Pumpkins: Carving and Seed Roasting

If you think that the pumpkin carving tool that they sell at the stores are a gimmick you are WRONG! Those little green and orange carving tools are the best invention in terms of pumpkin carving! With that said I left my bag of them on the Cape and had to fork over another $1.99 to get one orange "saw" which came with a scooper (also a life saver in the world of de-gooping a pumpkin) :) I decided this year to draw my own design from designs that I searched on the Internet. I ended up choosing an Owl (might have something to do with my precious neighbor who pulls at my heart strings and is being a little owl for Halloween this year). 

I found our pumpkin at Trader Joe's for a great price of $3.99!! I have never had a bad pumpkin from TJ's. I cut the top and carefully gutted it and separated the seeds. I always make sure I get all the seeds as they really are a terrible thing to waste! 

Before I start carving I take the seeds inside and rinse them off, throw the remainder of the pumpkin in the compost bin and then we get down to business. This year I took a pencil and lightly drew what I need to carve on my pumpkin. I was a little skeptical about the owl but I must say, not to toot my own horn but not too bad! 

Now that the pumpkin was carved it was time to cook the seeds as a reward for all the hard work! I feel like every year I struggle with getting the seeds just right.  If you feel the same way look no further! After much research (a few too many google searches) I think I found the perfect way. What I learned and what many people don't realize is that the inside seeds cook much faster than the outside shell therefore end up with a funky tasting pumpkin seed that is sometimes burnt on the inside. So, I took my seeds and boiled them for 10 min! (Now would be a good time to heat the oven to 325°)

I took them out of the pan and poured them into a colander.  I patted them dry then put them in a bowl. Where I then put a small amount of olive oil and sea salt. I mixed them good so that they were coated evenly. I then sprayed the baking sheet with an olive oil cooking spray. Spread the seeds out onto the baking sheet as evenly as possible. Bake for 10 min, stir and bake for another 10. Oh my goodness! This was my best batch of pumpkin seeds ever! Even Nick was impressed :) 

Now it's time to sit down, relax and enjoy! 

Much Love, 

S 

The Vitamix!!

I know I know, I told you to grab a glass of wine and enjoy, however if you want to do like I have been, and grab your smoothie instead that is ok too :) 

Do you get sick of eating salads? Vegetable or fruit? I know I do.. 

Last month was my birthday and my amazing husband got me a Vitamix blender. Let me tell you this thing is amazing! I always liked fruit but usually only on a hot day at the beach.. Well not any more! Instead of an occasional glass of wine after or with dinner we (well Nick) makes us smoothies. We use frozen and fresh fruit for our concoctions and the possibilities are endless! This morning it was a honeydew melon ice and water.. That's it! As I type he is in the kitchen whipping up probably something tropical, strawberries, bananas and mango. Then he will probably whip up something else for the morning. 

When Nick is not whipping up some sort of fruity drink I am whipping up some soup. So far my favorite is the butternut squash soup, however today I made a yummy easy vegetable soup. Carrots, celery, onion and garlic. Mmm mmm good. 

Shown above are smoothies in the glasses and then veggie soup in the upper right hand corner.  The picture below features the butternut squash soup. 

If you are in the market for a blender I highly recommend the Vitamix. It may be a little pricey but I am seeing the benefits and I believe that we will have many more uses for it as time goes on ;) 

I have to warn you though your grocery carriage is going to start looking a little different! 

We try to do mostly organic but is almost impossible so we do what we can :) 

Please don't hesitate to share your favorite Vitamix or smoothie recipes ;) 

Much Love, 

S

Don't be afraid to.. Spray paint.. Or yard sale!

Nick (my husband) and I have been searching for end tables since we neared completion of our "new" home renovations. We had just about zero luck, everything we found was either over priced particle board or something so ridiculously expensive that it didn't make sense. Until our drive to the Cape one Friday.. I spotted end tables, light blue with a marble top on the side of the road. Of course Nick being skeptical of roadside buys I had to drag my mom back to further investigate. We get back there and there is a sign that says 2/$50 we asked if we could have then 2/$40! Solid wood! (my Mom's boyfriend Mick told me that the marble alone was worth $50!) Sure enough the seller said yes! 

    

We get the table back to our house and I decided that I want to use them in the bedroom which presents an issue with not only the color of the tables but the marble.

But then we have spray paint and fabric!!! 

I took a trip to Home Depot and found the perfect color gray spray paint (about $12.00 for 3 cans) and the perfect ceramic white knobs ($16.00). I had it in my head that I was going to get a gray and white chevron fabric to cover the marble. 

Note: I did not strip these tables at all as they already had a coat of paint on them. 

I set up shop outside and in a matter of about 3 hours I had spray painted the tables.  Remember it is very important to let the spray paint cure before handling too much. 

Here they are in drying mode.  Then it came time to shop for the fabric.  I took a ride to JoAnne's only to find that the Chevron they kept in stock was not anything that I was looking for :( however that good old everything happens for a reason came into play! I found a very stunning modern fabric of gray and bright white (to match the trim in our bedroom) it was perfect! When all was said and done I couldn't have been more proud! I think I even got one of my favorite compliments ever when I posted to FB. "You are magical like a Unicorn, please find stuff and make it pretty for me"

So folks.. Never be afraid of a little spray paint and a yard sale! 

I hope you enjoyed my first post! I have already learned that I must start using better photos to upload they seem a bit funky but that is the iPhone for you. 

Much Love, 

S