Stay (wasting time).

What do you do when you have 20 or so things to get done? None of them, of course. You blog instead! :)

I am constantly picking up pie pumpkins this time of year, and I've put a few more of them to use this past week. Saturday Brad headed out for a night with the guys, so I decided to throw together some pumpkin butter (thanks for the recipe, Birgit!). This meant another battle with food processing, but I was up for the challenge. Especially since the recipe was so simple.

First, I scooped and peeled the pumpkin, then cut it into 2-inch chunks. I baked the chunks at 350 degrees on a cookie sheet, covered tightly with foil, for 45 minutes. Then it was into the blender -- thought I'd mix it up this time. Our blender is next to useless, but because the pumpkin was so tender, it pureed up ok. Good to know for next time... Just cook the crap out of whatever needs to go in the processor! Into the saucepan to thicken up.

After a half-hour or so, you add brown sugar, nutmeg, and lemon juice, cooking again until the sugar is all dissolved. Who knew pumpkin butter was so easy?

I kept forgetting about it in the fridge, but this morning I finally remembered to try it out (after buying English muffins yesterday specifically for it).

The verdict? Yum! Super easy, and super yummy. You should definitely make some, too!

Yesterday I decided I wanted to make treats again. I couldn't decide between a few recipes, so I let Brad pick. And he picked one that called for canned pumpkin -- he made me cheat! haha! Chocolate chip pumpkin bread. When I went to use the recipe from my binder, I discovered I hadn't saved all the recipe -- just the ingredients list (duh!). So I found this one online and went with it. To lighten it up a little, I used applesauce instead of oil, and then to unlighten it back up, I used the whole bag of chocolate chips ("Stir in as many chocolate chips as you like." I like them all, thank you very much.) The recipe made two thick loaves. Luckily I was keeping an eye on them because the recipe said to cook for 90 minutes -- mine were done in about 60 or 70 minutes.

Pretty maids, lined up in a row.

I'm pleased to report another success! And it's super gooey soft and yummy -- I credit the applesauce for this.

But, before you can eat dessert, you've gotta eat your dinner, right? I decided to try a recipe I'd clipped who knows when from who knows where -- salmon rolls. Super simple, just a 1 lb fillet of salmon, which I cooked on the stove top in a little evoo. Remove the skin, then chunk it up in a bowl and mix it with 1/4 cup of mayo, 2 stalks of celery chopped, the juice of a lemon, and some pepper (basically like tuna, but salmony-er and fresher). Toasted up some hoagie rolls, added some lettuce for crunch, and spooned the mixture in.

Three in a row! This one is an instant classic. So easy, so tasty -- this one's going in the repertoire for sure. Nothing makes me happier than seeing Brad light up over dinner, and I think it's safe to say there was a little lighting up of the hubby. (AND the leftovers were just as tasty today for lunch.)

And finally, some Halloween fun (courtesy of Ms. Rachel!). Enjoy:

Make Freddy Talk
Make Poltergeist Talk