Precious commodities...Gold, Silver...and PUMPKIN?

I think I will pick up some from a local market and can them up. The flooding was bad but many of the pumpkin farms in the area are up the mountains. We live in a valley so most of the water ran down to us. I will make pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving as well as pumpkin bread and cheesecake. I will also make a pumpkin cream cheese toffee dip that I might get beaten for not making

DANG -- these glitches, I did not get notified ..and missed your response...Sorry! I give up...you are making my mouth water, and having serious attacks of hunger pangs...the "pumpkin cream cheese toffee dip" sounds soooooo decadent...would you be willing to share? I kick my own dang butt...I am usually so prepared, and you have reminded me...putting pumpkin by NOW goes to the top of my priority list (along with getting my grapes picked and processed)! I am not much of a canner...more of a freezer, so, can I bake, scrape and freeze pumpkin? I have a "food saver" so I feel quite content that it will last a good amount of time..frozen! Living on an Island, I have FREE access to a lot of Fish, and the "food saver" extends the frozen time phenomenally...as well as other goodies! I do not know, why I am not much of a canner, as growing up, other than a cellar, all foods were canned! I am a little scared of a Pressure Cooker..(even tho' I live in one)...LOL!

I am a saver too. My husband calls me a squirrel because I stock up so much on things. I do not use a pressure cooker to can for the same reason I know I would steam off my skin or something. Oh and the dip is simple. 8 oz canned pumpkin 8 oz cream cheese 1 cup powdered sugar 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp vanilla extract Whip together until creamy, I add milk to loosen it up if the pumpkin canned up a little dry. To this I add 1 cut hard toffee bits and mix. We serve up with raisin cinnamon bagel chips, apples & pears, and my kids like pretzels. I have added pumpkin pie spice to give it a little spice once in a while or toasted walnuts are nice as well. I like to use them as decoration when I bring it places that or I bake a good sweet loaf of bread to make a bread bowl.

OH...writers...so nice to hear from you, I do follow your discussions to keep up on the state of your health...and each and every day, you are in my prayers...and a big, special one during grace at Thanksgiving Dinner! I made all that fuss, over a pumpkin pie..I made three pies, a pumpkin, a pecan and a Blackberry...9 persons for dinner...Guess what--Pecan and Blackberry pie..GONE! ONE lonely piece of pumpkin chosen, I could have avoided making one, as it was NOT the pie of choice..LOL! Live and learn! Blackberry, first to go, think of all the money I could have saved! I am on a 3 month watch..fibroids around thyroid and mucosal glands, and the Oncologist has opted not to operate..right now! I have come to the conclusion, that much of this type of "occasion" crop will go by the way--in favour of more lucrative crops...do you figure?

Sorry, writers, I did NOT realize how many posts I have missed by not getting notifications...! Will have to pay more attention! OWCH...I guess too often I take things for advantage, as beings Blackberries grow wild here, in such abandon...one thinks that they are common elsewhere. Here, we have to clear property on a regular basis, and keep them confined to where we want them to grow! I know little of fibroids/or their status...there is an extreme possibility that there was a lot more the Oncologist said to me, as I was in such a state..when all I heard was "benign" and "repeat tests every 3 months!" and I am guessing those are the only words my son heard, too! I guess when I start to cry..my hearing goes, too...LOL! I can only remember those highlights...and know that my next appointments are booked for the middle of December, thank goodness, all at once at the Royal Jubilee Cancer Clinic, and two doors away..for the CT scan! It alleviates 3 days of Ferry riding, and about $200.00! Wished I could share some of my frozen blackberries with you!

Here, Blackberries are black gold. 3 bucks a half pint (why don't they just say a cup?). So do you know how much $ it would take to make a pie like that here? We love all those pies. WE would have been hard-pressed not to want one of each. Fibroids are usually benign. Aren't yours? I will pray for you, too. True, I love all crops. Take care.

The one true thing I love about our Thanksgiving being NOW..is that it gives us, about two months break...before you are back, baking in a frenzy...cooking up a storm...SEE, I am being Thankful! You betcha...I have learned my lesson! I will definitely, right after Hallowe'en when the prices are at nearly give away...put some pumpkin in the freezer! Do you bake, scrape and freeze? Having the food saver, I find a get longer "freezerlife" out of all frozen foods! I know it's great for you..and having it in the freezer, will use it more often. Thanks, dear!

Yummy...yummy, please, whenever you get time (as I know how busy you are these days) I would love for you to post it..and then, I will cook with more pumpkin, as I love to make pumpkin bread and cheesecake, too, but I always feel I am being exhorbitant with prices like that! Just as soon as Hallowe'en is over..the prices of fresh, will be within reach, I hope! Thanks, m'dear!

I have this technique I have used for many years, it uses the whole pumpkin, no waste at all. If you like I can post it here, because the way I make it, I have been told my pumpkin pies are really good, and this came from a guy who loves pumpkin pies..

Marti...somehow you were lucky, the glitch struck most of us for 3 days...now I have pages, and pages of "notifications" from responses & friends, but they have all come into my "inbox" in triple and quadruple, so I have to read each one. OMG--if Turkey were that price...or anywhere near here, I would find a way to use it sooooooo often. I love ground turkey burgers, actually, now that I give it some thought, it makes great everything, and is so much healthier for us. I really am amiss, as to why the Pumpkin is so out of line price wise, as most of our's is imported..but our dollar has been hovering around par or better for quite some time now! Even after Hallowe'en (when they are harvested) I don't think we will see as little as $3.99 for a large pumpkin...would be nice, tho! How did your weekend go..m'dear, and I am reminded that today is a holiday for you, too. Today is our Thanksgiving, but I had to work so I had a "troup" for dinner yesterday..so today, after work it was back to the kitchen to make Turkey soup and Pot pies. Please take care of yourself.

Oh, sorry about this comment being so late. I wasn't getting ANY notifications yesterday and, when I went to check out "discussions" under "friends started" it wasn't there! The list of possible discussions to check out was seriously reduced to more than half of what is normally there. That was some incredible glitch yesterday!

You know, I didn't even realize today was a holiday until I noticed it being discussed in myLot. Yeah, it's Columbus Day. Same day as most for me, though. HE is still home recouperating from his surgery so I forget what day is what. I didn't go to the grocery store today but did go to a hardware store that was selling pumpkins outside. Just WHY a hardware store is selling pumpkins I cannot say but they were. They were going for $10.95 each, same size as the $3.99 pumpkins at Walmart. So, not only does the price appear to depend on where you live but also where you shop. As for the $.29 turkeys, I strongly doubt I'll ever see that price again. That was three years ago, I believe, before the recession got really bad. Also, that was a special price to pull you into the store and they sold out of them very quickly. Last year, the best price I could find was $.69 per pound but that's a lot better than $1.99! Still, I haven't priced them this year. I'll let you know what they're going for this year. If it's a big enough savings, maybe I should have some shipped to you. I look forward to our Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations but I would definitely like to have more time between! We're just about at that "sick of eating so much turkey" point when BLAM! we have another turkey holiday. I've taken to cooking a ham along with the Christmas turkey so we at least have a choice. With so much leftover turkey, we eat good for a long time. I've never ground my own turkey but I prepare it every other way. When I'm not buying turkeys, I buy packages of ground turkey and always use that in place of ground beef. I simply season whatever I'm cooking a bit more. No one has ever noticed the difference.

Morning ladies...Now that dinner is over and done, I think I could have saved myself all that money for the PUmpkin! I made three pies, Pecan, Blackberry and Pumpkin...AND only ONE piece of pumpkin pie was eaten! All the BB and Pecan gone...so the ratio is; one out of 9 prefer pumpkin..LOL! I like Marti, live quite rurally..and so have very, very few trick or treaters (am always prepared) but seem to be out of the traffic loop since my son is grown and living elsewhere! When he was young, I think Hallowe'en brought out the "kid" in my EX, also, as we always had the most carved pumpkins, and the biggest Hallowe'en party, the most fireworks on the Island. I miss that! Just another precious memory! I definitely will buy some whole pumpkins after Hallowe'en to freeze. Thanks, ladies and have a great day!

You can keep the pumpkins whole and just paint faces on them for Halloween, then still use them to bake with as long as you don't wait too long. If we had more people coming by our house or even ONE trick-or-treater, I'd do that. I carved my last jack-o-lantern the first year we lived here because I thought we'd at least get a few kids coming by. After I found out that none come around here, I gave up on pumpkin carving but still buy them to make filling for pumpkin pies, pumpkin bread, pumpkin cookies and even pumpkin cheesecake sometimes. I've suggested this with my son who lives in an area with lots of kids but he's not really interested in preserving the pumpkins to cook with later since he rarely cooks. But, that may change now since he has a girlfriend with a four-year-old son. I suggested another jack-o-lantern making party and he seemed to be okay for that. I'm going to bring lots of craft materials over so we can all make cool jack-o-lanterns, then I can bring them here after Halloween, bake them, then can or freeze the pumpkin for making pies, cakes, etc. with.

Wow, Jen...you must have heard me mention your name, in Grace, at Thanksgiving dinner...you were amongst those, that I am "thankful" for in my life! Yes, what a lesson in "inequities", BUT never thought I would be spending my savings from the E-bike on pumpkin..NOR, the lowly pumpkin (as in ground level) parlay itself into BANK ROBBER! LOL! AND, the lesson, 3 pie choices for dinner..Pecan, Blackberry or Pumpkin, all the rest gone, and there sits the lonely pumpkin, with one piece missing...AH, the money I could have saved...if I hadn't been so darn bent on following tradition! Next year, I will forego pumpkin and I'll bet it will be asked for! I think I have a deep-seated personality quirk...I can raise and eat, all the fruits and veggies in the world...BUT DO NOT suggest, I ever raise and eat an "animate" being...I get too dang attached to them...I would choke on every bite, actually I just couldn't..couldn't, couldn't see them meet their demise in my world! I had the best of intentions, when I had a multitude of Chickens, and when their time was up...they DID NOT find the stew pot! So, I can be eliminated from raising animals, other than pets, or they turn into pets...LOL! Nice to hear from you..Jen, and hope all is wonderful in your world! Rainbows..and HUGZ!!

!AM VERY excited...that is something I have never heard of "pumpkin brownies" and they sound soooooo yummy..would you be willing to share the recipe? Can you not use canned pumpkin for the recipe..it is available here all year round, but at that exhorbitant price...and it is just in the last few years that it has sky-rocketed. It always used to be, one had a can of it, in one's cupboard for emergencies (unexpected company)BUT NOW, it would be like squirreling away a piece of gold! Have so been wondering...how your Father's weekend developed. SEE, your discussions here, keep people thinking, dear one! Just my curiousity getting the best of me!

dragon54u, so nice to hear from you...!! I am beginning to think that it is a created shortage, as I saw lots rotting in the fields last year. I know a couple years ago, it rained so much in October that they were all just left in the field to rot, as they got some kind of disease! I know that they often create shortages, so that the prices will go up..it makes me mad when we are a victim of their conniving! I also just heard on the East Coast news (Boston) that gas has dropped 13 cents a gallon..bout dang time! It hasn't here yet..it's outrageous still, our Alberta tar sands are now supplying the rest of North America & China, and creating a shortage here in Canada! Take care..and be healthy

Good morning, stacysmomstl...This is a poser for me, too! As I said, there was a blight amongst pumpkins, a few years ago...and it became very dear that year! But, when I take a trip off this Island, and go to Vancouver Island, I pass many, many Pumpkin Fields...just teeming with crops, the ground is orange....what happens to them, which leads to what's creating the shortage? And the HUGE price? Do you NOT have Blackberries in your area? They grow with abandon here, and are wonderful...I think this year, I picked well over 100 pounds...gave a bunch to two of my neighbours whom are no longer agile enough to get their own...more to my son & fiance (kids just never seem to have time for this sort of thing)LOL! And seeings the choice of pies that my friends made...I won't waste my money on Pumpkin, next year! Nice to meet you here, thanks for chiming in...and have a great, great day!

Are you suggesting that I appear at Hallowe'en as a BIG Thorn? Now that my son, is his own man, grown and gone, I have very few "trick or treaters" but have wonderful fond memories of those days, and the ingenuity of the Mother's that created the costumes! Are there special foods, for special occasions..in your area that seem obstensibly out of reach...or is it just happening in Canada? I hear about the price of gas, going down, in a lot of countries..and it keeps increasing here! Makes me so thankful that I bought an Electric-Bike...but I shudder whenever I turn the key on my pickup!

Its everywhere perga... The prices of every commodity have sky rocketed but life goes on. Yes. Memories can make one survive - happy memories and you seem to have them.

Thank you, for sharing dear Rittersport...I will give that nice recipe, a whirl, right after Hallowe'en, when I am hoping that Pumpkins will be available, at a more reasonable price, and it's a given that I will freeze some, too! I am NOT a WINTER person, either, Rittersport! I think my energy, my spunk and verve are definitely connected to daylight, and definitely sun! In summer my energy runs out long before the daylight, and winter I am just purely frustrated, as I always must be doing many things at once..and I just lose vigor in the dark. I can't even muster up..good energy to do simple things like sew! I NEVER used to curl up and watch T.V., it was always knitting & T.V., sewing and T.V. and mostly I do my "pergamano" while watching! I think I am more like the Great Canadian Grizzly Bear, and should just hibernate, during winter! Hate to ask, but are you afflicted with Diabetes? If so, I truly am sorry..I do know it is manageable, but can be very constricting. Whilst growing up, I only knew one person with diabetes, and it was "brittle" diabetes, juvenile onset...but it seems in this day, there are so many with "geriatric onset" diabetes! When I took my "Industrial First Aid" (first courses) in 1983, Diabetes was one of the "afflictions" that we spend two days learning of...as it was becoming so prevalent in the general Public...and the signs and symptoms so EASILY misdiagnosed! I am a "home-made" soup-a-holic, and must admit it is a meal which I enjoy spring, summer, winter, fall! There is nothing, to me like a big pot of home made soup...and my absolute favourite, bar none..is a "borscht" recipe, that I got from a Doukabhor lady (Russian religious sect) while I was living in a small city (Nelson)....they had two "villages", one at Castlegar, and one in Slocan Valley...and they would come to the Market in the Arena in Nelson, and sell their canned borscht, perogies, cabbage rolls...all foods akin to their heritage. OH MY, beyond GOOD! I do have the recipe (lucky me)but it is very rich..as of course, they made their own butter, grew all veggies, etc. Our marketing boards, are what drives the prices up...and we have no control..as two years ago (this is an example)when Russia was afflicted with the horrible wildfires, our Wheat Marketing Board, sent all our wheat to Russia, and drove the price of wheat out of control..here, and of course, the trickle down effect was horrendous, everything related to wheat, all flours, even pork and chicken, beef sky-rocketed, as they are all grain fed. Now we are selling all of our crude oil to the U.S., and I see their prices are coming down, and our's are climbing daily! I, too, go to work in the dark..it is only about two miles of rural roadway..very seldom see a car when I go...but my biggest problem is I ride my E-Bike (electric bike) and it is noiseless...I have to be soooooo wary...as this Island is over-run with DEER..and they are a tremendous hazard, now is the time I really have to be careful as it is "rutting" season (mating)and the Bucks are really, really stupid--and for NO reason they will charge you. I had a nasty collision in June with a "doe"...so I travel quite slowly (and thank goodness, everyone is asleep) as I sing quite loudly! I know I never see you during the week, but truly hope, your's too..is spectacular! I am excited, my son is coming home this weekend...to help me put a new porch on my cottage (the roof)and to roto-till my gardens for me! My roto-tiller is just TOO BIG for me, I tried it once and it took me for a fast run across my yard before I could turn it OFF! Forgot to mention, Garlic is a big part of my life, last year I planted 897 and this year will be about the same. Altho, not certified Organic, I know that it is, as I have lived on this property 31 years. It is a decent little added income, as the Russian Red Stripe (hardneck) is selling on line for $3.00 a bulb, so I charge $2.00 (because of my location)! Big, big HUGZ...and Cheers!

Dearest Pergammano how are youi doing this weekend? Last weekend somehow was too short, I tried to catch up on much needed zzzzz and didnt get to all my mails. Only one week now at work and then two weeks off, looking forward to that for sure. Not only cause we will sure have some dishes with garlic in it in these two weeks I wont have to get to work. But the best thing about these two weeks off work will be coffee, coffee and more coffee....... heres a coffee addict. Its amazing you are also not a winter person. I love spring and summertime but my herniated disc has decided it wants cold winter temperatures so it wont pester me all the time. LOL so I should be grateful its getting cool over here. Hibernating would be a great idea really..... snow and ice, yuuuuuckkkkkkk. Yes I am slightly diabetic. Was diagnosed in February 2006 and with some meds in the morning I manage withoug insulin, yet, and hope things will stay like this for a few more years. Problem with me was , no symptoms at all, I was not overly thirsty, the only thing was tiredness and I thought thats normal with all the commuting to and from the job. One of the good things about cooler temperatures are soups, stews and hot beverages. We have some veggie stew or soup every weekend now when I am home. My husband is a very good cook but he thinks he is not capable of making soups sooooo the kitchen is mine now, oftentimes. Hope you had a great time with your son last weekend when he came home to help with the new porch.and other things on your property. My husband is the total handyman and will fix things with a lot of patience if they are out of order so thats good in our neck of the woods. Loooots of big hugz to you and cheeeeerssssss to my far away friend.

hi dear pergammano, seem to have sort of sleeping illness or early hibernation. Was not online too much this weekend and will have to get back to work tomorrow. LOL. I dont even have a recipe for pumpkin stuffed with hamburger. I am using these small Hokkaido pumpkins as they fit into the oven nicely. I use one of these oven proof glass dishes to make them, put a little water in, take the pumpkin, cut the lid off, scrape the seeds out and then fill it and bake it. The filling simply is hamburger meat, browned till its no longer pink like you do it for a pasta sauce, adding one onion, diced, and one carrot cut into tiny pieces, and a cut up tomato, seasoned with salt and pepper and a bit of cayenne pepper. If its too "runny" you also can add a few spoonfuls of cooked rice to it, then you fill the pumpkin, set the lid back in place and cook it in the oven. No garlic, should try that when I am off work next time. LOL. Didnt know that dairy and pork are so expensive in Canada. Got to be careful with eating dairy cause of the diabetes but dairy stuff is one of my favorites. Nothing beats a nice yoghurt with granola in it. yummyyyyyy. We are in the middle of fall season right now. I dont like it too much when the days get shorter and now End of Octover the Daylight savings time ends and that means I leave the place in the dark and get back in the dark after work. The only good thing is that hot coffee, tea and also warm soups for dinner are on the menu regularly now. Hope you have a blessed week ahead of you, huuuugssssssss to you my dear friend you take care as well please.......