Term Papers and Finals

Definitely caught up with me, the past few weeks have been a blur. One paper after another, one test after another, one prep session for finals after another. I believe though... Im ready. For finals that is, I dont even want to talk about Christmas.

Thanksgiving

Let me start this by saying, I have been posting from my iphone, unfortunately the app has failed me and it has saved the last week of posts as "drafts" not posts.

I am back on my laptop and am hitting PUBLISH on my missing posts :)



Thanksgiving was pulled off this year without any hitches, well there was one MAJOR one, but I will have to discuss that later, when its "safe" LOL

Last night I stayed up and made my pies and pumpkin bread, to attempt to save time cooking today. Or at least that was my reasoning for baking the night before.

Today I was up bright and early, threw the turkey in the roaster... who bought the 12 lb turkey? Never leave a man in charge, I always say. This proves Im right! Then I set out to make everything else I could think of :)

the results :)

Worst places to drive...

I can't think of a place worse than I-81 from the Tennessee state line to Roanoke Virginia.There are idiots everywhere, the speed limit is 70 now, but for some reason those traveling this route didnt get the memo.

In general people see a cop and hit their brakes. On this stretch of road people see a cop, hit their brakes slow down to a good 15 below the speed limit and travel at that speed for the next 10 miles. I mean obviously they think he might pull out and get them.

How aggravating for those of us who drive 50,000 miles a year.

Murphy's Law

If it can go wrong it will. Right? Maybe not always, but some days are worse than others.

I have been telling Mr. Digger that my battery is dying in my truck for no less than a month. He put the trickle charger on it, and it did good for a few days, then back to the dead animal wrowr wrowr wrowr sound, and ultimately... It turns over.

But now probably 20,000 miles and no less than 100 starts later, I am stranded in my daughter's driveway, waiting to once again, be rescued by Mr. Digger.

Day 10 Happy Birthday Marines!

Today I am thankful for my Marine, without him the last 14 years could have been a lot worse. 

We have been through so much, some good, and some not so good.In the end he has  for the most part, been my rock. The one I can depend on. The one who has walked through hell with me and occasionally picked me up and carried me. 

Im not just another pretty Marine wife, I know what the significance of Tun Tavern in Philadelphia PA is. I am aware of who Chesty Puller was, and the history behind the name Devil Dog. 

"We've been looking for the enemy for some time now.
We've finally found him.  We're surrounded.
That simplifies our problem of getting to these people and killing them."

Chesty Puller 1898-1971 

Semper Fi Mr Digger. Ooh Rah!

I should have started this 9 days ago

But... Im a procrastinator.

A lot of people are doing things they are thankful for this month in honor of Thanksgiving.

So----- November 9th 2011

I am thankful for my  kids, everything I do in life is for them. Nothing melts my heart more than my high school freshman wanting me to come join him for lunch, knowing that when I was in highschool I didnt want either of my parents anywhere NEAR the school.  I love getting random texts from my baby girl just telling me she loves me or she sends me a <3 :)  I love when lil dude tells me Im the best. When the little girls get excited that we are going to MY house :)

Early to bed....

Early to rise! Not even sure what time i fell asleep last night, all I know was that by 230 this morning I was wake, and trying to ignore my bladder telling me I should get up.

I must have made it 20 minutes before giving up and getting up. I thought maybe I could lay back down and fall asleep but no suck luck.

For the second morning in a row I've seen the clock roll around to 4am. With the recent rolling back of the clocks I guess I could say well really it is 5am so it's normal time to be getting up and getting the day started right? By the time we spring forward though, I will be dreading the time change and needing that hour of sleep I will be losing. It's a no win situation I guess.

Might as well get up and get the day started :/

Good morning!!!!!

4am? Who does that?

Someone apparently thought it was a good idea to wake me up at 4 am. Why? To question me about a questionable comment an old friend left on my fb wall in the middle of the night. O_o.


Really? If you want good reception from a person you are confronting about something they have no control over (other than the power of the delete button of course) try waiting until they are actually awake before going into "attack of the protective husband mode". Geesh!

Now it's 510am, I'm still awake and already can tell its going to be a long long day.

Wait is it really

Only 46 days until Christmas?  I am usually so much more organized than this. I usually have a huge part of our shopping done and out of the way. This year. Yeah. I bought a new coffee maker for Mr Digger, his died a couple months ago, and he has been limping through his morning coffee routine with a cheap $10 maker I bought him for his shop a few years ago.

Money is tight, and everything the kids seem to want costs a fortune. Between attorneys fees and vehicles with phantom issues that cant be resolved the money tree has stopped producing this year. I know my older kids will completely understand, its the little ones I worry about :( 

With the fall semester time has been an issue and I havent done a mystery shop since August. I just may have to stalk some boards for some good shops to coincide with Christmas presents... off to see whats out there right now.

Baking day

As I feared there is enough pumpkin left over to make another dozen pies... but I did use 8 cups of  pumpkin today.

2 cheesecakes, (one low carb one regular), 24 pumpkin muffins and a pumpkin pie whew!

Monday mornings always

come to quickly. Sounds like a bad porn. But its true! It doesnt matter how early or late I go to bed on a Sunday night, the morning alarm clock sneaks up and slaps me upside the head, every week.

This morning was no different.  I woke at 5 when Mr Digger headed out the door. I recall requesting that he throw the clothes from the washer into the dryer so that lil dude had dry jeans for school. At least I thought it  *sigh*

6am and the clothes are discovered to still be in the washer, still wet, and not wearable. So  sweats it is. Took a good 20 minutes to get the 2 that NEEDED to be up, up and in the process the 2 that didnt need to be up were wide awake. So much for going back to bed when after the busses came. Not that we caught either bus.... So that meant loading kids into the truck for the drive to town, dropping lil dude off at 725, followed by waiting around until 755 to drop devil child off.

By the time we got home, it seemed appropriate to just go ahead and feed the animals. Baby J thought it was best to run around in slippers in the pig pen, they love the mud, apparently she does too.

Freddy is currently screeching (her form of communication) in the jumparoo... the TV is on and Skrech (that would be Shrek for those who do not speak baby Joy) is playing for the 100th time in a week.



Is it nap time yet?

See the button?

Off to the left
<-------------------- over there :)

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The 5 hour cooking...

of the $12 pumpkin. Yep thats right it was TOO big to fit in the pot in one cooking, or two, or even three. I even baked a pan of pumpkin too! By the time I was done cutting cooking and mashing pumpkin it was time to fix supper and I had no desire to make anything pumpkin related last night... so tonight Im hoping to have time to make a cheesecake :) Low carb of course ;)

I should have had the forethought to weigh the pumpkin first, but didnt think about it until it was all chopped up and half cooked. But there she is, in her full sized beauty.

Tried to cut the top off, like you would a jack-o-lantern but it was thicker than I anticipated! Took a bit more cutting to get into the guts of the pumpkin!

 First section cut out, almost completely filled my huge stock pot once chopped into smaller pieces. This was when I realized this would turn into an all day project!

 Then I decided to bake some of the pumpkin as well. Sliced a slab into small sections, buttered the bottom of the pan then sprinkled cinnamon on the pan as well. Few chunks of butter between slices for good measure ;) Heated the oven to 400 and baked about 35-40 minutes.

My helper picking seeds out of the pile of pumpkin guts. We baked about half the seeds and saved the other half for planting this spring :)

After we got all the guts separated from the seeds, we took the leftovers out to the pigs, who showed us that they LOVE pumpkins :)

Baked pan of pumpkin at end of baking. It smelled so good I couldnt help but try a piece and it was wonderful, somewhat like cooking an acorn squash with butter and brown sugar, too good to be a vegetable :D

What to do with that $12 pumpkin

Recipes! 

How to make the Best EASY Pumpkin Pie

2 eggs slightly beaten
1 can Libby's pumpkin *substitute fresh pumpkin*
3/4 cups sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. allspice
1 can evaporated milk Preheat oven to 425. Mix dry ingredients.
Put pumpkin, eggs, sugar and milk in a large bowl. Add dry ingredients. Mix well.
Pour into pie crust shells. Bake 15 minutes, then turn temperature down to 350 for 45 more minutes.

Grandma's Old Fashioned Pumpkin Pie

1 cup pumpkin
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar mixed with a heaping tsp. of flour
1/2 tsp. of salt, ginger, cinnamon
1 egg well beaten.
Prepare as usual 5 min at 400 then 55 min at 325. Watch Carefully. Cover edges of pie crust with foil if necessary.
The last 15 min add your little turkey or pumpkin decoration from the leftover pie crust.
Makes 1- 8 inch pie.

Pumpkin Pie

1 1/2 c. cooked or canned pumpkin
1/4 c. white corn syrup
2 eggs
1/2 c. evaporated milk
2 tblsp. butter or margarine
1/2 c. hot milk
1/2 c. brown sugar firmly packed
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ginger
1/8 tsp. cloves
1 recipe for plain pastry
Combine pumpkin, corn syrup, eggs and evaporated milk. Stir butter into the hot milk. Combine brown sugar, salt and spices. Mix until well blended. Combine all three mixtures; pour into pastry-lined pie pan. (For crisp crust, brush pastry with egg white or melted butter.)
Bake in hot oven (425) 15 minutes, then reduce heat to moderate oven (350) and bake 35 minutes longer or until knife inserted comes out clean.Just before serving, garnish, if you wish, with dollops of whipped cream topped with slivered, candied ginger.
Recipe from 1959 Farm Journal Country Cookbook 

Fresh Pumpkin Pie

1 1/2 cups steamed and strained pumpkin
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup cream
Mix ingredients in order given, and bake in one 9" crust.

Impossible Pumpkin Pie

3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. Bisquick
2 Tblsp. margarine
1 (13oz) can evaporated milk
2 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
1 (16oz) can pumpkin
2 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice Heat oven 375. Grease a 9 or 10 inch pie pan. Beat all ingredients until smooth. Pour into pan. Bake till knife tests done, 50 to 55 minutes. Top with Cool Whip.
Variation: Instead of pumpkin spice you can use 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. nutmeg, qnd 1/2 tsp. salt.
See more recipes made with Bisquick.

Honey Pumpkin Pie

1 c. brown sugar or 3/4 c. honey
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. pumpkin
2 eggs
1 1/2 c. milk (use 1 cup if honey is used)
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. cloves
1/4 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. allspice
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
Mix ingredients in order listed above. Blend thoroughly. Pour batter into baked pie shell. Bake at 450 for 10 min. Reduce heat to 350 and bake another 40 to 45 min.
Recipe from 1987 SD Special Olympics Cookbook

Here are some cookie recipes to make with pumpkin!

Pumpkin Cookie Recipe

2 cups flour
1 cup quick oats
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup soft butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 can pumpkin
assorted icings, chocolate chips or chopped nuts.
Preheat oven to 350. Combine first five ingredients. Cream the butter add the sugars gradually and beat till light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla, and mix well. Alternate the addition of the dry ingredients with the pumpkin, mixing well after each addition. Stir in Chocolate chips and nuts if desired.
For each cookie drop 1/4 cup dough onto lightly greased cookie sheet and spread into a pumpkin shape using a butter knife. Add a plop for the stem. Bake 20 to 25 minutes until cookies are lightly browned and firm. Remove from cookie sheets and cool. Decorate.

Easy Pumpkin Bars *this recipe is awesome!*

3/4 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup cooking oil
1/2 cup nuts
Put all ingredients except nuts in a large bowl, and mix with a mixer till smooth, then add nuts. Pour in 9x9x2-inch greased baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Cool 5 minutes. Remove from pan and frost, if desired. This recipe is easily doubled and poured into a greased 11x17. It turns out moist and great.
Here's another recipe for Pumpkin Bars

Pumpkin Roll
 2/3 cup pumpkin puree
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
3/4 cup flour

Filling:
1 cup powdered sugar
8 ounces cream cheese (softened)
4 tablespoons butter (or margarine)
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
Mix together in order listed. Line a 15x1 1/2 cookie sheet with waxed paper. Trim off excess wax paper. Pour pumpkin batter onto cookie sheet and spread evenly. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes at 375. (Sprinkle with chopped pecans before baking if desired.)
Prepare a linen towel by heavily sprinkling it with powdered sugar. After it's done baking, turn onto the towel, waxed paper side up. Remove the paper and roll up into the towel. Cut off any crisp edges. Cool for 30 to 40 minutes rolled.
Prepare filling while the roll cools. Mix ingredients thoroughly. After roll has cooled, unroll and spread filling evenly and re-roll. Chill. Slice for serving.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

1-16oz box pound cake mix
3 eggs
2 T. margarine (or butter) melted
4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1-8oz pkg. cream cheese, softened
1-14oz can Eagle Brand condensed milk
1-15oz can pumpkin (about 2 cups)
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. chopped nuts
Preheat oven to 350. In a large mixing bowl on low speed, combine cake mix, 1 egg, margarine and 2 tsp. pumpkin spice until crumbly. Press mixture into bottom of a 9x13 cake pan. In mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy; gradually beat in Eagle Brand milk and the remaining 2 eggs, pumpkin, the remaining 2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice and salt. Mix well. Pour over crust. Sprinkle with nuts. Bake 30 to 35 min. or until set. Cool Chill in refrigerator and top with Cool Whip. (Make your own condensed milk)
Recipe from a 1998 Platte SD "Neighborhood Delights"

Pumpkin Bread

3 cups of sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
3 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp. soda
1 tsp. nutmeg
Make a well in center and add
4 eggs
1 cup oil
2/3 cup water
2 cups of pumpkin or squash
Mix until smooth. Fill 2 or 3 greased pans half full. Bake at 350 for 1 hr. Raisins or nuts may be added Also see the Pumpkin Bread in a jar to give as gifts.



Now off to cook my huge $12 pumpkin :) 


 

Unless otherwise noted, GOOGLE was my friend, and these were found on the net.