Snow is on the ground

First snow of the year, October 24, 2011

My yard is done for the season, a very big sigh!

My Garzania's are a real winner on my deck!  They have taken the hot sun, the drying out of these planter boxes and were the very last flowers blooming in my yard.  Two days later, the frost finally killed them.  I give these plants a 10 for drought and heat tolerance!!

Last week, I cleaned up the raspberry patch and bagged up the fallen leaves to use in the springtime. Springtime. Only six months away. The first seeds I planted this year was the beets and the last thing I harvested was the beets. They were delicious, with butter, salt and pepper. I also spread some seeds around in the hope that they will start up by themselves. I have so much Calendula and some lovely little purple Asters that I know that they self seed wonderfully. I spread some tall snapdragon seeds in the wine barrel, and the tall marigold seeds from the seed heads I picked in Victoia two summers ago. In the bed that the beets were in, I threw down Parsley seeds that were sent to me as part of a HGG package from a Bookcrosser in the UK. there was a lovely Dill seed head in the garden, so that got sprinkled in too, with a few Asters. Could this work? My lazy gardening method, throw the seeds down and let Mother Earth do the rest.

Halloween is over and done with. The girls brought home so much candy that were have been enjoying. Not good to have all that junk in the house but we still eat it of course. We had two huge pumpkins that the girls wanted to carve themselves. I admit that that was very poor judgement on my part. While I was trying to cook supper, Celia cut her finger so bad that we has to go to Emergency for three hours. FOUR stitches!

The pumpkins, I cooked up and tried some new recipes. They were really good, and my family liked them so much that I will make them again!  Thanks to allrecipes.com!

Pumpkin and Sausage Soup

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound andouille sausage, diced (I used Mild Italian sausage)
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 1/4 cups chopped onion
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 1/2 pounds pumpkin puree
• 1/4 cup praline liqueur
• 7 cups chicken stock
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 3/8 cup heavy cream

Directions

1. Cook diced sausage in skillet with 2 tablespoons butter for 5 minutes.
2. Add onion and cook until soft. Add thyme and pumpkin OR sweet potatoes and cook 5 minutes.
3. Add liqueur, broth, and brown sugar. Cover and simmer over low heat for 45 minutes, or until pumpkin OR potatoes are tender.
4. In blender puree soup in batches. Return to pan and stir in cream and remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Warm but do not boil. Serve immediately.

Nutritional Information

Amount Per Serving  Calories: 311 | Total Fat: 19.5g | Cholesterol: 48mg Powered by ESHA Nutrient Database

Pumpkin Pudding

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk
• 1 (29 ounce) can canned pumpkin puree
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 (18.25 ounce) package spice cake mix ( I had a package of Carrot Cake mix and that worked well!)
• 1/4 cup margarine, melted
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease one 9x13 inch baking dish.
2. Blend together the sugar, eggs, evaporated milk, pumpkin, cinnamon, salt, clove and pie spice. Pour into baking dish.
3. Spread dry cake mix over pumpkin mixture. Sprinkle with cinnamon, margarine and chopped nuts.
4. Bake for 60 minutes or until knife inserted comes out clean. Serve with whipped cream if desired.

Nutritional Information

Amount Per Serving  Calories: 229 | Total Fat: 8.6g | Cholesterol: 58mg Powered by ESHA Nutrient Database