"I don't see how a pumpkin patch can be more sincere than this one..." - It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown (Charles M. Shultz)
PUMPKIN 1988…
On an October day, at CFB Petawawa,
Ontario, 1988, snow arrived early that week. Kinda bored, and looking for
something to do, my neighbour, and I got the bright idea to make pumpkin pies.
From scratch. We’d make up our own recipe. Couldn’t be THAT difficult.
First pumpkin I bought, I kept near the kitchen vent. It shriveled up
like a shrunken head. We bought about six more pumpkins. Kept THEM outside in
the back yard, in the snow. THEY did NOT shrivel up, like cannibal heads. We
donned puffy coats, toques, mittens, scarves, mukluks, and grabbed the axe from
basement. Home made pumpkin pie, here we go……
WHACK! The axe bounced. WHACK! My neighbour gave it a go.We took
turns, till those six pumpkins were hacked into chunks. Broke the axe in the
cold.
Unfortunately, we left the
pumpkin boiling FAR too long, while we went out to shovel snow. Came back to a
burnt pot, sizzling pumpkin seeds snapping and spitting out of the pot……..
Dumped the pumpkin, the pot,
the axe and bought a pie…..
ORANGE
PUMPKIN LOAF ( 2011)
(Double
recipe makes 2 loaf pans, or 11 mini loaf pans. Adjust time accordingly.)
1/3
cup butter,1
1/3 cups sugar,2
eggs,1
cup canned pumpkin
1/3
cup orange juice,1
grated and pureed orange
1
cup white flour,1
¼ cup whole wheat flour,1
tsp baking soda
½
tsp baking powder,Pinch
salt
½
tsp cinnamon,½
tsp cloves,½
cup chopped nuts ( I use pecans)
1
cup dried cranberries/raisins mixed ( I toss in a bit more for good measure)
Beat all wet ingredients, then add ground up orange.
Add all dry and combine together..do not beat, or you will be sorry…gets tough
that way.Plop into pans. The mini loaf pans are great. .
Bake in 350 oven for 1 hour with larger loaf pans. Bake for about 30 minutes
with mini pans. Just be sure to check after 20 minutes, with a sharp knife
plunged into the centre to test for doneness.
Cool
and wrap to freeze. Serve with anything and everything…..
Serve with anything and everything….."Each year, the Great Pumpkin rises out of the pumpkin patch that he thinks is the most sincere. He's gotta pick this one. He's got to. I don't see how a pumpkin patch can be more sincere than this one. You can look around and there's not a sign of hypocrisy. Nothing but sincerity as far as the eye can see." -Charles M. Schulz
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