Good intentions of a day well spent in the garden have come to nothing yet again. Even my grand plans to go garden shopping and trawl up and down the aisles of the hardware store looking for mouse proof bits and bobs for my “anti-mouse seed protector device” version 2 had to be postponed.
Life inside was the soft and warm option for me today. But it wasn’t all without gardening endeavours as I wrote a gardening article for a parenting magazine on the joys of gardening throughout the winter. Having said that it was a bit of a struggle at first as I realise not everyone is as crazy as me, and I wouldn’t want to frighten off any newbie gardeners before the spring even gets here. But I soon found some things that would excite even the most fair weathered gardening friend and I was away typing merrily.
I wasn’t missing out on much by being inside as toiling in the garden wouldn’t have been all that fun as, while the rain had stopped the ground was just soggy and boggy and not conducive to a productive gardening session. But as the day grew to a close I felt like something was missing, a productive gardening effort beyond my usual “well at least we had freshly pulled carrots for tea!” I was restless.
My thoughts drifted towards my pumpkins, of which, despite all the love and care in the world that can be offered to stored pumpkins – one went bad and took several others with it. I now have a pressing need to use pumpkins with an increased frequency before they all end up going off.
My mind is an odd place at the best of times and the pumpkin thoughts soon became entangled with memories of the other nights dinner where I fed dear old friends from America a hearty vegetable soup with so many home grown veggies in it I lost count. Of course the logical outcome from this bizarre train of thought was “pumpkin pie – what’s that all about?” So I set about finding out.
Oh my goodness… why have I never ever had this before! Not only is it easy to make but it is quite delicious! Wow! And the kids love it so much more than pumpkin soup!
Come again soon – I will garden. I have to, my hands are going soft.
Sarah the Gardener : o )
LOL! This really made me smile, especially the ‘cleaned plate.’ Pumpkin pie is one of my favorites, but I’m a big fan of the soup too. Bummer about the deflation, but now you’ve got a pie recipe you love. Hurray for that.
Hi Alys. Now I know why it is such a popular dish in the USA. Here pumpkin is more for the savory end of the scale… roasted. mashed, in salads and soups. Very rarely in a dessert. But it is so good – especially with lashings of whipped cream!
Cheers Sarah : o )
My friend Liz lives in New Zealand, and she says the same thing: always savory. You must admit it’s quite the special gourd when you can whip it into so many tasty treats.
Next up: pumpkin pudding?
Yes, in America, the word that comes after pumpkin is almost always ‘pie.’
… and now I understand why!
Cheers Sarah : o )
Your pie looks so beautiful and yummy! You’ve got my mind going about what can be made with pumpkins. I’m jealous I’ve never been successful growing them. You make it look easy.
Hi Sheila. All of a sudden it would seem pumpkins aren’t for dinner! I wonder if they will work in a muffin?
My best pumpkins often come from plants I never planted. Some wild version that had escaped from the compost heap!
Cheers Sarah : o )
Hi Sarah, I have the purrfect solution to your rat/mouse problem. A black cat. Female cats are better hunters. I have a black cat and he is an awesome killer of rats, mouse and sadly birds.
Hi Tracy. In order to turn our cat Toast into a hunter we would need to seriously reduce her food – although she does make quite a racket when she is hungry, and maybe turn back the clock a little as she is getting on and not as active as she used to be.
Cheers Sarah : o )
Could you please share your recipe Sarah? I adore pumpkin and only this morning found a recipe for pumpkin marshmallows…that pie has GOT to be better for me (and my teeth) than pumpkin marshmallows! 😉
Hi Fran. My pumpkin pie recipe was really easy, but wasn’t exactly vegan friendly! However your pumpkin marshmallow recipe intrigues me. Wanna swap recipes… I have loads of pumpkins to use up.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/food-wine/recipes/5854289/Perfecting-the-American-pumpkin-pie
Cheers Sarah : o )
Cheers for the recipe Sarah, you would be amazed at how this little black duck can veganise a recipe ;). The pumpkin marshmallows were here …
http://candy.about.com/od/marshmallowrecipes/r/pumpkin_mallows.htm
but I really liked the sweet potato marshmallows that I found after the pumpkins ones so I will give that recipe to you as well. My guess is that they would be interchangeable…
http://candy.about.com/od/marshmallowrecipes/r/Sweet-Potato-Marshmallows.htm
Where were the pumpkins stored? I’m wondering if a mouse tried to nibble on one which helped to speed up the rotting process.
We love pumpkin pie. Found a recipe for pumpkin buns (as in fairy cake type buns not bread buns) once, and that worked well – may need to dig it out. Also peeled and deseeded, chunks of uncooked pumpkin can be frozen which means that they can be used at a later date 😉
Hi there. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the mice, but it could have been damaged when it was put away. Not wanting to cast aspersions but I did have a reluctant tribe of un-gardeners helping me harvest, wash and store them!
I took some of the pumpkins that were only just affected by the great pumpkin demise and chopped out the bad bits and lobbed the good bits in the freezer. It actually makes it easier to use, as you don’t have to think about the hazards and hard work involved in hacking them open!
Cheers Sarah : o )
Pumpkin pie is the bOMB! You have me looking forward to fall here already. Even though summer just starts tomorrow.
Hi There. I am just beginning to explore the sweet side of pumpkin and it is so good. I’d never tried it sweet before. Yummo!
Cheers Sarah : o )