Dinner in a Pumpkin

So one of my favorite halloween traditions is my Grandma's Dinner in a Pumpkin.

It's yummy and the perfect dinner in the midst of sweets, sweets and more sweets...

And it's easy.

And it's in a pumpkin.

Pumpkin Goulash

Ingredients:

One medium pumpkin

3/4 c chopped onion

1 1/2 pounds ground beef

2 tsp soy sauce

2 tsp brown sugar

1 4 oz can mushrooms drained

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 1/2 c cooked rice

Clean out pumpkin- you can draw a jack-o-lantern face on it with a sharpie if you'd like...

Saute onion

Add meat- drain fat

Add soy sauce, brown sugar, mushrooms and cream of chicken soup- simmer

Add rice

Pour into pumpkin and put the lid on top- it's like a pumpkin crock pot.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours

My favorite part is the cooked pumpkin- it's so yummy...

We are excited for our first Washington Halloween- the weather is supposed to be in the fifties and rainy, of course. Tomorrow I'm making sugar cookies and hiding them so they will last until Wed.  

Last year we threw a big party- it was so fun and so much work.  This year we are keeping it low key, but we will still eat a pumpkin dinner. And buying an umbrella. And maybe rain boots, cute ones. Now, that sounds fun...

Last year's Little Red Riding Hood costume- my favorite costume I've ever made-
 Until this year's Lion. I really love my baby Lion.

Happy Halloween!

Make This and You Will Give Thanks.

Nice spread right?
That was last year's Thanksgiving Feast.
This year will not be so awesome.
But see that pan of amazing-ness in the bottom right corner?
I will be making that.
And so will you.
Because it is a.maz.ing.
Get your pens and pencils my friends... here's the recipe:

Sweet Potato Casserole
Ingredients
3 cups mashed sweet potatoes
1 cup sugar
2 eggs beaten
1/2 cup melted butter
1 tsp vanilla

Pour into 1 quart buttered baking dish

Topping
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup butter softened
1/3 cup flour
1 cup chopped pecans

Blend with fork. Sprinkle over potato mixture.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until set and crunchy.

Eat it as a side.
Eat it for dessert.
And then eat it for breakfast the next morning.
You're Welcome.

And I think I doubled or tripled the recipe last year-
Calculating for adequate leftovers is important.

The best. Sugar Cookies. Ever.

Happy Halloween.

My treat to you is the best, ever Sugar Cookie Recipe.

It's my Grandma Lang's recipe.

It is good.

You should make them today.

1/2 c. butter
1 c. sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
Mix together
Add 1 c. sour cream
Mix

Sift together
3 1/4 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Fold in with wet ingredients.
Roll out and cut with cookie cutter.
Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.
Let them cool and then frost with cream cheese frosting.

Tips:
1. (This one is from my mother) Put the dough in the refrigerator for a couple hours or overnight. It makes it easier to roll out- not so sticky.
2. (This one is from me) If you are undecided between done or not done- error on the side of underdone. Too soft is better than too done- and if you ask me, there is no such thing is underdone because dough is good.

I hope you like them. And sorry if the recipe is not in actual, official recipe form. I think I just wrote it down how my Grandma read it to me on the phone. I used to call her and say, "So, I need the recipe for the..." And everytime she would go dig through her recipes and say how she needed to organize them. I really miss her.

a first.

Tessa's first bite of food...

and I think it was a success.

Farmer 'Nell

So this weekend Brock and I watched two movies

this one in 3D on the Imax screen

and this one on our computer (i heart netflix).

I could not stop thinking/talking about one of them-

guess which one...

In college I had to read The Jungle by Upton Sinclair-

and I found it well... disturbing.

I did not like reading it- which was Mr. Sinclair's intent-

but I still to this day remember hating that book.

I found this movie well... disturbing.

The fat chickens that can't walk...

the cows standing all day in manure...
the government cover-up and the subsidies, oh the subsidies.

I somehow convinced Brock to watch this movie with me

(probably because it's the first time I've talked about something other than babies, sleep or sleep in the last few weeks.)

I know he found it disturbing because he discussed purchasing a FARM of our own- "might as well- we live in Idaho." I think those were his exact words. :) He did mention that we would have to find somebody to milk the cows 'cause we were not going to wake up that early.

Why does he want a farm? So we can have chickens, cows, and pigs that eat what nature intended them to eat- did you know we feed cows corn because we can buy it cheaper than it costs to grow it? Did you know that corn makes them sick and then they shoot them up with antibiotics that they are becoming immune too? Did you know that they wash ground beef in ammonia to kill the bacteria before they ship it to McDonald's and friends?

(I realize I sound like I've lost my mind, but like I said it was disturbing).

So now what... I need to find a cow- one that is eating grass and then find somebody to butcher it and stick it in my freezer.

I told my mom I wanted her to split it with me.

She thinks I'm L-O-C-O.

Plus she said she buys her meat from the creamery- and she sees BYU's cows eating grass and they look perfectly healthy and happy she might add.

(All of us at the farm)

My sophomore year I played with a girl from IDAHO. Her name is Caroline and she grew up on a dairy farm in Melba. She was the toughest, hardest-working girl ever... p.s plus the nicest. Anyway the summer of 2001 she was leaving on a mission so a bunch of us drove up for her farewell. I felt like I was at Disneyland- her family showed us all around and it was amazing what goes into a real-live farm. I met the pregnant cows- saw one deliver her baby-CRAZY. Met the calf's- they have their own houses- like dog houses but for the babies. They even showed us how they lead them all in and then hook them up to the milkers and how all of that worked. Anyway at breakfast they brought in some fresh milk straight from the cow and I FREAKED out. I wouldn't taste it... isn't that crazy? I eat hamburgers that have bathed in ammonia but when it comes to natural fresh, warm (still think that's yuck) milk- I wouldn't come near it. So 9 years later I would like to apologize for being a loser... Sorry.

So anyways for now I bought free-range, organic chicken broth at costco.

My soup was yummy and I thought about all those happy chickens roaming free and thanked them for their contribution to my soup.

Have you seen the movie?

Do you think I'm crazy?