Pumpkin, Pumpkin, Pumpkin

I love Fall!!

And what does Fall bring.... Well it brings me into the kitchen to cook warm foods and anything with pumpkin. 

Pumpkin is such a great fruit.  Yup its a fruit it grows on a vine and it contains seeds. Pumpkin is such a humble fruit it so rich in vitamins and anti-oxidants.  There is so much to love about pumpkins, the color, the flavor and versatility.  Ok enough about how much I love pumpkins, cause if you are still reading you probably love them as well... 

I have tried a few different recipes with pumpkin this season that I really want to share with you. 

Pumpkin Granola:

5 cups of rolled oats

1 cup coconut

1 cup of pecans

1/4 cup flax seeds
1/2 cup raisins

Stir together in a large bowl

1 cup of pure pumpkin

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup maple sugar

2 TBSP cinnamon

1 TBSP pumpkin pie spice

2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 cup homemade apple butter (if this is not an option for you unsweetened apple sauce)

mix all the wet ingredients together

Mix the wet and the dry ingredients together very well. 

Pour onto parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 325 for 20 mins stir and bake for another 20mins. 

Now there is a warning about this recipe and here it is:

YOU HOUSE WILL SMELL AMAZING WHEN YOU BAKE THIS!!!

I warned you so be prepared....

I have been eating this my little handfuls if I need a quick little snack.  But ultimately this is a great breakfast mixed with a little vanilla yogurt.  
Make sure you keep this in a sealed container to retain freshness.
Sorry I did not have a picture to go with this post.  I really need to take better pictures

Golden Beet Slaw

I pulled what was left in my garden today.  It was a very sad garden this year, it was too cold when it was planted in May and then we got a lot of rain this summer with little heat.  I basically gave up on my garden so that meant little weeding and little over all attention was given.  Today we decided to pull the root veggies and see what we have or rather what we do not have.  So after all was said and done we had some golden beets, purple haze carrots, rainbow carrots and regular long carrots.  

I wanted to make something fresh with my beets that did not involve cooking so I decided to make a Beet Slaw.

 Start by cutting the beets and carrots in to match stick pieces.  I then decided to add an apple for a little sweet bite.  Next was onto the dressing.  I did not know were to go with this, so it was totally off the cuff.... 

2 tsp of dry mustard

1/3 cup white vinegar

Olive Oil to match

1 tsp of Smoked Paprika

 2 tsp of Maple Syrup for sweetness

dash of white sugar only cause I was trying to take the acid off the vinegar

1 tsp of fresh ground pepper

2 tsp of celery seed

I whisked this all together in a measuring cup and poured it over the chopped vegetables

It looks all to pretty with the glorious colors.  I ate it with a few pecans on top for more of an earth feel. 

Yup its been a while...

Yes it has been a while, like half a year I know.  It is not that I have not been creating mouth watering dishes it is more like I have not had the time to share them with you. Every time I make something I think this would make a great post on my blog.  My other problem is that on the little amount of time that I have I am creeping on other peoples getting great new ideas for use in my kitchen.  I have run the gamut of canning this year; dill pickles, apple butter, apple chutney, salsa and zucchini salsa.  My shelves are full of the bounty of my not so great garden this year. 
Now the days are getting cooler and the days are getting shorter I am going to try and get more posts up.  It excites me to post and excites me to read other peoples posts.
So here we go....