I am not a pumpkin spice freak. I’m not into all of that but I do enjoy pumpkin baked goods. I will admit if it has sugar I am usually a fan.  Pumpkin pie and bread are my favorites. I have never attempted anything but canned pumpkin. This year I did not see a reason to get a big pumpkin for Halloween because no one would see it. We did buy  two small baking pumpkins for decoration and we lost one to mold, so it went into the giant flower bed, that has no flowers-YET. I replaced it because I am OCD and have to have everything equal. I noticed right before Halloween that the older pumpkin had also decided it wanted to be in the giant planter. I took down the remaining pumpkin and looked up how to cook it.

I thought you just cooked it whole but The Pioneer Woman set me straight. So yesterday, with her careful instructions I roasted and pureed the last one. I pulled the seeds and dried them overnight per Rae’s instructions. I have just pulled them out of the oven. I used grapeseed oil instead of olive oil. We shall see how Roy likes them. I also have in the oven a pumpkin loaf. I also got the recipe online. I totally redid her recipe also, let’s hope that works out. Here is my version of her recipe:

• 1 1/2 cups bread flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoon pumpkin spice

Whisk these all together in a medium bowl and set aside

• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup Stevia
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup grapeseed oil
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 teaspoons molasses
• 2 eggs, beaten

Mix all wet ingredients. I waited till the first 6 were combined before I added the eggs. After the eggs are thoroughly incorporated, add the dry ingredients and miss till combined.

Place in a greased 8x4x3 loaf pan (make sure you grease the whole pan, as my directions just said the sides and the bottom stuck)  in the middle of the preheated oven at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes. Mine took an hour because my oven is not efficient.

I added raisins, because I like raisins in my pumpkin bread but you can add orange zest, pecans or walnuts. All are good options.

Since this only took a cup of the pumpkin puree, I plan on making pumpkin whoopie pies for a friend, when he comes to visit and maybe for thanksgiving, I will make a fresh pumpkin pie. My little pumpkin gave me 3 cups of pumpkin and The Pioneer Woman tells you how to freeze it.

I felt so accomplished roasting my pumpkin and turning it into food and not just a Jack-o-Lantern. Having a birthday so close to Halloween, pumpkins were always Jack-o-Lanterns. I have enjoyed carving them in the past but since there are no children near, I don’t see a point.  We did buy candy for the goblins, just in case.  I purposely did not open the bag, but when Roy came home he opened it and then it was open season.  I tired really hard to stay out of it but I had to do some quality control. I think 3 pieces was good for Halloween night. Roy was supposed to take it to work. He forgot, so more quality control happened. I put it in the freezer to get it out of my site, plus I burned calories walking to the back room to get some. Thank heavens Roy took it to work the next day, I can get back on track with my diet.

Well, that is about all that is happening on the homestead this week. It’s Roy’s second to last UTA (Reserve weekend) and I am so thankful for that. When he has those weekends he works 12 days straight, which wouldn’t be bad if he didn’t work with the same folks. There are many folks that just work the weekend and so that adds extra drama and chaos for him. So by day 10 he is done, luckily he only has 11 days this time. Thank heavens for Veterans Day.  He is going to need those 3 days to get over his UTA weekend.

I will be holding down the homestead and doing little projects, like figuring out how to make tissue paper combat boots. I will let you know if this works. I am going into that project with a negative attitude. I need to find my I can do anything I put my mind to attitude. I have wild ideas and sometimes they work and other times they are a bust. When they are a bust it is usually because they were poorly executed. Great ideas, just don’t know how to put them into place. This one is going to work!

I hope you all have a great weekend and enjoy whatever projects you come up with.

Kelly