My Favorite Pumpkins - What color should a pumpkin be?

 Where did all the colorful varieties of pumpkins come from?! If you do a search on the internet it can be interesting to see who says what about this or that variety. I remember growing up thinking all pumpkins were orange. Really now, were there other varieties out there being sold in the US, but we somehow missed them in all our travels?

 Then I discovered the Lumina pumpkin while leafing through my seed catalog one frosty January day in North Pole. Oooooh, I thought! White pumpkins with a bright orange flesh. Supposedly tasty pumpkin as well. I found out that I could grow the Funny Face bush pumpkins easily in Alaska, but for some reason it doesn't matter where I am, either here in Utah or there in Alaska, I just can't get a Lumina to grow. I did get a tiny Cotton Candy variety to grow last year, but it wasn't any bigger than an apple. Not quite what I had in mind.

Over the past 5 or so years, I've seen many different varieties and colors of pumpkins which for someone who loves color, I'm thrilled! I can't believe we've not seen these before so I'm just guessing living in Alaska for 20 years and living in the west desert where nothing is grown except by a few of us brave souls, kept me in the dark until now. I really love the different colors, from the blue green Jaradales, to the creamy white Lumina and Cotton Candy, to the multi color miniatures that are out there. Martha Stewart had a magazine spread a couple of years ago with some very rustic burnt orange and brown pumpkins as well as the above mentioned. I want some of those! Yes I love the traditional orange pumpkins but it's fun to have a choice of color and shape. Are you a traditional pumpkin lover? Does it matter?
With all that in mind I tackled a painting that's been waiting to come out from the recesses of my tiny brain into the light of day. The colors show up brighter than they actually are, with the blue having more of a soft tint of green as well. I picked my favorite colors of pumpkins and let my brushes do the rest. A fun labor of love. I hope to create more, but we shall see.

Happy Halloween all you ghosties and goblins!

Are you ready for Halloween? We are! Actually this is a photo of my two oldest children and I that was taken when we lived out on the Aleutian Islands off the coast of Alaska. We were having a church party at the house because the weather on Adak was usually very rainy and windy. We had bobbing for apples, donuts tied to strings suspended from the ceiling (you have to try and eat them off the string without touching them), just to name a couple of fun games. And then before everyone left they went "trick or treating" down our hall and into the kitchen and laundry room. Each family had an adult at the door of a room to give away candy. I had so much fun getting ready for this party! Bryans and Stephanies costumes were put together with finds from the thrift store for about $5 total. I made the hat and wig Bryan is wearing from felt, yarn and a silk flower. We took down all the curtains and put up our makeshift haunted house window coverings made from dyed sheets that were ripped and torn. I love being able to do that sort of thing.
Here's hoping you have a very safe and fun day and night!

SSHHHHHHH.......don't tell Martha but....

I took one of her recipes and fixed it. Here's the deal, I save recipes from magazines in hopes of trying them out someday so I'm trying to see which ones are keepers and which aren't. With high gas prices, and higher grocery costs I'm also trying to use what I have on hand. So here's my version of Martha's Savory Fall Stew from her Original Classics cookbook, and how I fixed some problems I found. I list my ingredients and if different I put her original ingredients in parenthesis.

SAVORY FALL STEW MY WAY
2 T. olive oil 12 oz. hot italian sausage, cut into small chunks
1 med. onion, peeled and chopped ( 12 cipollini or pearl onions, peeled)
1 14.5 oz. can stewed tomatoes (1 1/2 c. canned crushed tomatoes)
5 c. water + 5 tsp chicken bullion (3 c. homemade chicken stock or low sodium canned broth) I found that 3 cups of broth would not give enough liquid for stew
1 handful combined fresh rosemary, thyme, oregano, Or 2 t. dried italian herbs
1 - 1 1/2 lb. butternut squash peeled, seeded and cubed ( 2 1/2 lb butternut squash - too much!)
3 carrots cut into 1/2" pieces
1 medium size zucchini, cubed (3 parsnips, cut into 2" sticks, 1 fennel bulb, halved, cored, cut into 1/4" slices)
2 c. beet greens, chopped (12 brussel sprouts, trimmed, cut in half)
1 1/2 cups macaroni or shell noodles ....my addition for hubby
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Cook sausage, stirring until it breaks into small pieces and is not longer pink. Remove sausage with slotted spoon, and set aside.
Pour off all but 1 T of fat and discard. Raise heat to medium high, and add the onion; cook stirring, until golden, about 8 minutes. Add tomatoes, broth and herbs, simmer over medium heat until the liquid starts to thicken, about 20 minutes. Add everything else but the beet greens and noodles, cover and simmer until tender, about 10 minutes. Add beet greens and noodles and turn down to medium low. Simmer until noodles are done. Season to taste and serve hot.
Martha claims this will only serve 4 done her way, but this really makes a large pot of soup for about 8 people even without the changes I made due to the amount of squash called for in the original recipe. It's delicious either way I'm sure, serve with home made buttermilk bisquits or cornbread. My husband loves it!