Christmas:2014

Yes I'm posting this a bit late. I have reasons. Which will come in the next post. Also in this one. 

Christmas was an interesting combination of fun, relaxed, and heart-wrenchingly painful.

It was Simon's second Christmas and, at 19 months, he still doesn't GET it, but was old enough to actually enjoy opening gifts and playing with them. 

Reading Miki by Stephen Mackey

For 10 minutes. Then he discovered wrapping paper and boxes and the same stuff he takes out of the kitchen cupboards every day.

And while seeing him SUPER excited to open up his new cars and trucks was quite fun, when he put those off to the side because he opened up the books we'd gotten him while we were in Hobart, and sat on his daddy's lap for 15 minutes asking to be read to, my heart swelled with pride and melted a little bit. Because my child loves books! And I don't know that there is anything he can do at this age that would make me prouder.

It was so nice to have a quiet Christmas morning, just the three of us. To enjoy Simon's happiness and at the same time remember that we should have had little Ben with us, too, to share toys with, and kisses, and have pictures of his first Christmas. And we needed that quiet time together, the three of us, to remember, to cry, to laugh, and to prepare for the big family Christmas day with everyone from my husband's side of the family. 

HAM!
We love ham.

The night before I'd made a really nice Christmas Eve dinner of ham and veggies. And home-made cooked egg nog. Oh. My. YUM. We ate leftover cold ham for breakfast with, what is becoming kind of a tradition for us, fresh, flaky biscuits and eggs. We try to keep it small because Christmas lunch with my husband's family tends to be HUGE. And then they eat the leftovers cold for dinner. It's quite delicious.

No gingerbread house or TARDIS this year. Just plain cookies.

I tried adding to it, at least for immediate family members and some choice friends, anyway, by baking gifts this year. A combination of gingerbread, almond roca, and some chocolate chip cookie dough truffles (I can't choose a favorite. They were all fantastic to, um, taste-test...). I let Simon "help" me this year. Since gingerbread dough has no egg in it, I thought he could play with some of the dough while I made the cookies. Turns out, Simon LOVES gingerbread (he now ASKS for it yelling "Dindinbeh!") and immediately stuffed the bits of dough in his mouth and yelled for more. So, not wanting a toddler hyped up on sugar, I put a stop to his "helping" and gave him rice puffs instead. Later, he learned the art of stealing cookies while I am distracted frosting them. Was he helpful? No. Was it annoying? No. I decided when I started that I was going to enjoy the time with him no matter what. We spent time together doing things. Well worth loosing some gingerbread and time baking to make the memories I now have of him!

Bites of heaven.
I mean eggless chocolate chip cookie dough truffles.

This year was honestly probably the most relaxed and nice Christmas we've been to. 

Except that by the end, I had had more than enough socializing and pretending that I was ok. Because I wasn't. The one and only time I mentioned Ben's name and being in the hospital was during a legitimate story I was asked about (why Simon was running around singing, "Die Die Die!". It's from the song Dumb Ways to Die, which I had on my tablet the first time we were in the hospital waiting for scan results and ran out of ways to entertain Simon. So we let him watch it and he is kind of obsessed with it now). The people listening actually turned away from me. I mean legitimately turned their backs and stopped looking at me. To say it was hurtful would be downplaying what that felt like. It was one of those moments where I was tempted to yell "I DON'T HAVE A DISEASE!". I get that I am the face of pain to them right now, and they don't know what to do, but really, it was probably one of the worst things they could have done. Well, that, and ignore me. Which they did too. It was super fun, let me tell you...

You can use tractors and trucks to make cookies.
Right?

But Simon had fun. And that made most of it worth it. And by the end of the night, at home with Simon in bed, sitting with Phillip, a glass of wine, and watching Elf (after shedding copious amounts of tears, because you can't cry while watching Elf. It's too funny), I could say it was a nice Christmas with my little family. 

Christmas: 2013

We've been back from our trip to the States for just over a week now.

I promise you, I have a few blog entries started on my tablet (yes! I got a tablet! Mostly so I COULD blog while my hubby has the computer). Unfortunately, we don't have wireless, so I have to upload them later... and finish them... but I couldn't wait on this one, because it's Christmas (Simon's first!).

And I managed to do my annual gingerbread house. Somehow. With being remarkably tired from traveling and a sick and cranky baby who refuses to sleep for longer than 3 hour-increments at night. And just a long long first week back in Tassie.

But baking is therapy sometimes. And I so badly wanted to make this gingerbread house! I didn't care if anyone in Phillip's family recognized it, or thought it was as awesome as we did, or lame, I just needed to make it.

So I did.

And it is glorious. Or at least I think so, anyway.

Anyone who doesn't recognize it, this is the TARDIS. From Dr. Who. Specifically, for a seasonally appropriate TARDIS, a bit of inspiration from "The Snowmen" episode.

I am a rather recent initiate into the Dr. Who universe, thanks to my cousin. Though I have to say, things I'd seen from the fandom made me rather interested in the show before that, as well.

So in honor of 50 years of Dr. Who, and my lovely cousin, who I'm really really sad I couldn't be with for Christmas (along with the rest of my family), comes the gingerbread TARDIS.

Interestingly enough, Phillip's uncle is a big Dr. Who fan, which we did not know until I walked in with my TARDIS. So there were fun jokes about breaking it open to see if it was bigger on the inside. And it was fun to have something I did just for myself for fun be fun for others as well.

And, for Simon's first Christmas, we kept it low-key. He got some clothes we got in the States for him, and some Duplos for when he's a bit older. I mean, honestly, he's super happy playing with bits of paper he finds on the floor at the moment, and gets enough toys from other people, that we felt no need to spoil him more. Lots of love, and hugs is about all he needs and want from us anyway.

 Poor baby is still rather sick and cranky most of the time. On the left we have happy baby after playing with wrapping paper. On the right, we have a child who just got clothes for Christmas...

Christmas: 2012

We're still learning how to celebrate Christmas together, and trying to set up our own little family traditions, so Christmas this year was more of a work in progress than a happy fun holiday season.

Not that I didn't have fun. Christmas morning with the hubby was pretty nice. We're just still trying to find that balance between "we know this is based on a pagan holiday and don't feel entirely comfortable celebrating it just because it's become tradition" and "I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!!" (I am more the latter).

We both woke up a bit later than expected Christmas morning (Christmas Eve celebrations with his parents and siblings went on longer than expected because one of his brothers decided to do some unplanned deer hunting that was somehow legal even though it isn't deer season), and had to rush a bit more than I would have wanted.

I made the same delectable biscuits for breakfast that we had for Thanksgiving. I'm serious, these things are just the best ever. So light, fluffy, flaky, and full of flavor.... but anyway, topped a few of those with whats left of the homemade raspberry jam from last summer and the rest with melted butter and warm honey... Ooooohhhh.... they are GOOD. With a small cup of the coffee my sister sent us from Guatemala,  it was a perfect small and cozy Christmas breakfast.

Not technically a gift for him,
but he still liked it.

We had a few minutes to open gifts together , let the chickens out, and gather up this years gingerbread house and other food stuffs to bring before we had to get ready to leave for a family gathering.

I wasn't as surprised by the Britishness of Christmas this year, but more surprised at how my family's traditions have more in common with those of my German friend. Gingerbread houses and Christmas cookies: not such a big thing here. Where as my family would be chowing down on piles and piles of sugar, gingerbread, and spritz cookies, here, it's more about the puddings. And by puddings, it's more cake-like by American standards. So, British puddings. Which are GOOD. There's Christmas pudding (kind of like fruit cake, but with more spices and less like a brick), summer pudding (some kind of pastry thing filled with berries, and, well, that was it for puddings this year anyway. A pavlova also seems to company every single celebration of any kind here, too. All quite QUITE good, but I do miss my Aunt Christy's spritz cookies, and tearing into the gingerbread house together as a family.

My poor little house was mostly ignored this year, so I'm not entirely sure I'll continue the tradition. Well, maybe for our own little one (and do an uber tiny house!).

I went super simple this year, since I learned last year that the warmth and humidity in the air don't work too well with the frosting or melted sugar I use to glue the house together and then glue candy all over the house. So, instead, I used my totally awesome sandwich bag piping technique (read: I'm too cheap to buy real piping bags) and just did frosting designs all over it.

While not as epic as last years Ninjabread house (which I apparently never posted on and will now have to upload photos for comparison, and to puff up my little ego), I still liked this years, and thought it turned out quite well.

I still stuffed it full of Ninjabread men!

Rather than coat the whole thing with white frosting this year,
I opted for outlining tiles and then a light sprinkling of powdered sugar.

Not as cool looking, but classic and pretty I thought.
Also not as melty.

Last years house....

Normal front...

Log-splitting ninja out back

Darn frosting recipe I followed plus humidity and high
temperatures made for a drippy bendy house.

Thanksgiving Down Under: 2012

Another Thanksgiving in Australia has come and gone.

This year, Phillip and I debated between inviting his immediate family over, sharing a giant meal with the two other families in our assembly (plus his own family), or just doing it alone again.

Alone won out. Basically, cooking for us and two (well three really) other families, one of which contains nine hungry children (though one isn't on solids yet) would have been too much for me with the whole pregnancy fatigue thing. Then it was down to maybe just his family.

Honestly, I just got selfish with my holiday traditions and we had it, just the two of us.

Thanksgiving back home wasn't really much more than a big family get-together and a pretty fantastic meal. We really have never had more to go with the tradition than just that. But it was still somehow MORE than just getting together with the whole extended family (and sometimes a few extras) and eating until we had to be rolled around the house to get anywhere. I can't put my finger on it, but there was just... more to it than what was on the surface. Something about just the FAMILY together, a sense of identity as a family, a group, US. Enjoying being with each other to do more than eat massive amounts of delicious food. To sit and talk and joke and laugh (and here is where I start to get teary-eyed).

So when it comes to trying to introduce my own family traditions to a family that has never followed anything similar to it, I tend to just not want to bother with it and horde all the goodness to myself and my husband, and keep it within our own little family of, for now, two.

Though we haven't thrown out the idea of making basically the same meal at a different date to share with others, Thanksgiving is still ours while we're here. It's my American tradition.

So this year, again, I cooked things in small batches for days in preparation of our little feast. French bread was baked four days prior in order to sit and get stale for stuffing (and other purposes at later dates that require stale bread), pie crust was made and frozen, and the day before, I made some spectacular biscuits and pumpkin pie.

This years pie, though, was made with a butternut squash (here in Aussie land called a butternut pumpkin). Also, rather than roasting it, in the interest of saving time, energy and money on our power bill, I cut it into chunks and steamed it. It turned out to be one of the creamiest pies I have ever made. The taste was basically the same as using any other pumpkin, too, with maybe a bit more sweetness.

Day of was, of course, turkey roasting day. Stuffed absolutely FULL of stuffing, our little 3.5 kilo bird went in the oven along with candied sweet potatoes, MORE stuffing, and a random corn "pudding" concoction that was the result of two recipes I found online.

Carving the turkey. I think Phillip was trying to show off my bump.

Le finished table setting.
Biscuits, mashed potatoes (with ranch), stuffing,
turkey, corn "pudding", gravy, green beans,
and, Phillip's favorite, candied sweet potatoes.
Also some grape juice.

We're just adorable, us three.

Experimental butternut pumpkin pie.
Seriously GOOD. Topped with homemade whipped cream.

Fourth... no, Fifth of July

We had a somewhat belated Independence Day celebration here.

I'm not overly patriotic (though a good rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner" will bring tears to my eyes, and no, I'm not going to give up my American citizenship unless someone forces my hand), but I like celebrating. Even a tiny little bit.

But, since the Fourth of July is not a world-wide holiday (though some Americans might be surprised by that), there were no fireworks, special town celebrations, or BBQs to go to. Instead, Phillip and I spent the day (he DID have the day off work, but more because no one was moving) at his parents house splitting more wood to help replace what we take to heat our house, and help clean up all the wood that, well, needs to be split.

And only 84% MEAT! Pork and beef. Mmmmm....

We ended up eating a Fourth feast on the FIFTH of July (though that would have been the Fourth back in America anyway... so if you ignore the whole time-traveling thing, it still counted. And anyway, most towns don't seem to actually set off fireworks or do anything celebratory until the weekend before or the weekend after the Fourth if it falls in the middle of the week).

So we found a new brand of hot dogs to try. They come in a can, and we were somewhat hesitant to try them, but figured they couldn't be that much worse than the ones we'd already eaten. But, I decided to make burgers on top of that, as well as a mountain of baked regular and sweet potato fries, in case the hot dogs were more than we could handle eating.

6 hot dog, 2 burger, and some random little bits to dip in jam.

While my hot dog buns didn't really turn out well for hot dogs, they tasted FANTASTIC (to be fair, the recipe called for potato flakes, which I had none of, so I just used more flour. And I probably used to much butte). Really, all that was wrong with them was they weren't flexible enough to open and hold a hot dog. I didn't care, I'll make them again just to eat with jam they're so yummy. The hot dogs though. Oh my. They're the best we've had so far, I think. Still not a great dog, but really good. Definitely a repeat.

We ate ourselves into oblivion. Fresh baked fries (though I'm now in the habit of calling them chips... assimilation), spicy Tabasco mayo for the sweet potato ones, fresh baked rolls for the dogs and burgers, and watching Psych with the hubby. It was a good night.

This isn't even half the amount of fries I made.
We operate on the thought that one can
never have too many sweet potatoes.

Australia Day.... I still have no idea

January 26th is Australia Day.

Nearly every Australian (which, admittedly, isn't many) I've asked what Australia Day celebrates has no clue. Except it's about being Australian.

So, on to Google I went, because no one could give me a satisfactory answer.

Apparently, it's a close equivalent to our Forth of July. In my geocentric brain, anyway.

It is, at it's barest meaning, about being Australian. Which would mean throwing some sort of BBQ with lamb, as I've been told a few times. Lamb and sausages. (Not as tasty as it sounds, in my opinion).

Looking up some historical bits though, it's to commemorate the landing of the first convict ships and first governor of New South Wales.

So, when the first boat-load of British prisoners and their leader landed in Australia in 1788. It has, since then from what I can gather, become about the pride of being Australian, and descending from a rather hardy people, who were sent to a rather harsh (though somewhat beautiful)l land for committing crimes like stealing bread to feed their starving families, or offending the wrong nobleman. And probably some much harsher things than that, but those are, literally, some of the crimes the British would send convicts away to Australia (and The Colonies). Australia Day didn't become a public holiday (meaning, most everyone has the day off work) until 1994.

So, like I said, a lot like our Forth of July. Except that Americans celebrate their freedom and Australians celebrate.... I guess, it's still just being Australian and being proud of it.

My husband and his family don't much care what the holiday is based on, what it means, or the history of it., They're just glad for a day off work. Last year, when I visited, it was somewhat cold and damp, not close to a real summer, and I made them fried chicken and apple pie (they loved it, I thought it was funny). SO I've somewhat followed suite and my interest in the holiday, other than my husband getting a day off work, has somewhat petered out.

This year, it was HOT. And beautifully sunny. So my husband and I spent the morning dawdling around the house, me picking herbs to dry from the garden and then reading up on them, him.... doing something. And then, around the hottest part of the day, we ended up at the beach. A beach I haven't been to yet, with a wide stretch of yellow sand and beautiful blue water and gentle waves. And it was hot enough I actually made it into the water for my first Australian ocean swim! We acted like kids, jumping over, under, and through waves. It was glorious. Then, we dug our toes in the sand and relaxed on the beach, just listening to the waves.

Fishy

Our Little Red has returned to us!

We told our landlord what happened with the ducks, chickens, and the dog encounters, he phoned the neighbor, they apologized, offered compensation (we're happy if they just keep the pup tied up), and then latter our landlord phoned us saying there was a chicken wandering by his house near the creek. Sure enough, it was our battered little chicken, missing plenty of feathers and with some small bloody marks around her neck.

Maybe when Phillip chased the dog, it did what he'd hoped and dropped the chicken, giving her a chance to skeedadle. So she's back, our rooster looks much less depressed now, and the neighbors are going to keep their dog tied up and fix the fences. I guess it's a big thing if your dog starts killing other people's livestock/animals, or wandering on their property, over here.

Phillip on the beach, thinking about jumping in

Anywho, the rest of the holiday weekend was wonderful and hot, and we spent all Sunday afternoon fishing with both of Phillip's brothers, then had his  youngest brother over for nachos (apparently he's now addicted to Mexican food, and, as I've said before, you really can't get it here. So we make do with my Americanized version, which is all he knows anyway).

New Years Eve, Phillip having me pose on the beach. Hi mom and dad!

Fishing in at the river, New Years Eve. Phillip and I joined (to watch and talk a bit) right before they left

Baiting hooks, New Years Day

Stewart's Flat Head. One of the them, anyway.

My one and only fish: a puffer fish hooked through the side. They're a nuisance fish, and pretty much useless

The dock we fished off all day. After maybe 6 hours, I got bored and started wandering taking photos. 

Discovery, Unwanted

I had hoped to write all about my first Christmas in Australia (and also my first Christmas married), as well as Boxing Day (which, up to now, has been and still is a complete mystery to me), and all about Christmas pudding, crackers, how it's summer instead of winter and it's just weird to experience, and the FANTASTIC ninjabread house I made for the family gathering.

But, unfortunately, the day after Christmas (Boxing Day) we woke up late, went to let the chickens and ducks out of their shed, and all there was were the rooster and one hen, both of whom were already wandering around outside. Apparently, in all the fatigue of the mountainous Christmas lunch and dinner, we forgot to lock their shed that night. Thinking that the ducks had found another spot to roost, and possibly the hen with them, (normal for our ducks, odd for the chicken), we searched the areas they're known to frequent.

Nothing.

Until I went around the side of the house by the car port and found my dear little drake laying belly up near the brush line, surrounded by some fluff and a few feathers.

The poor little guy had no injuries that we could see, and was stiff as a board. Upon further searching, I found some of the little ducks breast and wing feathers. No body though. Just today, while moving the fire hose, my husband found chicken feathers.

So, one body, three casualties. And our rooster, Eutychus, is nearly horse, most likely from crowing out an alarm. We're guessing it was a dog, since any of the cats that wander around here are terrified of the ducks (yes, odd), and cats are more known here to go for baby chicks and leave full-grown chickens alone. Dogs, however, will just come and "play" with foul, get a taste for it, and kill as many as they can before they're stopped.

The most likely scenario is that, while we were gone Christmas day, someones dog go out and came and killed our poor birds. (We've already lost two chickens from random unknown deaths.) Our little flock is down to two: Little Red, and Eutychus. Why do we figure day? We sleep with the window open and it happened right outside our window. Even with the windows shut you can hear any noise the birds make.

No, we're not sure it was a dog, but we mostly ruled out cats (for reasons listed earlier) and Devils wouldn't be able to chase and kill and drag off three carcasses (though they might just one), and our ducks had gotten quite hefty. Quolls (or Native Cat, though its a marsupial, not even close to a cat) would be the same, and are about the only other native animal that might come after our birds. They generally sneak into coops or get birds that are roosting unprotected, bite the neck, and suck out all their blood. They then fall asleep, wake up much later, and eat most of the bird. They keep their pray where it is, and pretty much just stay there. But the Devils and Quolls are both nocturnal.

My poor ducks. They were getting more and more awesome each day, just learning how to fly, still followed me around outside to their little pond (a child pool) or while I picked raspberries, nibbling my shoes and pant legs. Our chickens sort of lacked personalities, and they're much easier to obtain (my husband's parents have some just hatched and we'll be able to have a few). Plus, ducks are just way cooler. And they were all attached to us, and young, and fun to watch.

<sigh>

With this Christmas wish is missed, the point I could convey...

Ten more days til Christmas!

And I have never been more disorganized than I am this year.

Usually I have all my shopping (the little that I have to do) done, at the very least, 2 weeks before Christmas. Everything is wrapped, sitting hidden in my closet so the cats can't play with it. I'll be working on making Christmas cookies to take to work, or just to have around the house because I love cookies. And planning out the gingerbread house that I've been making (usually with help of sister or cousin) the past few years.

Here, mostly because of the lack of car, I have nothing done. With the exception of a collection of very different candy than we have back home for a gingerbread house. No shopping done (my husband and I haven't even really made lists, though we have vague ideas of what to get each other) nothing bought for family members here, and nothing done for family members back in the States (though that I can blame on certain people never telling us what they wanted).

I'm still searching online for things, but it's a bit hard to do when shipping anything here sometimes costs almost as much, if not more, than the object being shipped. That, and the total lack of ideas of what to even get. So, family members, back home at least, might have to console themselves with "New Years gifts" instead.

As for cards, we haven't even been able to find nice ones to send out, either. That has more to do with my pickyness though. Don't want anything too campy (like multi-colored penguins and Santas prancing around with lots of glitter) or, well, that's about all we've found really. I'd much prefer something with, you know, Christ as it's center, since that's what I like to celebrate Christmas for (that, and family. Can't forget family). I prefer to celebrate "the day You were born to die".

Oh! And decorations? HA! For one, it's summer here, so it just feels plain odd to be thinking of Christmas. The locals here are upset because it's too cool for summer so far. And Phillip isn't as Christmasy as I am. And I'm cheap and don't want to waste money on a crappy looking fake tree and cheap ornaments (I prefer ornaments that have some meaning, like childhood handmade ones, or gifts). So this is all I've done. Phillip is quite happy with it, since he loves to snack on the candy canes.

And that cute little guy? Our "new" kitten! Meet Indiana Jones (aka: Indie)! He was the first kitten "our" cat brought to us. The rest were taken to the RSPCA, but we kept "the bestest" of them. He's still super purry and playful and friendly.

Our First: Thanksgiving

We celebrated our first Thanksgiving together.

My husband's first Thanksgiving ever. To quote him, "Oh Thanksgiving, where have you been all my life!" And, at this very moment, "Yes, and I meant it. And I want more turkey."

Not that this Thanksgiving was all about the food.... or was it?.... it was just the two of us, and without much pomp and circumstance, since we have no fancy serving dishes, no candles, no big beautiful table or table cloth. But oh, it was fun to introduce him to some of my traditions (in a watered-down way). And delicious.

I was a bit worried about the turkey, as I just borrowed a roasting pan from my mother-in-law, and had no wore rack to put under the bird, so it kind of just sat in the water and it's juices. That, and it's the first turkey I've ever done, and I constantly hear how hard it is to get it fully cooked and still juicy.

Ours was both. And so so good. 3.6 kg (just under 8lbs) of turkey cooked to near perfection. I'm rather proud of it, though there's still room for improvement. The carcass has been picked clean (for leftover turkey sandwiches, soup, or just picking through cold turkey) and is now simmering on the stove to make turkey stock (I'm thankful I have a dad and uncles who taught me to be resourceful and not let good things go to waste!).

Found a recipe for stuffing online (couldn't find bagged stuff anywhere). I can't leave a recipe well enough alone and added about twice the amount of sage it called for (since we have sage growing right outside our door), thyme (also growing outside our door) extra fresh eggs (from our chickens), and garlic. Lots of garlic. Because garlic makes things better.

Freshly stuffed bird

Fresh out of the oven

Our heavy-laden table: Turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, buttered peas, asparagus, cranberry sauce, and gravy, and a glass of wine we got at a craft fair.

My dad also taught me how to carve a bird. Phillip was observing this time, wants to practice on chicken.

As per family tradition: stuffing from inside the turkey and stuffing cooked outside the turkey. Stuffing from inside was so much better.

Finally space in our freezer to use our special ice cube trays we bought on our honeymoon!

To intent on food to do much else at this moment

It was a BEAUTIFUL day outside, so we took our pie and two chairs and ate in the setting sun.

Thanksgiving Prep

Food here can be different. For instance, since Thanksgiving isn't celebrated, it was hard for us to find a turkey. We almost just gave in and got a chicken to roast (which would probably be easier and just as tasty, or tastier if you don't particularly like turkey). But someone pointed us to a frozen foods store, that just happened to have whole frozen turkeys.

We bought one far too large for just the two of us, and plan on having tons of delicious Thanksgiving leftovers to share with visitors. And ourselves.

Pumpkin was another hard thing to find. PUMPKINS are easy. It's just a regular vegetable here. Like carrots. You buy them whole and cut them up and cook them however you want here. CANNED pumpkin though, I have not seen. Not has anyone we've asked about it. So, I roasted, scooped, and mashed my own pumpkin. Well, half of one, anyway. The pumpkins here are different to what you'd get in the States, too. Not the nice big (or small) round orange ones. Mostly the gray ones. So, different flavor (sweeter, I think).

Pie is my favorite. Especially pumpkin pie. I usually start making it in October, so this year I've felt somewhat deprived. No longer....

Cut n' gut. Need to use a different knife next time so I don't fear for my fingers.

Before. Gray peachy color and hard.

Apparently the longest way to roast... in the oven with some water. But it smells soooooo goooood.

After. Brown and mushy

Falling apart and HOT.

Half a pumpkin=3 jars (former 3 Brothers Spaghetti sauce)

The chickens and ducklings enjoyed the left-over skin and mush quite a bit.

Next day, pie making! Nice creamy light orange goodness.

Spicy goodness (photo is supposed to be horizontal. Blogger has failed me)

Finished pie to go into our bellies tomorrow. Home-made crust., Maybe it's snobbish of me, but store-bought tastes terrible by comparison so I pretty much always just make my own.