Pumpkin Time!

Good old LOGS (local overpriced grocery store) actually had a decent deal of for once in a blue freakin' moon: pumpkins for 19 cents/lb. For $2.53 I got these beauties:I spent yesterday roasting them up, pureeing the meat, and freezing the pumpkin in one and two cup portions. I got exactly 14 cups of pumpkin puree from these two pumpkins! Woo-hoo!I also saved all the seeds and roasted them, in addition to the seeds my roommate gave me when she emptied out the pumpkin she bought for Halloween. I decided to have some fun with the spices Palidor sent me in her care package recently. I made three different kinds of roasted pumpkin seeds (always a favourite snack of mine at this time of year!): curry flavour, using the curry powder Palidor's dad uses; Chinese Five Spice; and just plain salted.The curry ones smelled absolutely out of this world! They needed some help in the flavour department, however. I think these would be good on a salad or as a garnish. I can tell you, though, that I am so looking forward to making a real curry with this powder because the aroma blew me away. The Five Spice were OK...They also needed a bit of help. I think, in retrospect, I should have added some sugar to them. The salted ones were great!

Thanks again, Palidor!!!

Have a great Halloween everyone!

Thanks to Palidor!!!!

Once again, the thoughtfulness and generosity of my blogging community humbles me.

Today, I received a wonderful box from Palidor, author of Crazy Asian Gal. The box was bursting full of 13 different spices, including star anise, whole cardamom, and Palidor's dad's curry powder. Many are spices I cannot get where I am or are so exotic I couldn't afford them at all. Some, like the macha powder, I'd never heard of! Also in the box were some gourmet hot chocolate mixes and some Halloween candies. My office smells wonderful!

Palidor, thank you so much! I am very much looking forward to using these spices in different ways, and learning how to cook with them. The oncoming winter requires lots of hot chocolate, so those are going to be very nice when the cold weather hits.

You are so very kind, and I can't tell you how much I appreciate this gift!

Life is a Box of Chocolates, and Father's Day Dinner & Updates

So, one weekend my cat gets sick, the next weekend I get sick. There is obviously something in the water up here. Yesterday, I had to bail on work, but I was feeling well enough to go in this morning and bake, so that's what I did.

Technically, what I do at this place is categorized as volunteering, though I do get a supplement to my disability pension that makes life a lot easier for me, but the organization itself doesn't pay me. They are always telling me how well I do my job and how good the kitchen smells when I'm in there baking, and today I was presented with a lovely gift from the staff as a token of their appreciation. I got a really nice card, a huge box of chocolate, and a gift certificate to a store I regularly haunt. I was so surprised - even more so because I was up to my elbows in muffin batter at the time of presentation!
Nice, eh? It felt so great to be so appreciated. I can't tell you what this meant to me!

Sunday was Father's Day, as many of you might know, and my family & I celebrated with a dinner I held at my place. I made this chicken lasagne, which my father had been nagging me for since my article containing the recipe came out. My brother brought some focaccia bread from Safeway, and for dessert I served a selection of desserts: spicy molasses cookies, snickerdoodles, and sour cherry loaf.
And here is Juno, the cat who caused me so much stress a couple of weekends ago! She loves to roll onto her back, tuck up her feet, and show me her belly. I don't know why, because if I try to tickle the belly, she bites me. I always find it funny when she assumes this position; it reminds me of a seal!
FYI, I talked to the cook today about last week's Hawaiian Rice adventure, and he said it was great and that it was very much like a rice pudding! He really liked it, and said the residents did, too!

Foodie Parcel & Award Time!

I have been very lucky to "meet" some very generous folks through my blogs. One of them is Jodi, who's been a reader of ReTorte and Wandering Coyote almost since I started them. Amongst other things, like the very and literally cool bed fan (yes Donna - FFW, I do sleep with machinery, thank you very much!) that has greatly improved the quality of my sleep this week, Jodi sent me a huge parcel filled with all kinds of goodies.

Top row, L - R: Williams Sonoma Hot Chocolate, Red Sour Cherry Preserve & Topping, Raspberry & Cherry Preserve & Topping, Cream Nut Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Clusters, Billington's Sugar Crystals.

Bottom row, L- R: Jodi's homemade scotcheroos (yum!), a selection of Dove chocolate bars, Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate.

Um, I'm already half way through the peanut butter clusters - they are insanely fantastic. I have also eaten about half of the scotcheroos - they are delish! I'm so looking foward to trying everything else!

This box (and the remainder of what was in it can be seen here, along with my cat making herself comfy in some of the contents) totally made my day - my month, in fact - and I am very grateful that I have such thoughtful people in my life!

And speaking of thoughtful people, I received and award from the aforementioned and absolutely hilarious Donna - FFW.

Along with this award comes this message:

"These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated."It also says : "Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

So, I am going to pass this award along to:

• Pierce, of Life in the Slow Lane at Squirrel Head Manor
• Ivonne, of Creampuffs in Venice
• Rosa, of Rosa's Yummy Yums
• Megan, of Megan's Munchies
• Not strictly a food blog, though he does make yummy stuff from time to time and posts about it, Van of Van Santos
• Joanna of A Cup of Jo
• The amazing Jodi
• Joie de Vivre of Joie de Vivre
  

Thank you, Donna-FFW - you honour me. And thanks to everyone out there who makes my life richer each day just by blogging your heart out!