Pumpkin Time

For the past two Halloween seasons or so I've had this desire to make pumpkin-y goods using my own homemade pumpkin puree. Weird? maybe, but I've come to accept it.

The first year I chopped up my jack o' lantern, just to find out later that field pumpkins, such as the one I had, are not the right type of pumpkin to cook with. The second year I spent all of my pumpkin allowance on a whopping 20 pound pumpkin...again, not a tasty pumpkin.

This year however I was fortunate enough to have a sugar pumpkin given to me by the BF's mom. I know its not difficult to go out and get a sugar pumpkin, but when you're shopping on a tight budget its not really a necessity. Now onto the pumpkin puree!

First- wash pumpkin throughly then remove stem.

Cut pumpkin in half from top to bottom

Remove all seeds (set seeds aside for roasting) and stringy pumpkin guts

Place pumpkin cut side down on a baking sheet and cover top with aluminum foil (not shown). Place in oven that has been preheated to 375 F and cook for about an hour and a half or until soft. Remove from oven and let cool.

Scoop out pumpkin flesh and place in blender

Blend pumpkin until it looks like this....Mmmm

Now what to do with all this pumpkin puree? After looking through a bunch of recipes online and seeing that I did not have a lot of the ingredients they were calling for I decided I'd wing it. So I present to you my own simple but very tasty basic pumpkin muffin recipe. I'd imagine it would be pretty easy to make some modifications to the recipe, I can't wait to try adding cranberries and chopped walnuts the next time around.

Basic Pumpkin Muffins- Makes 12 muffins
2 cups generic store brand bisquick
1/3 cup brown sugar (packed)
1/3 cup milk
1 egg
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup pumpkin puree
spices used to taste:
cinnamon
nutmeg
ground ginger

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl- no particular order- and stir. Pour batter into greased muffin tins and bake in a preheated oven at 400 F for 13 to 18 minutes. Let cool and enjoy.


I don't have many pictures of the muffins afterwards since I kind of got distracted by eating them.

First timer

Now that I'm not stressing out over a lack of employment I decided it was time to do something new. The first challenge that came to mind was using a pattern. I had never really had any experience using a real pattern so I figured I would try something simple - pajama pants. I had the BF pick out some fabric (he picked out the gray fleece despite my best efforts to sway him towards the veggie tales print). I used simplicity 9871, read the directions a few times. Despite a few minor errors (not knowing what a particular marking meant, and deciding not to practice using my button hole setting before using it for the first time) I think they turned out pretty well.

{Modeled by Floor}

{Modeled by Boyfriend}

{Side View}

I think I may have possible found a use for some of my excess fabric stash...hmmm

Its curtains...

While on my mini job hunting breaks I managed to solve one of the major issues with the new apartment, the bedroom window. The first couple of days in the apartment we were greeted by blindingly bright, burn your retinas out, sunlight. It became apparent that this issue needed immediate attention. Thanks to the excellent public transit system I was able to go out and procure some fabric for the project (and much more).

{Curtain Fabric}

{Muslin Backing}

Just a simple set of curtains, but they make all the difference in the world.

In addition to my newly completed project it seems that my job hunt is OVER, I found a job. Of course it's only seasonal at this moment, but its better than nothing. I start the first week of November, which leads me to ponder "whats a crafty person like myself going to do with all this free time?"

Update

Well, its official, I've moved...YAY! I am loving the new apartment, there's so much more space for all of my crafting supplies. Not to mention its a quick 5 minute walk to the downtown area and the public transport is top notch.

{ Double Parlor Living Room}

I don't have much to show project wise, as much of my time has been spent searching for a job. So far I've had one real lead, but I'm still waiting for them to call back and schedule an interview. I was told by another potential employer that I'm overly qualified for the position and that they would love to have me, EXCEPT, for the fact that I'm under qualified in the sense that I don't have the specific degree needed (which was not mentioned in the ad) to fulfill the position. The person who I was talking to then went into a long speech about how they felt that it was unfair to require that specific degree, but its required by law. So for now I'll just be scouring job sites and the newspaper in hopes of finding some kind, pretty much ANY kind of employment, taking short breaks only when I feel my sanity depends on it.

Toodles for now