Front Porch to Pie Plate

Mr. Mr. was the only one who did not carve his pumpkin for Halloween.  Soooo, we decided to make a pumpkin pie out of it.  I wasn't sure how to prepare the pumpkin for the pie so I did a little research.  I came to understand two ways to do it. Bake it in the oven or boil it. So we decided to do both.

Mr. Mr.'s Pumpkin

Slice Pumpkin in Half

Scoop out all of the seeds

All clean!

One half of the pumkin baked in the oven for 1 hour

One half of the pumpkin boiled for one hour

Scoop out baked pumpkin from the shell

We tried mashing it with a potato masher

but we were not very successful

It was too lumpy

We decided to puree it in the blender, much better.

We made two pies with the same recipe and
ingredients then poured into pie pan.

Baking the pie in the oven

This is the pie that the pumpkin was boiled

This was the pumpkin that the pie was baked.

Overall they both tasted good, however the pie that was from the pumpkin that was boiled had a more creamy and pumpkin flavor. Yum!

Here is the recipe that I used http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/mrs-siggs-fresh-pumpkin-pie/detail.aspx

If you have a lingering pumpkin left on your porch

 from halloween give it new life as a pie.

Trains

J-Man was very proud of the train track he made all by himself

J-Man displayed all of his trains and they were able to
make it all the way around the track.

Mr. Mr. wanted to be part of the fun too!

Fall In The Desert

Fall in the desert is more a state of mind than an actual change of seasons. Most people around here joke that we only have two seasons, Summer and Almost Summer, which for the most part is pretty acurate.
To kick of the fall season I made a wreath for the front door and a centerpiece for the dining room table.

Wreath

Centerpiece

We also went on a walk to search for any leaves that might be changing colors.  Here is what we found.

The leaves on the Ocotillo's were changing colors

Octillo's next to some purple lantana

Octillo's in the Prickly Pear covered wash

J-Man was happy to be home after our walk.

Mr. Mr. says take my picture too!

I am happy fall is here, the tempurature lingers in the 80's
for most of October and November. 
We plan a lot of outdoor activities and are happy to enjoy the season.

Pumpkins, Candy and Costumes Oh, My!

I love celebrating Halloween from carving the pumpkins to creating carnival games to win candy and sewing outrageously requested costumes.  This year was one of the best.  Here are some of my favorite moments.

J-Man's Mickey Mouse costume finally complete.  I made the shorts and shoe covers.

I-Man as requested is a Rabid Smurf
J-Man is a Mickey Mouse Vampire
Mr. Mr. is Diego from Go Diego Go his favorite show.

J-Man in the obstacle course at the Carnival at the Middle School.

I-Man really played up his Rabid Smurf Costume at the Carnival, he tried to always look scary.

J-Man scooping out the seeds and slime in his pumkin.

There sure are a lot of seeds. Phew!

I-Man drew the face on his pumkin.  I carved it for him because he jammed his
 finger playing basketball with the neighborhood kids just before he came in.

Mr. Mr. drew a lot of hair on his pumpkin.

1

Jack-o-lantern's ready

J-Man and Mr. Mr. with their pumpkins.

J-Man and Mr. Mr. with the whole pumpkin family.

Mr. Mr., J-Man and I-Man getting ready to go trick or treating on Halloween night. 
They are standing in front of our bean bag toss game.

Halloween treats at the ready! We handed out goodie bags of candy and toys.

I-Man and his bagfull of candy.  Now he smiles:)

Monster Stew

Each month I hold a book club meeting for preschool age children.  October's book club was held the week before Halloween. We read one of my favorite children's books entitled "Cackle Cook's Monster Stew"  written by Patricia Rae Wolff.

All the children dressed up in their costumes and I in mine and we had a frightfully good time.

We had superheros, witches, and dragons, oh my.

Chowing down on Monster Stew.

Standing in line to knock Scaredy the Cat off the wall.

Scaredy the Cat fell off.

Recipe for Monster Stew

2 Tablespoons olive oil

4 Carrots
2 Onions
2 Bell Peppers 1 red 1 green
1 1/4 lb package ground turkey (or you could use 1 lb any ground meat)
3/4  worth of a can of tomato paste
2 15 oz cans black beans, rinsed
2 15 oz cans pinto beans with juice
1/2 of package of "Grill Mates" Mexican Fiesta Marinade (Powder) you can find this in the spice isle at walmart for about 99 cents:)
salt and pepper to taste

Chop the carrots onions and bell peppers in a food processor, blender, chopper, whatever you have until they are minced in uniform pieces.  Heat oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat.  Add the minced veggies and cook, stirring, for 6 minutes.  Add the ground meat and cook, breaking it up with a spoon, until no longer pink about 10 minutes.  Add the tomato paste  and cook, stirring, until it is slightly darkened, 3 minutes.  Stir in beans, Mexican Fiesta Marinade (Powder), 3 cups water, salt and pepper to taste.  Simmer over medium-low heat until the vegetables are tender, 20 minutes.  Feed to your little monsters.

The Blue Mountains

When we drive toward "town" in the distance you can see the mountain range which tend to look blue because they are far away.  J-Man notices the mountains and asks the same question each time: Mom, when can we go to the "Blue Mountains?"  I usually respond, sometime we can.  Then come the questions about the mysterious "Blue Mountains."  Do dragons live on the Blue Mountains?  Can we go camping on the "Blue Mountains?"  I answer as best I can, but the mystery still lingers for J-Man. 

Two weeks ago at the end of the Fall Break for school we decided to go to the "Blue Mountains" for a picnic and fishing.  J-Man could hardly contain himself on the drive up.

The windy road up the mountain

Senic view of the saguaro cactus covered mountain

The boy's sitting on a log after lunch

Rock formations on the drive up the mountain

J-Man found a cool stick

A stick perfect for fishing

Noure and Mr. Mr., snacks are yummy

Jen and J-Man

Mr. Mr. hanging out on the big shiny rocks

Roots of a tree near our fishing spot

Rose Canyon Lake

Ten minutes before leaving, I-Man caught a trout.

Reflections of Blue Mountain

Sitting at the lake, feeling the gentle breeze

slow ripples on the surface of the water.

Tall pines among blue skies

reflected in the water of this serene fall day.

The boys are happy exploring with Dad.

Rocks and sticks and shiny things

are the treasure of the day.

God created this beautiful earth

out of His love for us.