Turkey Day

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and like most people when I think of Thanksgiving I think of food.  In the past few years I have developed a borderline insane obsession with making Thanksgiving dinner.  While many people try to stick others with the responsibility (“We can’t host this year, our kitchen is infested with mutated rabid flying squirrels.  Too bad!  Maybe next year…”) I dream of the day when I get to tackle the big meal all by myself.  I know…I told you it was insane!  Because I've always been single and living in a tiny apartment I've never had the opportunity to host.  So I channel my culinary frustration into compulsively watching Thanksgiving specials on the Food Network.

Which brings me to my main topic of concern…food network hosts.  Why are food network hosts so polarizing?  It seems like for everyone who loves Rachel Ray and thinks she’s revolutionized dinner prep there are an equal number of people who think she is a shrill harpy who seriously needs to take a chill pill.   Personally, I can’t stand the Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond.  I know she has a huge following on her blog, but for some reason I never connected with her.  And then I read her autobiography and learned that she ran over her own dog and then still went on a date with her boyfriend.  Nope, no can do.  Or what about Paula Deen?  My mom absolutely can’t stand her and gets annoyed whenever her show comes on.  She even can’t stand people who remind her of Paula Deen.  But there are tons of people who adore Paula and can’t get enough of her homespun country cooking.

I could take or leave Paula myself, but weirdly I’ve developed a fascination with her two sons, Bobby and Jaime.  Not like I think they are cute or I want to date them or anything.  I save my chef crushes for Alton Brown.  What?  He’s really smart!  Instead I’ve dreamed up an elaborate fantasy where the brothers are constantly competing for Paula’s love and approval.  I have all sorts of evidence that Jaime is the favorite son.  Like for example, he’s the one who stayed in Savannah with his wife and adorable children while younger son Bobby left home for the big apple.  And Paula probably doesn’t like apples unless they are in pie form.  Also, both Jaime and Bobby had cooking shows that debuted around the same time.  While Bobby’s healthy cooking show airs on the lesser known and watched Cooking Channel, Jaime’s family cooking show plays on the Food Network.  Interesting, no?  Although now that Paula has announced that she has diabetes Bobby might gain some ground.

I indulged my conspiracy theories last week while watching the Deen brothers Thanksgiving special.  The show was actually a charming program about the brothers making Thanksgiving dinner for their mom, but I envisioned it as a cage match between Bobby and Jaime.  A food fight to the death where each son attempted to win his mother’s love through strategically implemented calories.  For the record, I’m Team Bobby.

So hopefully your Thanksgiving finds you surrounded by good food, friends and family.  I know mine will.  But as the rest of the family is settling down to watch football or parades, I’ll be sneaking off to watch Food Network and dreaming of all the elaborate recipes I can make in my imagination.  And dreaming of Alton Brown…obviously!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Pumpkin Massacre

I love scary stuff.  That might seem a bit incongruous with all the other things I'm into like baking, gardening and other various domestic activities, but I've always loved horror in all forms.  Lately I've been really into playing the video game Dead Island.  I can happily hack and slash at zombies for hours while my boyfriend looks on with an expression that is equal parts amused and appalled. 

So while I enjoy seeing a pixilated zombie get hacked to bits, I do not enjoy it when the carnage comes to my garden.  My pumpkins that I have displayed on my balcony in a charming (if I do say so myself) Fall arrangement have been visited by a scourge.  Not of the undead hordes,  but of demented flocks of birds.  While I sleep, these baleful creatures peck, peck, peck away at my pumpkins leaving them riddled with holes and missing chunks.

I have to admit that while the gardener part of me is angry at the destruction of my pumpkins by the same fiends who ate all my strawberries earlier in the summer, the horror fan in me is strangely fascinated by the gore of it all.  Doesn't that look just like a puddle of blood pooling underneath the mutilated pumpkin on the right?  And is the one on the left with the big drip coming out of it's wound...crying?  No?  Just me?  Okay, maybe its time to lay off the Dead Island.

Happy Halloween!

Have a safe and happy Halloween everyone!

Pumpkin Oatmeal Bars

Now that it is officially Fall, I'm in full on "pumpkin flavored things" mode.  I love seasonal things and since Fall is my favorite anyway I'm all pumpkin, all the time.  I recently used some of the pumpkin puree I made with the pumpkins from the garden and baked these pumpkin oatmeal bars.  They were really good on their own and I suspect they would be even better with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Bars

1 1/4 cup flour
1 cup oats
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
pinch ginger
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup pumpkin puree (homemade or canned)
1 cup butterscotch chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease a 9x9 baking dish.

Mix together dry ingredients in a large bowl.

These are rolled oats because I like the texture, but quick cooking oats would be fine too.

In another bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.

I used dark brown sugar here because I like the flavor more, but light brown sugar works equally well if you prefer  it.

Add in egg, pumpkin and vanilla.  Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients in batches and mix until just combined.  

Stir in butterscotch chips.  If butterscotch chips aren't your thing, use about a cup of whatever you like.  Raisins, nuts, dried cranberries or chocolate chips would all be good here.

Spoon into baking dish and bake about 30 min until toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool and cut into bars.

Making pumpkin puree

When I decided to grow pumpkins this year I knew I wanted to try growing sugar pumpkins since they are excellent for making pies.  Fortunately, they did very well and I ended up with lots.

I researched different ways to make the puree and found tons of different ideas and tips.  I decided to go with roasting.  Mostly because it seemed easiest, but also because I thought roasting the pumpkin would give it extra flavor that just steaming would not.

Here is what I did:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Remove stem if still attached and cut pumpkin in half.
3. Scoop out seeds.
4. Place pumpkin cut side down on a baking sheet that has been lined with foil.  Make sure to use a baking sheet with a rim on it.  The roasting process generates some liquid and you don't want to make a huge mess in your oven.
5. Roast for about an hour.  The skins should look slightly darkened and papery and the flesh should be soft.
6. Cool until you are able to handle and scoop flesh into a food processor.
7. Process until smooth.

I used 2 pumpkins and ended up with about 4 cups of puree.  I'm freezing some of mine until next month when I make pumpkin pies.  I love these freezer containers from Ball.  They come in a bunch of different sizes and are really sturdy.

More gardens

I've been busy visiting gardens in my own backyard lately and I wanted to share some of the pictures.  I've lived near some of these places for years and have never gone before.  Hopefully this will inspire you to check out parks and gardens near where you live.

First up is Cantigny Park in Wheaton Illinois.  This place is really amazing.  It has huge gardens, a golf course and two museums.

One of the museums is military history so there are tanks from all eras lined up outside.  I thought this one was particularly cool.

The McCormick Museum

The Idea Garden

Dragon topiary in the Idea Garden

Boots used as planters.  I am so stealing this idea!

The Idea Garden again...can you tell it was my favorite?

Plants planted in a tic-tac-toe shape.  So clever!

Another idea I'm stealing for next year.  Its a 'Pesto Container'.  It has garlic, basil, parsley and oregano all planted in one planter.  What a great way to use space.

The Rose Garden

I also took a trip to the Chicago Botanic Garden a couple weeks ago.  There is so much to see here and I only saw a small portion.  I'll be going back for sure!

There were helpful signs like this everywhere

Butternut squash growing on trellis.  Same idea that I picked up (and promptly forgot about) on the Rick Bayless garden tour.  I am definitely doing this next year.

We happened to be there on a day that The Food Network Magazine sponsored the cooking demo.  So we all got this free tote bag full of coupons and samples.  Score!  We also learned how to make gnocchi which I plan on doing sometime this Fall.

Growing Pumpkins

I don't know about you, but it always frustrates me to see all these seasonal magazines showing gorgeous pictures of unusual types of pumpkins and then suggesting that you "pick them up at your local produce stand".  What?  Where are these people shopping?  I've never seen more than the regular jack-o-lantern pumpkins and pie pumpkins at my grocery store or pumpkin patch.  In particular I've been coveting the all white Lumina pumpkin for years now, but I've never seen it anywhere around here.

So I grew my own!

Exactly one white pumpkin grew, but I was still excited that it worked at all.  I put it front and center in my display so all the other pumpkins could be jealous of it.

What didn't work so well were the Cinderella pumpkins I planted.  They were supposed to be deep orange and slightly flattened looking and resemble the pumpkin coach from Cinderella.

Not so much...

It still looks pretty cool though if you didn't know what it is supposed to look like and it adds a nice splash of yellow to my balcony.

So if there is a particular type of pumpkin or squash that you see in a magazine and want to get your hands on, don't wait for your "local produce stand" to start carrying it.  Try growing it yourself!

I bought all my seeds on amazon for less than $3 a packet so this was a very affordable experiment.