Kid tested. Kid approved!!

Matilde's sunflower grew and grew this year! She planted her seed indoors, helped transplant it outside, helped papa harvest the seeds, and helped me roast them!  She was also the first to taste them! 

I soaked the seeds for about two days in a salt water brine.  Boiled them for 10 minutes, then spread them out onto a cookie sheet, dusted them with salt and set them to bake at 400 for 10-15 minutes.  They crunched and split just like store bought seeds. The Gutierrez boys enjoyed them too!  Ole had been wanting to try home grown seeds and came just at the right time! All four kids loved them. :) I suppose we should plant another one next spring! 

Caught up!

This is our compost heap. It sits directly under the rabbit hutch. The Donnas aerate the pile every day and Andy rakes it back up every evening.  It has worked out well. They're doing the tedious mixing job for us!  

This blurry photo is of our new pair of breeding does!  Hooray!  Introducing (unofficially- names are still up for discussion) LadyBird Johnson and Miss Piggy/Martha Washington!  

I was brave and decided to go for it!  I made myself a sourdough starter from scratch using Grandma Oma's recipe from her cookbook. (Her cookbook as in she wrote it. It's neat, I know!!) 

It started out well.  We were getting excited! Then.......

.....within 30 minutes it started to overflow!!!  I started to panic. 

BUT who can panic when your child begs to play with the cheesecloth covered in beginning bacteria growth and is giving you this look! 

Roasted Seeds

Last night we roasted our pumpkin seeds and Tilly couldn't keep her mitts off of them!  She even took some for her friend, Levi, who had never tried them before. The only problem I had was me leaving them out. I think they lost their crispiness by being left out overnight. I started late, and I was too tired to wait for them to cool. Next time, I will wait because nothing tastes quite like autumn like freshly roasted and toasted pumpkin seeds. :) 

--

Rinse and strain the seeds to clean out your gross pumpkin guts. 

Boil the cleaned seeds in salt water for about 10 minutes. 

Pat them dry. 

Set them flat on a baking sheet. Try not to overlap too much. 

Season to your liking. We like plain salted seeds, but I know others add cinnamon or even spice for a kick. 

Bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees. 

Mix the seeds and flatten them before roasting another 10 minutes. 

That should do it! 

Watch for them to brown. Remember that the seeds cook faster than their shells, so if the shells are dark brown the seeds may be black!  Ovens vary, so use the 10 minute roasting times as a guide.

Enjoy. 

Empty Beds & I failed.

We've cleaned out the beds and will be weeding and composting and filling them again soon.  Planning for next year has begun since we slacked off on winter planting. 

This is what's left to compost of our fantastic green onion crop. Andy suggested green onion pesto. The girls love pesto, but I didn't think it sounded good. I made it anyway. I should have gone with my gut because it was not good! It could have been my oil choice or my nut choice, but it whatever it was, it was bitter. 

...and another one!

Thank you to all who contributed to my squash recipes!  Below are a few of the responses I received.  Happy cooking! 

"Sliced squash, slice a sweet onion, chop fresh garlic used powder if no fresh. Cook all in butter until all have brown edges." - Grandma R

"All zuke recipes work for yellow squash.  Try it raw sliced.  Try it stewed or stir fried with tomatoes, onions, and garlic.  Tomatoes can be fresh or canned." - Granmo

"Butternut squash is one of our favorites.  Peel, seed, cut in cubes and roast with salt, pepper and olive oil at 400 degrees for about 30 to 40 minutes and it is wonderful.  We had some tonight." - GG Moss

And of course I received this gem....

"Barf. My recipe is throw them in the trash!  ;)" - Jen Pelley

Thank you for the ideas and the honesty!  I appreciate them both!