Boiling Sheets

It happened. The thing that all parents fear and have experienced at least once.

The dreaded crayon through the dryer. Ugh.

I was washing a load of sheets and at the last minute threw in a sweatshirt that needed washing. That sweatshirt had a broken orange crayon. ORANGE. With khaki colored sheets. FAIL. Sheets, really?

This is what they looked like. It was bad. I kind of wanted to cry.

I was traumatized.

I needed to sleep on it (literally and figuratively), but the next morning I woke up with a fire to fix my mistake. So I did some googling and got some ideas.

I knew I needed heat to melt the wax. There were too many bits all over to do the ironing method (and I HATE ironing) so I chose not to go with that. I also knew that I needed some strong soap to lift the wax. There were a few sites that recommended WD40, but I felt like it was just replacing the crayon with an equally damaging stain, and I didn't want to deal with the whole chemical aspect as well.

So I pulled out my large canning pot and filled it with water, a few squirts of dish soap, and a few tablespoons of borax and put it on medium heat. Once the water got hot, I tossed in the pillowcases. I let them simmer for about 30 minutes, vigorously agitating them and scrubbing them with a wooden spoon. After a while, I replaced the pillowcases with the fitted sheet. (Luckily the flat sheet escaped without any stains.) I did the same to the fitted sheet, but let it simmer for a little longer. I turned the heat off and let the pot cool for several hours. I poured the excess water out, but dumped the rest into the washing machine and washed them with other stuff just like normal. I let them hang out in the sun for a few hours, which I think helped a bit as well.

I didn't need to go to the gym that day after this.

I'm satisfied with the results. There are still faint orange stains where the crayon was, but we can live with it. I think I should have tried straight up lemon juice for the stains before tossing them into the wash, but its too late now that it has been through the dryer. I might try it anyway. I'm just glad I didn't have to toss 800 thread count sheets. Yeah chemical-free stain removal!

ACV: Magic Medicine?

I have previously discussed my love of vinegar. There are so many different kinds with so many uses, how could one not love vinegar? The fact that it is a naturally occurring substance from a long fermentation process, that is safe for human consumption without containing any harsh chemicals or additives to hurt the environment, makes it all that much better.

I have at least 4 different kinds in my house right now:

White: Uses include cooking, cleaning, deodorizing, softening, etc. Use it for ALL the things!!!

Rice: Sushi and other delicious Japanese cuisine. Mmmm...

Balsamic: Salad dressings, roasted vegetables, and a dash in marinara really deepens the flavor.

Apple Cider: My new love, and what this post is about.

(Did you know there are lots of other types of vinegars like coconut, beer, and raisin? Whoa.)

Word to your mother.

A couple months ago, Shawn and I started taking apple cider vinegar as a supplement once or twice a day. I always get the unfiltered stuff, and the kind you see above is my favorite. (Even though the Braggs seem like a couple of crazy hippies. But who I am to judge?) Just a few teaspoons to a tablespoon diluted in about a half cup of water. I had heard for a few years about people doing this, and then came across an article that outlined the various health benefits to it, so we decided to give it a shot. It seemed like a pretty easy, non-invasive thing to try out in the name of health and well-being. What did we have to lose?

We started taking it every morning before work. Shawn has trouble with the taste, but I don't mind it so much. We tried it with honey, and it was gross for both of us. I once took a little bit too much with not enough water, and did feel a burning in my stomach for an hour or two afterwards, but other than that it's been fine. We just dig deep and chug it like a frat guy shotgunning a PBR.

Let's talk about the health benefit claims made by people who take ACV (not PBR) as a supplement, and then I'll tell you the things we've actually noticed:

* Better circulation
* Lowered blood pressure
* Weight loss
* Lower cholesterol
* Lower blood sugar
* Cures hiccups
* Acts as a decongestant
* Boosts energy
* Prevents leg cramps
* Prevents bad breath
* Prevents indigestion and acid reflux

I know. It's a lot. Looking at this list, some make sense, while others take more thinking. Vinegar in general is known to have antibacterial and anti inflammatory properties so some of these seem less far-fetched than others. This list makes me realize that had I taken it throughout my pregnancy, I might have been a much happier person. If/when the second round happens, I can guarantee that ACV will be a regular part of my diet.

Now let's talk about the health benefits Shawn and I have noticed from our little experiment. In the beginning, we didn't notice much. We were taking it pretty religiously each day, and having the bottle right there in the kitchen made it easy to do in the mornings. I have to say I did feel more energetic (whether that was because of the ACV or just drinking more water while taking it, I can't say,) and it became something I looked forward to.

Like I mentioned we didn't notice anything at first, but it was after we stopped taking it regularly that we both noticed a change. The first thing both of us noticed is how our digestive system was so much more healthy and regular while taking it. Yes, our poops were awesome on days we take ACV in the morning. Having awesome poops really makes your day better.

I also lost 4 pounds. I was exercising quite a bit preparing for a 15k that Shawn and I did a few weeks ago, but I think the ACV helped. I've worked out in similar fashion in the past, but have never really lost much weight. Being on ACV put me about 4 pounds below my baseline average where I have been for years. I think another reason it helped me lose weight was because I started taking a shot of it each time I would get a sugar or snack craving. It only works to cut that craving about 50% of the time, but eating 50% less sugar and snacks has got to make a difference.

Shawn is borderline with his blood pressure and cholesterol. His numbers aren't to the point where he needs meds or anything, but it is something he's been instructed to watch. He eats relatively healthy, doesn't smoke, and drinks only occasionally, so it's just the way he's built. We haven't checked his numbers since we've started taking ACV, but it will be interesting to see what his numbers are now. I'll update this post if and when there is something to report.

I think the benefits we've noticed are enough to keep taking apple cider vinegar as a supplement. Maybe we'll see more benefits as we take it longer term. Here's to natural health!

So Long, Skipper

Well, our family has just gotten a little smaller. After years of talking about it and months of stressing out about it, we have found a new, much more fitting forever home for Skipper.

We had a feeling this would be the result when Eddy was born. To be honest, we were dreading his reaction to her because normally when he hears a baby cry, squeal, laugh, or make any other noise for that matter, he responds with a pretty ear-piercing scream of his own. But, to our surprise and relief, he seemed to understand that our baby was taken care of and he didn't need to let us know about it.

So we thought maybe we would be able to keep him. Unfortunately, though he is much more pleasant about Eddy than we anticipated, he still has his needs that we don't have the time or energy to attend to.

Caring for Skipper is like caring for a toddler. He needs a lot of our time and attention and will scream if he doesn't get what he wants. What makes it hard is the fact that he hates me. If we would accept any affection, or food from me without attacking me, it might be a different story. But he only wants it from Shawn and Shawn just isn't home enough for it to be fair for Skipper.

We also think Skipper is lonely. He sits by himself for most of the day and screams when he sees our neighbors out the window.

He's a sad little dude, and we needed to do something about it.

The we were informed about Pacific Parrot Placement.

PPP is a local 501(C)(3) that helps people rehome their parrots. Once I heard about them, I filled out their Placement Registration Form and was contacted by them within 5 days with the message that they had a potential match for Skipper. The email included a little information about the possible candidate. It sounded pretty good so I filled out the Release Agreement form which officially switched ownership of Skipper to PPP (they actually retain ownership of him forever, so they have the right to take him back if they feel the new owner is not a good fit.) This agreement can be rescinded by us at any point in the process if we decided to keep him afterall. Once the papers were in from both parties with a donation from us ($50, which we were happy to pay to an organization that does this amazing work,) we got the contact information from Skipper's new daddy.

Then it was up to us to contact him. I emailed him with more info about Skipper and asked for more info about him. Though we were pretty eager to get Skipper out of here, we also felt an obligation to make sure that this new home was right for him. I asked him a few questions, one of them was whether he has any kids of his own or whether any kids may come around once in a while. To be honest, finding a home with kids would have been ideal, but this new home sounds like a winner.

We dropped him off at his new house on Sunday and were super happy with his new digs. He has a nice long hallway to practice his flying and his new Amazon friend named June is already enamored with him. (He also has two African Greys to hang out with.) He will also get periodic weekend visits from two children. His new owner is very experienced with parrots, and sounds like he devotes a lot of his time to caring for his "children." He also seems really chill about the way he cares for them, and just wants his "kids" to be happy. He was talking about how he shares his fries and pizza with the birds, and allows them the freedom to just be birds. We hung out in the house for a while and we drove away feeling happy. Though it's weird to not have him around anymore, we're super happy that he finally has a home that is best suited for his species (second to the wild, or course.)

To conclude, let's reminisce.

Though super annoying more often than not, he provided us as well as all our guests with a ton of entertainment over the years. From his somewhat limited vocabulary, to his extensive sound effects, and ear-peircing screams, he was always making noise. Despite this, and maybe because of this, Skipper's intelligence was always fascinating to me. He just knew things, and you could tell he was thinking and calculating and manipulating. Cool and aggravating at the same time.

He brought many laughs and lots of joy to scores of kids. I took him in to work on at least five different occasions over the years and he made a show out of the whole thing each time. Since he was always happy to see new people he'd never met, he would also put on a show for all of our guests, oftentimes being the life of many a party. The video above is of him putting on one of his shows. He thought he was a pretty good singer. He wasn't. But it was sure funny.

Since we dropped him off, I've been getting occasional picture messages from his new daddy. Here he is with his girlfriend, June. (Though he seems to be more interested in whatever he's eating than in his new friend.)

Skipper's on the left, June on the right :)

Flip 'em the Bird!

Many of you know I have a serious commute to work.  At 26 miles away, at best, it takes me 40 minutes to get to work.  With Seattle traffic during peak hours, it often takes an hour to an hour and a half to get home.

Surprising, isn't it?  Me, the environmentally conscious, tree hugging, granola eater, spending that much time in the car burning fossil fuels...  it's really a shame.

But wait!  There's a solution!

CARPOOL!

Yes indeedy.  I've been carpooling for almost the whole time I've been at my job, and this school year, I have carpooled with at least another person almost every single day.  (I think I can count the times I've driven myself alone since September on one hand.)

This year, there are five of us in our carpool.  We all have slightly different schedules throughout the week, so we're not in the same car every day together, but it works out that each of us only has to drive our own car to work two to three times a week.  We all live in the North Seattle area so we meet at a park and ride and each have a designated day to drive to eliminate confusion.  Let's do some numbers.  If I were to drive myself every day, my total mileage would be 26 x 10 = 260 miles.  Blech!  By comparison, the carpool place is 6.5 miles from my house.  Only driving twice a week, it comes out to: (26 x 4) + (6.5 x 6) = 104 + 39 = 153.  260 - 153... I save 107 miles!  Sa-weet.  At about 33 miles per gallon that I get on my car, that's at least a $10 savings in gas each week, not to mention the carbon emissions that aren't being pumped into the air.  At those are just my numbers.  Multiply that by 5 and you start feeling pretty good about the impact that it could be making.

Though the gas savings was the initial reason my workmates and I started carpooling, there have been many other benefits that have come up that really makes it even better.  Let's discuss:

CARPOOL LANE:  Duh.

SANITY: Driving long distances, especially in traffic, can lead to lapses of sanity and major road rage.  When you have others in the car with you the share in the anger that other drivers can cause, for some reason, that rage is dissipated instantly.  Instead, we just make fun of the driver and imagine scenarios that lead to their fiery deaths or ferrets chewing on their testicles.  Which leads me to the next benefit:

PEOPLE WATCHING:  It's really hard to look at other drivers when you're the one doing the driving.  But when there are two or three other pairs of eyes in the car, each looking out different windows, there are lots of people-noticing opportunities.  And the people we've seen have been quite entertaining.  Take for instance, the lady who was doing a crossword puzzle while driving.  Are you fo real?  She had it rested on her steering wheel between her hands and was seriously working on it.  That's worse than talking on the phone.  Maybe worse than texting.  Then there are the people with funny wardrobes.  Like the lady who was wearing a sweet rainbow visor, pink sunglasses, and white gloves.  Or the all the people rocking out to their music, dealing with their own road rage, and making funny faces while driving.

FINDING THE FASTEST ROUTES:  There are always various ways to get somewhere.  When you have two cars leaving the same place or going the same direction at the same time, you get the rare opportunity of a little experimenting.  Is it faster to take the exit before and get out of the traffic to take the side streets?  Is it quicker and shorter to got to the other freeway entrance?  These are things that are hard to decide when driving yourself.  But when you have two cars and two drivers at your disposal, you can find out!  Though our efficiency makes it a rare occurrence for two cars to be leaving one place at the same time, it has happened just enough times to answer some of the most dire questions.

WHAT'S FOR DINNER?:  Things get done when you have more brains in the car.  The "what's for dinner" conversation happens nearly on a daily basis and actually gets answered on occasion.  This saves headache when you get home.  Other things that have gotten done in the car: parties have been planned, tumblr ideas have been created, life concerns have been solved.  Carpool therapy- you should try it sometime.

GOSSIP:  Duh, when you have a bunch of people who work together stuck in car for two hours a day, gossip happens.  But really not as much as you think.  It's more sharing work stories and sympathizing with the daily trials and hilariosity of working with children.

CAR/ROAD GAMES: Seriously, we play them.  And they work to make an hour drive slightly more bearable.

INSIDE JOKES:  So many inside jokes.  I won't go into details since they won't make sense but let me explain one: Lately, we've begun Flipping the Bird.  Most know this as a euphemism for giving one that has pissed another off the middle finger.  In this scenario, there are no fingers involved.  Instead, we have a picture of a Western Tanager that just happened to get trapped in my car from summer camp.  One of my carpool buddies discovered this one day and has decided that it should be flashed to people who make bad driving decisions.  Sounds dumb, right?  But it's hilarious.  (Maybe I take back my sanity argument.)  It's just a fun way to release our anger out at other drivers that they won't necessarily take as offensive.  It's win-win, really.  It makes us feel better, but doesn't piss anyone off.  Most people don't even notice, but the ones that do just get confused.  We laugh.  This leads me to my final benefit:

FRIENDS:  When you spend many hours a week with someone in a very confined space in a stressful situation, you have to become friends with that person.  There's no way around it.  I think this is one of the best benefits of all.

Western Tanager is yelling at you to stop sucking at driving. (And to buy shade grown coffee.)

The picture below was taken last year in my old car.  My friend has a tumblr and always needs ideas for new pictures and posts.  This was one of them.  

If you'd like to see more, here's a link to that particular tumblr.

Tea Robot carpools to work.

Weekend Update

Remember my pumpuchinis?  So they totally grew to be a pretty decent size and for the most part turned orange.  We got three of them.  One was given to the neighbor kids who helped with the planting of the plant, one was carved into a Jack-o-Lantern, and one still sits awaiting its fate.  The reason we didn't carve the third one is because carving the first one was such a pain in the ass.  I don't know why, but the outermost skin of the pumpuchini was super duper hard.  It almost had a candy shell that broke when the knife was stuck into it.  My design I had in mind had to be simplified, but after just one injury to the palm of my hand that I acquired when my hand slipped down the knife, I was able to carve to completion.  So the moral of the story is: crossing zucchinis and pumpkins results in fruit that is more worthless that its parents.

Pumpuchini on the right, regular pumpkin on the left.

Now remember Frannie's poor feather affliction?  Well, it's gotten both better and worse.  It's gotten worse because now she's officially molting.  Like, Elsa style.  She has huge patches of baldness on her wings, but also has a ton of pin feathers.  She also has pin feathers on her belly where all of her previous baldness was, so once this is over, she should be as good as new.  Speaking of pin feathers, Elsa also has so many covering her whole body that she looks like a porcupine.  I apologize for the series of poor quality photos, but it's hard to take pictures of chickens when you can't hold them.

Porcupine.  One week ago.

Pin feathers slowly opening up.

She's so ugly it's cute.

Is this a bit much?  Sorry for the ass shot.

This is the first year we are letting the ladies have a winter.  For the past 2 winters, we've had lamps in their coop to keep their daylight hours up to maintain their laying.  Though it was nice to have fresh eggs all year round, I got to worrying about their health and their calcium levels.  If nature decides that they need a break, who am I to deny them their break?  Since the days have been getting shorter, their laying has really declined to the point where we get an egg every other day.  I'm sure it'll get to be zero here soon, and I'll have to buy my first dozen eggs in over 2 years.  I think this is why we haven't had a molt until now.  The moral of this story is: let your ladies rest in the winter.  That way their bodies won't get confused.

Now lastly, remember the peas that I planted at the end of summer?  I did it last year with not so good results, and this year, though much better, proved to still not be worth the seeds.  I think I harvested a total of 10 pea pods.  One last moral for ya: peas don't grow too good in the fall.

That's all I have for today.  Good night everyone.

I'm so silly...

I often refer back to my old posts for recipes.  I only share with you my absolute favorites, and since I don't write any of them down on real paper, I have to find them electronically.  Though it is nice to have my own online blog recipe book per se, I've always found it a bit of a pain in the ass to find the recipes.

Apparently, I had already thought about this conundrum and long ago added a search box to my home page for easy recipe searching.  The problem is, I totally forgot that I added this to my blog.  I've been frustrating myself regularly as I searched for certain recipes, just to have the easy tool sitting under my nose.  (Total face palm.)

Maybe you, my fabulous readers are already privy to this, but I thought I would give you all a heads up just in case you weren't.  So check it out, to the upper left of the page.  It's the little white box under the green letters, "Whatcha Looking For?"  Just type in some key words and posts with those words will magically appear.  Pretty cool.  I hope you find it useful.  I sure do.  I'm kind of an idiot sometimes.  :)

Maybe all this silliness is just rubbing off onto me from all the silly beings I live with.

Can you spot the creepy hand placement?

Tiiiiiiiime...

I don't have any.  For anything.  I'm freakin' out!

Well not really.  At least I'm trying not to anyway.  Being that we're 12 days out from wedding-time and just got the keys to the new house we'll be moving to, things are getting a little cray cray around here.  I'm making lists like a mad woman and the TV hasn't been turned on in days.

I'm trying to enjoy it.  This is a time of really exciting changes that I want to look back on with fond memories.  I don't want to remember this time as a time I was too stressed out and frustrated and angry and rushed and a whole slough of other negative feelings.  I'm only letting good feelings come around here. 

But it's hard.  I had to take Gus to the vet today because he was acting really funny like he had a really bad tummy ache and wasn't eating at all.  He's acting like he's feeling better now but he still won't eat and that's what's currently stressing me out the most.  (It could be that he's just reflecting the stress that I'm feeling.  In that case I would feel really bad for doing that to him.)

As far as wedding stuff goes, I'm feeling surprisingly in control.  I have a list of stuff that I still need to do but it's a manageable one and each day I tick more and more off of it.  Centerpieces: done.  Favors: ready.  Seating chart: almost there.  Booze: purchased.  Ceremony: planned.  Dress: fits.  Rehearsal: planned.  Peeps: coming into town next week. 

But here's the kicker: this stress I'm feeling is totally all my fault.  Why?  Because of my insistence on having a garden.  In March, back before we knew where and when we would be moving, I planted a ton of seeds hoping, just hoping, that I would have somewhere to put them.  Now that we have a house and a yard to put them in, I know that this dream is about to become a reality...

...as soon as I build some planter boxes.  The new place has a great yard.  The only problem is that it's ALL LAWN.  So we need to build some garden boxes, and quick, because those seeds I planted back in March are really starting to outgrow their greenhouse.  My goal is to get it done by this weekend.  I think I can do it.  I'll make sure to document the process so you all can see the transformation our backyard will go through from plain Jane to urban homesteading paradise!

And don't get me started on the stress I'm feeling about having to build another chicken coop for the ladies at the new place. 

(Take a deep breath.  Do it for Gus.)

I long for the days of kitty cuddling.

Greenhouse Visitor, Bandit Chickens, etc.

Lots to write about today.  I've been sitting in front of this computer way too much that I'd like recently, working on wrapping up all my reports and papers and projects and stuff so cool things that have happened just didn't make it to the blog.

Story #1:  We had a greenhouse visitor.  A couple days ago, I checked inside our little greenhouse to see how my plants were doing.  Out of the corner of my eye, I say something brown and fuzzy.  I thought it was a mouse, but turns out it was a little dark-eyed junco.

She was just sitting there.  I was worried she was trapped in there for a long time so I got her some water and bird seed.

Instead she went to sleep.  So I took out the tray she was sitting on and put it in the sun hoping that it would perk her up.

She was really cute and fluffy just like our chickie babies.  I think I got a little too close at one point because she tried to fly and landed on me.  I tried to pick her up off of me and that made her fly over to our fence, where her man was apparently waiting for her because he came out of nowhere.  She eventually flew off with her husband in hot pursuit.  I hope she's ok.  We filled the bird feeder to make sure there was food to eat nearby.  There were several poops in the greehouse, but not so many to make me think she was in there for too long.  Now I just have to check the darn thing everyday to make sure no one else gets trapped inside.

Story #2:  The older chickens are not my friends right now.  My awesome chicken proof fence around my garden is still awesome, but totally not chicken proof anymore.  They figured out how to fly over it and have done some serious damage to my stuff.

*  Onions - 1/2 of them gone, the other half, trampled
*  Peas - half totally trampled and buried
*  Green beans - seeds ripped out of the ground
*  Kale - one row trampled/eaten

What the hell.  I'm so mad.  Now I can never let them free roam again unless under someone's direct supervision, or get (meaning buy, most likely,) a taller fence.  The part that we made out of sticks is working well, it's the other real fence that they're able to jump over.  I just don't think we have enough sticks to replace it.  I guess to Home Depot we must go.

Story #3:  Did you know the sun has been coming out lately?  I guess you'd have to live in cave to not notice that.  To me, sun means happiness, warmth, flowers blossoming, and being able to dry my clothes outside!  YES.  I love knowing that I'm using a completely renewable and free source of energy to dry my clothes. 

Being able to do this makes me very happy.

The key is to plan ahead though, to make sure you have enough sunlight left in the day to dry your clothes.  This batch didn't get quite dry enough so they got a small treatment of the dryer.   Here are a few more tips for drying your clothes in your backyard:

*  Turn your darker clothes inside out.  I'm always a little afraid that the sun will bleach them, so turning them inside out helps prevent that a little.
*  Make sure your underwear is hidden in between large things like towels and t-shirts.  (We have a grumpy neighbor who might complain if she had to see our unmentionables.)
*  If you don't want your towels to be super stiff, take them down just before they get completely dry and give them 5 minutes in the dryer.

Lastly, a picture of a magnolia flower.  It blossomed so late this year I forgot I even had a magnolia tree in my backyard.

Look at all those stamens!

P.S.  The babies are getting bigger and are super active.  They're one week old yesterday and I think they're twice the size they were when we got them.  And they've got some serious feathers coming in.  Pictures and another short video to come.

Dirt, Food, Hens, Friends

It was a good weekend, this one.

Yesterday, we spent all day outside.  The chicken coop flooded again thanks to a stopped up downspout so we had to do a whole clean-out of that.  It needed to be done anyway so I wasn't too annoyed.  Luckily the rain held off and we actually had some sun to help dry stuff out so it really was a nice day to be outside.  And the ladies didn't mind, they looove being outside doing their chicken things with us nearby.  They just hang around, scratching here and there and putting their noses (or beaks and claws) into whatever we're doing every once in a while.  We even turned the compost pile which exposed tons of big wriggly worms which they happily slurped up like spaghetti.  Even though they were standing on a gold mine of worms, they still had to fight over them.  Silly girls.

We also did a major pruning job on some bush that was getting a little overzealous and taking too much space.  I did leave enough bushiness for the chickadees and junkos to hang out in.  I also gave one of the oregano bushes a haircut and noticed that the rhubarb is already showing signs of life again.

No outside work is complete without playing in the dirt.  I moved some soil around to different planting areas and added some compost to a bed that I'm using for the first time this year.  What did I plant in this bed?  Sunchokes!  I just bought some from the store, cut 'em up and threw 'em in the ground.  We'll see what happens.  The biggest thing is going to be keeping them safe from the chickens while the plants are still babies.  I hope it works!

For dinner we made a hundred or so gyoza (japanese pot stickers) for a Karate Kid movie watching night with some friends.  We watched the original and the new one.  I'm sure everyone agrees on which is better.  We made three flavors of gyoza: kabocha/corn/cheese, shrimp/cilantro, and beef.  They were delicious.  If you want more info on how to make 'em, lemme know.  I also did a really cool baking experiment, which of course I forgot to take pictures of, so I'll just have to do it again and then tell you all about it.  It's a secret... But trust me, it was really cool with fantastic results.

We did something else cool today, but I'll tell you about that later too.

aaaaand today's picture:

His name is Albus.  As in Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore.

This, That, and the Other Thing

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.  Ours was pretty swell, my parents ditched us for New Zealand, so Shawn and I (team 1), with my sis and her man (team 2) decided to host Thanksgiving at my parents house.  Team 2 made the turkey, complete with stuffing, and the sweet potatoes.  Team 1 made the rolls, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie (more on that later).  We had a total of 19 people at the house, most being other orphans like us who had no other plans for the big day.  Everyone ate until they couldn't breathe, and all was good.

There they are in their 350 degree sauna.

Now about that Pumpkin pie.  Oh my heck.  It was so delicious!  About a month ago, I took three of my sugar pumpkins and pureed them and froze them.  I don't know if it was the recipe or the pumpkins that made the pie so good, maybe a combo of both.  So, since they were so delicious, I decided to puree three more of the orange beauties that my garden grew this summer.

3 pumpkins = 8 cups puree = 4 pies!  YES!

The whole process does take a little bit of time and it can get messy, but it is totally worth it!  You can do it when you have the time and just freeze it until you find yourself in need of some pumpkin pie or pumpkin bread, or any other delicious pumpkin-inspired recipe.

So for some reason, Shawn and I hit the jackpot for the absolute best pies ever.  Here is the recipe for one pie.  Of course, we doubled it because in my family, pumpkin pies always come in twos.

• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 2 cups pumpkin puree
• 1 can evaporated milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Combine all ingredients and mix well.  Pour into prepared pie crust.  Place in oven and bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes.  Lower temp to 350 and bake another 40 minutes or until pie is firm.  Let cool, and enjoy!  Don't forget the whip cream!

So far, Abby wins.

In other news, we got egg #4 today.  We started a tally so we can keep track of how many we get from them.  So far, we're pretty sure all of them have been from Abby, since they are always 2 days apart and laid around noon.  (Except the one from today, it was earlier than noon.)  Let's see how long the tally lasts.

Lastly, since it is officially after Thanksgiving, we got to do this: ------>

Happy holiday homesteading my friends!