Here’s the easiest way to cook a pumpkin:

1. Cut the pumpkin crosswise in half. Use a big knife. This is the toughest part of the whole process.
2. Scoop out the seeds.
3. Place on a cookie sheet with edges, the pumpkin face down. Add a small amount of water to the tray, to help create steam.
4. Bake at 350 degrees until done. Approximately 30 minute to an hour, depending on the size of the pumpkins.
5. Test with a fork. When it pierces the skin easily, it’s ready 

  After it cools enough to handle, the skin will peel off easily, leaving a lovely golden vegetable ready to be mashed or pureed. The color of fresh pumpkin is so different than that of canned pumpkin! What exactly do they add to canned version? If you have the space, you can package any extra pumpkin in plastic containers and freeze. It keeps well for months. I usually measure what I need for various recipes.

Here’s a few recipes for your fresh pumpkin

Pureed Pumpkin side dish:

Add cinnamon and brown sugar to taste. Maple syrup is also good. You can add some butter and salt if you like as well. Heat in the microwave. Enjoy with pork, salmon, or chicken.

Easy Low Fat Pumpkin Soup: 4 servings (1 1/2 cups each)

• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 2 cups pureed pumpkin
• 1/4 tsp ginger
• 1 cup evaporated milk
• 1 cup skim milk
• 2 cups hot water
• 1 tsp maple syrup (can substitute with pancake syrup)

Directions: Microwave onions and 1/4 cup water in until onions are tender in a large microwavable bowl.  Add the rest of the ingredients and microwave on high for 6 to 7 minutes or until heated through, stirring every two minutes. NOTE: You can also prepare this soup on the stove

Autumn Pumpkin Bread or Rolls (bread maker recipe)

• 1/2 cup diced carrots, cooked and pureed (you can use baby carrots to save time)
• 1/2 cup pureed pumpkin
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• *1/4 cup water
• 1 1/2 Tbsp butter or margarine
• 2 Tbsp honey
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 cups bread flour
• 1/4 tsp allspice
• 2 tsp active dry yeast

Place all ingredients in bread pan according to your bread machine directions. Select medium crust setting and the whole wheat cycle or the dough cycle for 12 dinner rolls. For the rolls, when the dough cycle is completed, shape the rolls and place in 9 inch round pans or on a cookie tray. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 20-30 minutes. Hint: preheat your oven to warm or 200 degrees, then TURN OFF before you put the rolls in to rise.

To each and everyone who may see this entry, I wish all of you a Happy Holiday, one filled with peace and good things.

In no particular order, I’m thankful for :

• Living on an island: There’s a sense of peace on this NJ island now as it prepares for its long winter’s rest.
• Being retired: For those who are still working, trust me, you will not miss it.
• Falling in love: And still with that special man after 47 years.
• Dinner out: It’s been said the best thing to make for Thanksgiving dinner is reservations. I agree.
• My children: Dear kind women, all four, who I am happy to call friends as well as daughters.
• My grandchildren: A whisper of immortality, pure undistilled joy.
• Writers’ group: A safe place where I can explore and learn with others who are also searching for the right words.
• Good neighbors: The kind that are there when you need them, and not, when you don’t.
• A roof over my head: There are so many who do not have shelter today. My prayer is that they are warm and safe, and not alone
• My faith: I truly believe everyone has a spiritual home and must seek until they find where it is.
• Good health: Without which, nothing else is possible.

What are you thankful for today? And every day?

“Great idea,” Laura said, “We can write a poem about ourselves.”  So, now I must wrestle with writing a poem. Being the analytical person I like to think I am, I first looked through my filing cabinet for poems I had written long ago as part of a writing course. Maybe I shouldn’t have. The hope these poetic attempts might help evaporated like a drop of water on a hot stove. The professor had written on most of my offerings, “interesting thoughts, but I’m not sure it qualifies as a poem.” 

From there, I went to the Internet figuring I could get an answer to anything I needed. I tried some good websites and here’s some of the advice I found.

1. Start with an idea, an inspiration, or a strong emotion. This is the easy part, I thought, the poem is supposed to be about me. Not so easy, what about me? My torrid love life? My solitary childhood? My nursing career? Or perhaps, my philosophy? Definitely, not politics
2. Use descriptive words. Easy one. I love words! I’m comfortable here.
3. Brainstorm. Still feeling confident here. Let’s see, sum of my parts, life’s stages. Life as an optimist? Seasons of my life? Maybe not so easy, after all.
4. Remember rhythm and meter This is getting harder now. I’ll definitely have to visit the Internet again to ensure I know the difference.
5. Decide if you want it to rhyme or not. Now I’m really getting nervous. What would Shakespeare do? Then again, I’m no Shakespeare and never will be. I return to my dusty file. I have some in rhyme and some in not. Since I’m an inveterate cryptogram devotee, I think I’ll opt for rhyme and try to match the words that rhyme to the thought I’m trying to convey.

In my Google search, I find this sage advice:

                        *What is a good poem? 

 A good poem is a slip-of-a-thing

That celebrates language, that takes

you on a short journey and touches your heart,

turns on your imagination, or tickles you funny-

bone somewhere along the way.

I am ready now to take my pen and paper in hand and start. I tell myself it will be character forming and stretch my horizons, in the same way as eating vegetables are good for us, and prune juice serves as a cathartic. But first I think I’ll do some more research, maybe read some Emily Dickinson or Robert Frost. The one thing I’ve learned is I WILL rhyme.

*Nikki Grimes. A Pocketful of Poems. Clarion, 2001. Danitra Brown Leaves Town. HarperCollins, 2002

I ran it by my mentor, Beth, a veteran blogger, who said she liked it. “Besides,” she counseled me, “You can always go back and start over.” I like that. Not that I want to start over, but knowing I can. That’s a freeing feeling. Or at least it should be. Hopefully, once I am comfortable in my little blog cottage, it will be.

I like the name because it is the “autumn” of my life right now, a glorious time in my life, and a great surprise because I always thought of the age I am now as old and sort of finished. Until I reached it. What a wonderful discovery to find that it isn’t old after all. At least not the visual image I had of “old.”  The colors of my days are blazing colors – reds, golds, greens, and blues. I’m able to savor each one.

Part of what I believe is we are different people throughout our years. Our thoughts, beliefs, and directions evolve and grow with each decade and each life change. So many things influence those changes. People we meet, circumstances, chance happenings, just a few of so many factors that determine who we become as we live many lives throughout our life span.

Each decade of our lives brings us new information, new roles, and different perspectives. I’ve been a daughter (albeit not a very obedient one), a sister, a girlfriend, a friend, a lover, a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a nurse, an administrator, a writer, a bread maker, a homemaker (definitely not my favorite!), a mentor, a role model, a counselor, a volunteer, a traveler (not enough), a quiltmaker.

I’m not sure yet what else I’ll be. The nice thing is so many of those roles listed above still are part of who I am. They nestle next to each other, harmonious for the most part, occasionally  rubbing up against each other, fighting for supremacy.

This blog will evolve, too, I hope, into many different directions. I want it to be a potpourri – writings, songs, lists, a recipe or two, thoughts on quilting, breadmaking, and anything else that comes into the bright hues of “autumn leaves.” I’m so happy to be starting!