Mystery Solved! It's Pumpkin!

The last time we emptied our compost bin (about 1 1/2 months ago), there were lots of little seedlings growing inside. They were so cute and my curiousity took hold, so we planted them in a pot to see what they were. Lots of seeds end up in the compost and these little guys were so small it was tough to tell. My hope was for canteloupe. One seedling flourished, so we planted it in the empty spot of the garden where we had just harvested the potatoes. Mystery plant started to grow bigger. And bigger. And then on to HUGE.

 The plant is longer than both our gardens combined.

This pumpkin solved the mystery of what kind of plant it was.

It has taken over the world.

This pumpkin got too big for the slot it decided to grow in. I moved it and it just keeps getting bigger!

See the battle scars the poor thing got from fighting with the wood frame?

I still had pumpkin puree leftover from last year in the freezer. Last year, I bought 1 pumpkin, baked it, pureed it and froze it in 2 cup portions. Read that again: 1 pumpkin. And I still had a bag now, when the new pumpkin plant (grown out of the seeds from that 1 pumpkin) is promising many many pumpkins. So I made cookies and experimented with a pumpkin spice latte. It was ok but the pumpkin sort of sunk to the bottom. I wonder how Starbucks and the Cocoa Beanery do it? Probably fake pumpkin flavoring. Argh. According to this copycat recipe, they use pumpkin spice syrup.

Pumpkin Spiced Latte

adapted from TipHero

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Makes 1 drink. (I think their recipe was to make 2 but I only wanted 1.)

1 c Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze milk

1/2 c very strong coffee

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp maple syrup

1 tsp cinnamon

1 T (heaping) pumpkin puree

Mix together in a small pot over medium heat until it starts to steam. Pour into a big mug and savor the delicious smell.

I would recommend putting the milk and pumpkin into a blender and pureeing it extra fine so that your pumpkin doesn't end up in the bottom of the mug when you're done drinking. I think mine just wasn't pureed quite enough. This may not be an issue if you're using the canned kind.

Yesterday was a catch-all day around the house. All those odds and ends that kept nagging at me are finally done!

One of my big projects was to pick all but the very smallest leaves from the swiss chard plant and freeze the harvest so that we'll have greens during the winter. My loving husband provided a noisy soundtrack during this process: he was using the belt sander on the front window frames.

Step 1: Try to control the chard after picking it.

Step 2: Wash the swiss chard.

Step 3: Pull off the stems and tough parts and rip the leaves into pieces.

Step 4: Fill the bowl with leaves, cover and microwave to wilt the leaves.

Step 5: Drain the excess liquid and let the chard cool. Then package up to freeze.

All that for 3 16 oz. containers of frozen chard. Crazy.

Healing

Last night I felt pretty under the weather. But I still made dinner because my parents came home from vacation and were coming over for dinner! It was worth the effort. Something about a relaxing dinner out on the patio has healing powers.

We had Mixed Vegetable soup from Food and Wine magazine, but I had to make some serious adjustments. I took the option of using wheat berries instead of farro.  Then we tasted it when it was super bland. I ended up adding 2 tsp. of  Italian seasoning and 1 tsp. of garlic powder. I would saute garlic with the onions and celery if I made it again. Which I probably will. I also did not have any tomato paste so I cut up a tomato and then used that and 2 T of tomato sauce. And then we ate it with wine, just like the magazine title. Dad and Walter made the wine and they did an excellent job. Saturday is the next wine making day because the new grapes arrive either today or tomorrow!