The Perfect Autumn Day

I can't even begin to tell you how much I love fall. The cool breezes, the beautiful colors and most of all, the heavenly scents. Today has been all of the above. I started off my morning with Pumpkin Butter on my toast (how could it not be a great day with such a delicious start?). Well, back up to yesterday, I made homemade chicken noodle soup and baked pumpkins, so the smell was divine yesterday as well, and then last night I whipped up this recipe for pumpkin butter. I found so many different recipes on the internet, but so glad I chose this one. It was smooth and spicy and oh-so-pumpkiny! And for those of you who don't know, I'm kind of a freak for pumpkin, so it perfectly satisfied my cravings. Just before I started shoveling pumpkin butter in my mouth this morning I popped a batch of pepitas in the oven.


Did you know they were called pepitas? I just learned that this year, and it so much more fun to say than pumpkin seeds, so from now on it's pepitas. Here was my recipe for the pepitas:

*Seeds from 2 pumpkins (the pie variety)

*4 tbsp melted butter

*1 tsp garlic salt

*2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Mix together and spread onto a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes.

So, after pumpkin butter, pepitas and a long, hot shower I tackled the applesauce. I made 3 batches, ended up with 12 pints and bowlful for the fridge. Do you know how heavenly your house smells after 4 hours of making applesauce? I could just about lick the walls. Ok, maybe not the walls, but I've managed to lick every pot, pan and utensil that's been in contact with the applesauce. With nibbles of pepitas in between. I looked up a ton of recipes and decided to wing it. Here's what I ended up with:



*20 apples
*2 1/2 C water
*1 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice
*2 Tbsp ground cinnamon
*2 tsp vanilla
*1/2 C brown sugar

Peel, slice and core the apples. Place in a large pot with all ingredients except sugar. Bring to a boil and boil until apples are soft and mushy. Add brown sugar. Blend (I used a stick blender because I like my applesauce with a few chunks). Continue to boil until you've reached the desired consistency. Ladle into clean/sanitized canning jars. Process for 20 minutes (I processed for 31 minutes with altitude adjustments).

It's got a pretty strong cinnamon flavor, but I love it that way. Claire had a rather large helping with lunch, so it's not too crazy-spicy.

What a wonderful autumn day! And to top it off, I'll get a break from the kitchen because we're going out to dinner. My life is sweet...

Just Peachy

In the last 24 hours I have:

*Made one peach pie
*Eaten 2 1/2 peaches
*Canned 22 cars of peach jam

Tomorrow I'm on to canning applesauce...

...

Disney World

Here are some pics from the trip. We had SO MUCH FUN! We can't wait to go again in a few years with Claire. Although we missed her, I'm not sure she would have enjoyed it nearly as much as she will in a few years.

Tuesday: Got there in time for a quick dinner, hanging out at the resort, and a quick trip to Downtown Disney and Pleasure Island. We stayed at the Polynesian Resort. It was so nice and easy to get to everything since the monorail made a stop there.

Wednesday: We thought it only proper to start the week off in Magic Kingdom. I loved every bit of it! I really thought that it might be a little too juvenile for my liking, but I loved being a kid again. We picked the perfect time of year and never had to wait more than 10 minutes for any of the rides.

Thursday: EPCOT! There was so much to do and learn, it was like an ENORMOUS museum of sorts. I preferred World Showcase to Future World. I loved to see the countries. When you would go to a country, everyone that worked there was actually from that country. Throughout the week we had great, authentic meals in Germany, Mexico and China. I even had my first taste of duck!

Friday: We visited Animal Kingdom. It was so fun. It was seperated into different parts of the world and the did such a great job making it feel as if you were really in different countries. The Kilimanjaro Safaris were my favorite, though it was a bit strange just driving right up to the animals with no fences between us, especially the lions.

Saturday: We spent most of the day at Typhoon Lagoon. That is hands down the coolest water park I've ever seen! Even though it gave me tremendous anxiety (I had a not so fun experience with waves in Mexico), my favorite part ended up being the Surf Pool.

Sunday: Oh so tired, but one more park to go, we toured Hollywood Studios.  It only took about half of the day.  We planned to head over to Blizzard Beach for the rest of the day, but found out at the bus stop that it was closed for the day, so we headed back to Typhoon Lagoon for a few more hours of fun.

Monday: Traveling ALL DAY, but home just in time to snuggle with Claire before she went to sleep.

Just had to share

The Disney World post is coming... it's almost done. I just had to share this letter I read on Dr. Laura's blog today.

Dr. Laura, I want to thank you for the special moments that you helped me have. As a listener, my husband and I decided that I would stay home with our 2 month old baby boy even before he was born. I must admit that it’s hard financially, but we understand that our son is more important than luxury.

Yesterday, I had a “tear-jerker” moment. After feeding my son, I got up and started to clean the room. After a while, I saw him moving. He was putting his little hand above his head, feeling for the place where my arm had just been. Then he stretched his arms and legs in front of him where I had been lying before. I realized he was looking for me. His little face began to prepare to cry. I then placed my hand on his side. “I’m right here, baby.” He then opened his eyes. On seeing me, he smiled his gummy smile.

I stayed there, smoothing out his hair, until he fell back to sleep, but I couldn’t help thinking, what if I had been at work? What if he was with a sitter or at day care? I wouldn’t have had that moment, and he wouldn’t have been comforted. I know, because I used to work at a day care center - he would have been left crying, because he had been fed and his diaper had been changed.

As an ex-day care worker, I know that children are not cared for lovingly. They just have their physical needs met, but not their emotional needs. There were so many kids who called me “mommy,” and that was only because I was doing her job while doing mine. The fact was, “mommy” wasn’t there. But I was and am here for our son. Thank you.