tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18844239589381130552024-03-12T23:33:41.276-05:00Eat Your Peas Please!amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07377767309550063086noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884423958938113055.post-70789409375854746592012-10-31T20:15:00.000-05:002012-10-31T20:15:31.017-05:00Happy Halloween!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Another Halloween Success! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Great weather. Great friends. Lots of candy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Our plan to keep our kids from eating too much candy is to eat it first!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Look at that Reese's Peanut Butter Cup....I am pretty sure it's calling my name...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Happy Halloween Parents. Enjoy the candy haul!</span></div>
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amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07377767309550063086noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884423958938113055.post-21860807164547153532012-10-30T21:38:00.000-05:002012-10-30T21:38:17.268-05:00Gourmet Pumpkin Seeds<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZA9Jm5jG-U8/UJCB4LDJ4YI/AAAAAAAAAXw/-XeQ2dup_DE/s1600/20121030_194838.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZA9Jm5jG-U8/UJCB4LDJ4YI/AAAAAAAAAXw/-XeQ2dup_DE/s400/20121030_194838.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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There are very few things in life that I get to be a snob about. But I have officially become a pumpkin seed snob. These toasted little dream nuggets will change your life.<br />
Follow these easy steps and taste the awesomeness.<br />
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1.Murder your Pumpkin.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Separate the guts from the seeds. (If you have small children this is a great time for manual labor.)</div>
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<br />2. Rinse the seeds. I used a standard kitchen colander and it worked great. </div>
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<br />3.Now soak your seeds in a nice relaxing salt bath. We used about a 1/2 cup of water and 1 tsp salt. warm water helps the salt dissolve. </div>
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<br />4.At last... the secret ingredient Add 1 heaping tsp of <a href="http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/p-penzeysnorthwoods.html" target="_blank">Penzy's Northwoods Seasoning</a>. We LOVE <a href="http://www.penzeys.com/" target="_blank">Penzy's </a>and buy most of our spices there. This particular seasoning is a great savory blend with just a hint of rosemary giving it that perfect thanksgivingy (I just made up a word!) taste. Check out the link for the list of individual spices used.</div>
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5. Swirl and Soak for 15-30 mins depending on how impatient you are. Preheat your oven to 350.</div>
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<br />6. Spread a generous layer of olive oil over the bottom of a edged cookie sheet. </div>
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Using a slotted spoon, spread your seeds in a single layer mixing them around to evenly coat in oil.</div>
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<br />Toast them in the oven for 20 min or until golden brown. I stirred the seeds at 10 min to make sure they got toasty all over.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6uuSq-56w8M/UJCNjrGk_7I/AAAAAAAAAaE/0onQxfPHWHk/s1600/20121030_194813.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6uuSq-56w8M/UJCNjrGk_7I/AAAAAAAAAaE/0onQxfPHWHk/s320/20121030_194813.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />take them out of the oven, eat them and think about how thankful you are I wrote this blog entry. </div>
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I'd love to here what you think if you try this recipe.<br /><br />
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amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07377767309550063086noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884423958938113055.post-24807932746266301772012-10-29T11:32:00.000-05:002012-10-29T11:32:40.165-05:00Holey Punkins!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Have you carved your Punkins (as sassafras refers to them)? I am a person who likes instant gratification. You will not see me spending hours carving an intricate pumpkin design of Abraham Lincoln fighting Zombies. Those people are just strange and they obviously don't have 3 children. But I have always wanted to make a cute little polka dot pumpkin. This year I finally did it.<br />
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* A pumpkin.<br />
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* A drill. Any size drill bit will work. Or you can get crazy and use different sizes. Captain Awesome aka My husband seems to have a hard time organizing his tools so I used the only one he could find. ;-)<br />
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Bam! That is it! Simplicity is my friend. Of course you have to cut the top off and scoop out all the guts..<br />
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See all those lovely little pumpkin seeds.... Tomorrow I will share with you my new favorite recipe for toasted pumpkin seeds. </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XQ6B5wFEhuw/UI6pQgc78mI/AAAAAAAAATk/pW2oveYWxVE/s1600/20121026_174440.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XQ6B5wFEhuw/UI6pQgc78mI/AAAAAAAAATk/pW2oveYWxVE/s320/20121026_174440.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Next...Start drilling.</div>
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This is also a perfect time to introduce small children to power tools. </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zFbJJRjvS2Y/UI6llJBRk1I/AAAAAAAAASM/ATghwgp7Ljg/s1600/20121029_104824.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zFbJJRjvS2Y/UI6llJBRk1I/AAAAAAAAASM/ATghwgp7Ljg/s320/20121029_104824.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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And that its. After you are done drilling you will have yourself an awesome little disco punkin! Ta Da!</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gZ8woBoJ7I0/UI6n7QdI-CI/AAAAAAAAATM/tLsLTTRx-o8/s1600/20121029_105812_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gZ8woBoJ7I0/UI6n7QdI-CI/AAAAAAAAATM/tLsLTTRx-o8/s320/20121029_105812_HDR.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Happy Pumpkin Carving!</b></span></div>
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amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07377767309550063086noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1884423958938113055.post-80597842104598893332012-10-29T09:36:00.001-05:002012-10-29T11:34:41.468-05:00Up and walking!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hey all, this is my attempt at a blog for people who like what I like and other people who secretly just want to be like me! So here goes nothing!amandahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07377767309550063086noreply@blogger.com0