make apple butter out if it instead

While I am very sorry to see summer go I really do enjoy the Fall season and all of its activities with my family.  Hopefully the weather will continue to be nice and we can have many more apple picking days ahead of us this season!

Chocolate Chip Pancakes for Dinner

 When my Firefighter and I were just married and had no children yet I usually did not cook dinner when he was on shift at the fire station.  Since it was just me at home I would just eat leftovers, have a sandwich, have some cereal, get take-out or go over to my parent's house.  Once we had the boys and they started to eat regular food I started to cook dinners on shift days again.  I eventually got a little more organized and I made sure that we had leftovers to eat on the shift days because by dinnertime I was tired!  Sometimes I would pack up the kids and we would head to my parent's house for dinner where I would also give the boys their baths, put them in their pajamas and put them to bed when we got home.  I love my parents!!

One day I was talking to my best friend and she told me how sometimes they would eat breakfast for dinner.  That was always fine for me but I had never thought to do that with the boys.  I am always trying to make sure that they eat healthy meals and for dinner I always made them dinner food.  Since she said that her kids always liked when she did that I decided to try it one day for something different.  If it was good enough for breakfast then why couldn't we eat it for dinner?  My boys thought that it was great so now on some of our Firefighter's shift days we do breakfast for dinner.  Their favorite is chocolate chip pancakes.

M is happy to have a few of the chocolate chips and give the pancake batter a stir or two while I am cooking the pancakes and then he likes to go and play with one of his toys while I finish up.  G has to be involved in the entire process!

 

As soon as I told G that we were going to have chocolate chip pancakes for dinner he started to get what we needed out of the cupboard so that he could help me.  I measure everything and then he pours it in the bowl and mixes it up.  I always check to make sure that it is mixed thoroughly but he has gotten very good at it and I hardly have to mix it at all.  Then I cook the pancakes while G tries to sneak more chocolate chips into the batter that is left in the bowl!

 When I got to the end of the batter I made one large pancake and it actually turned out.  G was very excited and he wanted to eat that one.

G was also excited that we were making a second batch of pancakes.  We had been to a farm market/ice cream shop earlier that day and they had a whole wheat pancake mix so I bought a bag to try it.  I have been trying to eat more healthy so I decided to try the whole wheat pancakes.  I was very good and only put a few chocolate chips in each one!

They seemed to take a little bit longer to cook and the batter was a bit thicker than the regular pancake mix that we use but they ended up tasting great!

I made a bunch of little ones and then one big one with the last of the batter.  I am actually starting to get pretty good at making pancakes that are not folded over anymore.

The boys were very happy with their dinner pancakes.  As you can tell by the picture, that is another thing that we do when our Firefighter is on shift...sometimes we take the little table into the family room and eat in front of the television!  I always swore that I would not let my kids do that but, oh well, once in awhile we do it when our Firefighter is on shift.  When he is home it is nice to have family meals at the table but when he is on shift, sometimes mommy bends the rules a bit.  All in all it was an enjoyable dinner with my boys!  Tomorrow I think that we will have homemade stuffed peppers in the crockpot.

G Gave Himself a Haircut!!

Today started off as normal.  G wanted to give me a pretend haircut.  The boys love to play haircut.  They take the playdough scissors and pretend to give me, our Firefighter and themselves haircuts.  I always check to see what they are using before they start their haircuts to make sure that they did not take the real scissors.  This morning after G gave me my haircut he wanted to give himself one.  He came back in the living room carrying the water spray bottle and a red pair of plastic scissors.  He likes to use the water spray bottle on his hair because that is what the barber uses when he gives the boys their haircuts.  I looked at the scissors because we have never used the red ones for pretend haircuts.  They were just plastic with no metal for blades in them so I figured that they would be alright.  I had tried to use them on paper awhile back and they pretty much just bent the paper so I figured that it would be fine for a pretend haircut.  Well, I figured wrong!

I needed to run some errands today so while G was giving himself what I thought was a pretend haircut I got dressed and our Firefighter was going to be taking the boys outside to work on the car so everybody was walking back and forth and getting things organized.  When I went to leave I saw that G's hair did not look right but it was wet because he had used the spray bottle to wet it down so I figured that was why it did not look right.  Later, when I came home from my errands, we all had a snack together.  I kept looking at G, who is very fair skinned with very light blonde hair, and something was not right.  His hair still looked like it did when I left except now it was completely dry.  I looked at the top of his head and there it was, the haircut.  I could not believe it.  I just sat there and said "did you cut your hair!?"  He said no, that M had done it.  My Firefighter just looked at me and we both gave each other that "yeah, right" look.

So, at that point what could we do?  Our Firefighter went and got out the hair clippers and fixed it as best as he could.  It was not too bad.  The top front is very short and the part of his hair that is usually on his forhead is now super short.  Fortunately, G's hair and skin color is so light that you do not really notice it and it just sort of looks like it is a super short haircut.

We have now clearly shown and explained to the boys which scissors (the playdough scissors) can be used for their pretend haircuts.  Oh well, his hair will grow back.  The boys were both excited about daddy having to fix G's hair.  We just made an adventure out of it.  Ironically, our Firefighter just took the boys for haircuts last week for preschool that starts this week!

 Here is the part of his hair that he cut.  I asked him if I could take a picture of it and he said yes right away.  He was all excited.  He even put his head down right away when I asked him to so that I could get a better picture.

You can see the chunk in the front that is missing.  I still cannot believe that the blunt plastic scissors actually cut his hair!

He is our Firefighter giving G another haircut to even things out.

G wanted a chance to use the hair clippers but we both told him "No" so he was not too happy about that.  However, when his haircut was done he was very happy with it and both boys were pretty excited.  Good deal that the boys wear their hair short!

Mommy and Daddy are glad that the boys are in bed.  It was a long day!