Monday, November 01, 2010

Cool Pumpkins

You may remember my gardening  post  from August this year?  Well three and a half of the pumpkins survived. One was slightly chewed by slugs so we cut the bad parts away and used the good flesh to make a pumpkin pie.  That was a few weeks ago.  The other three pumpkins were harvested at the same time and have been sitting on top of the fridge waiting for this weekend.


We had pumpkin soup on Saturday from one of the carved pumpkins and I found a recipe on-line which Paul adapted and used to make Pumpkin bread yesterday (he'll be adding it to his bread website later - see my sidebar for the link).  The bread is actually more like cake but was a lot tastier than the soup - I preferred the butternut squash soup we made last weekend. 

Last night we had about five different groups of 'Trick or Treaters' - the little ones came first in splendid costumes, their parents hovering halfway up the drive.  Our last group were some boys of about ten or eleven years old.  We had put the smaller of the two carved pumpkins near the front door with a lighted tea-light inside to guide the way - after the boys had taken two or three sweets from the bowl one of them said  to me 'Thank you, Happy Halloween - I like your pumpkin - it's small, but cool!'

Later it was lovely to sit in the light from the pumpkins and other candles with a glass of wine and Downton Abbey on the television.

We've saved the seeds from the pumpkins and the butternut squash to see if we can grow some more next year.

14 comments:

  1. great pumpin faces! :o) a lovely display altogether and pumkin soup sounds really scrumtious, must give it a go sometime.

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  2. How nice to be told you had a 'cool' pumpkin! I like the sound of pumpkin bread. I made pumpkins pies but cheated using pumpkin from a tin!!!

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  3. How 'cool' to carve a pumpkin from your own garden!!! We didn't have a single visitor ... but I wasn't expecting any because there are no little people living anywhere near us any more. They've all grown up and gone to uni now!!! How old does that make me feel!
    Love Kathy xxx

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  4. Get you two couple of trendy's with your cool pumpkins!!! I am so loving Downton Abbey - I never want it to end. HighClere Castle is now firmly on my list! We have passed the sign for it a million times on our way down to Poole or Weymouth when we have been catching various ferries, but next time - I'm not passing it. xx

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  5. I didn't have pumpkins but I did have candles, wine and Downton Abbey. It's so enjoyable. What will I do when the series finishes? Thanks for your vote too, Rosie.

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  6. I've not heard of Pumpkin bread before, sounds interesting! Love the faces on your pumpkins. x

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  7. WE got in loads of treats and had no callers.While we ate our tea we turned off all the lights at the front as though we weren't in and forgot to put them on again.MUST NOT EAT ALL THE TREATS!!!

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  8. My SIL used to make round pumpkin bread loaves in the old very tall beer cans. She said the hardest part was drinking all that beer first!!! hehehe...I think she was kidding, but you never know!

    If the kids like your carved pumpkin, you've reached your goal! So cute of him to comment and approve!

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  9. Aww bless those kids! Cool carving, really :)
    There's a pumpkin theme going on here too..mum yesterday blended one and we had it with pasta, it was like cream!
    Have a good week
    xxx

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  10. It is lovely when the kids notice your efforts. I've never had pumpkin soup, but I do enjoy it made from butternut squash.

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  11. I was thinking of you yesterday, I'd missed Pillars of the Earth and was watching it on the computer. Really enjoying it. Downton is another favourite, we're being really spoilt for once.

    Nice to see home grown pumpkins.

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  12. That sounds like such a nice way to mark Halloween Rosie and what a polite little boy.

    We made a huge 'cauldron' of butternut squash risotto for some friends who were over and it was eaten in no time!

    I'm really enjoying Downton Abbey and felt really moved by the last episode of A History of England - sentimental thing that I am!

    Jeanne
    x

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  13. ..me again. Just wanted to say that I found your previous post really interesting Rosie. I didn't realise you had another blog.

    x

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  14. Millie - thanks for visiting and following - glad you liked the pumpkins:)

    Simone - the bread is more like cake or tea loaf in texture - nice with a cuppa!

    Kathy - it was great setting the pumpkin seeds, watching them grow, harvesting them, carving them and using the flesh:)

    Diane - HighClere Castle may have to go on my list too:)

    Jennyfreckles - you are welcome it was a super photo:)

    Rosie - it's more like cake than bread but quite nice:)

    busybeejay - that is the temptation isn't it - to finish off the treats if they aren't all collected?:)

    Deb - lol - bread in beer cans sounds intersting!:)

    Michela - that recipe sounds really interesting - what a combination!:)

    H - I have to say I enjoyed the squash soup much more than the pumpkin soups:)

    Amanda - glad you are enjoying Pillars too - I did decide to watch in the end - couldn't resist - it is quite different to the book but very good!:)

    Jeanne - butternut squash risotto sounds wonderful - I too felt a lump in my throat at the last episode of A Story of England - wasn't it wonderful? - link to my other blog at the top of this one:)

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