There may be all sorts of stuff happening, but today is still the last day of Thanksgiving break.
Do you remember, a month or two ago, we went up to Pennsylvania and enjoyed Grandma and Pop's garden? Here's a refresher of the mini harvest for the day:
The specimen (fruit? veggie? I feel like I should know this...) that Kaden is holding below is a "neck pumpkin." As in, it has a long neck. It's also called something like a "dutch crooked neck pumpkin" and there's an official name for it. Anywho, it pretty much grows only in central Pennsylvania. And it's perfect for baking pies.
Which is what we worked on down here in Florida, with one of Grandma's pumpkins. Kaden was so excited to help - here he is carrying it across the kitchen: "Mama, this is BIG and heavy." (Yes, it DOES look like butternut squash on steroids. But it ain't.)
Then we started cutting it up. Well, I did, while Kaden manhandled one piece with a butter knife. Anyway, here's WHY neck pumpkins are so good at baking pies-- the neck is pure pumpkin meat!
The little bump at the end is where you'll find the seeds, but even still it has a lot of meat there too.
Here's our yield-- one small dish of pulp and seeds (far left), one small plate of the skin for composting, and two large dishes full of chopped up pumpkin. I think about 10 cups total.
Next step- cook it in a bit of water until a little soft.
We also spread the seeds out to dry. We're going to try a few down here and see if we can get a plant or two growing...
Other steps included: draining well, storing in fridge until bakign day (within a week), then putting in food processor to get rid of the stringy bits, then measuring and baking. We made about 24 mini pumpkin pies (think baby quiche), one pumpkin custard (think pie without crust), two pies and a loaf of pumpkin bread. Pure heaven. I forgot to get photos of those, but trust me.
Thanksgiving day we also did a "Turkey Trot" as a family. Jim did a 5k first, with his personal best time (go Jimdad!), and then Kaden, Jim, my mom and I all did a 1 mile "fun" run. We all gathered together, and when the race started, Kaden honestly took off and was in the middle of the back of the pack. He ran for about a block or so, then started walking (My energy is gone, Mom).
Kaden did a half mile in this walk/run/walk fashion. We were in the absolute back of the pack, near a old guy with a cane (more power to him for going out!) and the peeps walking their dogs. After a half mile, Kman took a break and rode in the stroller for a while. Then, about 2 blocks (quater mile ish) from the finish line, we started to talk him into finishing the race on his own. A nearby teen girl heard us and asked Kaden "do you want to run in with me? I'll run with you." Kaden said YEAH and jumped out of the stroller.
Poor girl. We should've warned her that the toddler was faster than he looked. He *took off*, people! The teen gave her friend a startled look, and then ran to catch up. With the teen beside him and encouraging him, Kaden ran the rest of the way!! When he turned the corner for the final homestretch, the crowd cheered for him!! and then he got a nifty ribbon and a bottle of water when he crossed the finish line.
Later, I asked him how it felt to cross the finish line and finish his first race. His reply? "It felt sweaty." So then I asked how it felt when the crowd cheered for him: "It made me feel happy." Aww, that's the sound of my heart bursting with pride.
See? Lots to be thankful for! And this long post is just a few things :)
