Last week shared American Thanksgiving with some friends and their dogs...large and small.

Both females, Lily is a 5 month old  chihuahua with the Tiger  name given due to her spunk. She curls up in her sleeping spot and rarely barks. Kitty is a four year old boxer cross,  who lives across the road but visits for most days....guess who is BOSS, not Kitty.

Just a few shots of these pals....sniffing the counter for good turkey and potato smells and just a cuddler. Tiny growls as they play. 

With the changing seasons from summer to Halloween and Thanksgiving and now Christmas & getting ready for north I have been using up extras in baking, dehydrating and canning. The process is as interesting at times as the results...some successes and some bombs!
Lots of learning!

  The cherry liquors in which I had jars with sugar,cherries and vodka on top of the fridge turing over every day for a few weeks were fine until the door got slammed and red juice everywhere in the fridge and floor....now since sealed in small jars.

Baby cherry  garden tomatoes halved and put in salt have been great dried as well as pumpkin seeds salted and apples and pear slices dipped in a sugar and lemon solution. It makes for a sticky dehydrator but lovely results in glass jars. Cutting the apples is tedious as alot of the local fruit has had brown spots or trails. just two small jars of apple pear sauce.

With celery, onions, tomatoes, cilantro, peppers green and chili ones made some spicy salsa. ....the blender worked well for chopping and blending after some initial simmering on the stove, but saved some larger pieces to give texture.

The Halloween pumpkin has been the most labour intensive but also fun.... the pumpkin cranberry muffins were tasty but too doughy as i used the pumpkin puree and frozen cherries. Nanuq was certainly interested in the smells.

I started with a search on the web and found a great site....."Just have a Jack O Lantern? If all you have is a Jack O Lantern pumpkin (no pie pumpkin or butternut squash) then see this page for the recipe to make a pie from an ordinary carving pumpkin."

These are some of the instructions from the above site and I have interspersed some of my own photos

Directions for Making Pumpkin Pie from Scratch

Step 1 - Get your pie pumpkin

"Pie pumpkins" are smaller, sweeter, less grainy textured pumpkins than the usual jack-o-lantern types.  Grocery stores usually carry them in late September through December in the U.S. In some parts of the country, they are also called sugar pumpkins or even "cheese pumpkins".  Go figure that one.  Note: the Libby's can of cooked pumpkin is just there for reference - it is the small can, so that gives you an idea of the size of a typical pie pumpkin.  They're only about 6 to 8 inches in diameter (about 20 to 24 inches in circumference).  TIP: If you're in a pinch and can't find a pie pumpkin, here's a tip: butternut squash taste almost the same!  Commercial canned pumpkin is from a variety of butternut, not true pumpkins! If you insist on using a regular Jack O' Lantern type pumpkin, you may need to add about 25% more sugar and run the cooked pumpkin through a blender or food processor to help smooth it out.

Step 2 - Prepare the pumpkin for cooking

Wash the exterior of the pumpkin in cool or warm water, no soap.

Cut the pumpkin in half.  A serrated knife and a sawing motion works best -

Step 3 - Scoop out the seeds...

And scrape the insides.  You want to get out that stringy, dangly stuff that coats the inside surface.  I find a heavy ice cream scoop works great for this.

Note: SAVE THE SEEDS:

The seeds can be used either to plant pumpkins next year, or roasted to eat this year!

Step 4 - Cooking the pumpkin 

Bake in Oven – Basically, you cut and scoop out the pumpkin as for the other methods, place it into a covered oven container, and bake at 350 F for 90 minutes or until soft.Add about 3 cups of water to help prevent it from drying out and pop it in an 350 F (200 C) oven. It normally takes about 45 minutes to an hour; just test it periodically by sticking it with a fork to see if it is soft!

Step 5 - Cook the pumpkin until soft

Step 6 - Scoop out the cooked pumpkin

Whether you cook the pumpkin on the stove, microwave, or even the oven, once it is cooked until it is soft, it is easy to scoop out the guts with a broad, smooth spoon, (such as a tablespoon).  Use the spoon to gently lift and scoop the cooked pumpkin out of the skin.  It should separate easily an in fairly large chucks, if the pumpkin is cooked enough.

Many times the skin or rind will simply lift off with your fingers (see the photo at left) .  I'll bet you didn't realize making your own pumpkin glop... err, "puree" was this easy!

Note: there are many varieties of pumpkin and some make better pies that other (due to sugar content, flavor, texture and water content.  Drier, sweeter, fine-grained pies; the small (8" across) ones called "pie pumpkins" are best. 

Watery pumpkin?

If your pumpkin puree has standing, free water, you may want to let it sit for 30 minutes and then pour off any free water.  That will help prevent you pie from being too watery! Beyond, that, I have not found that the water makes a difference - I wouldn't be TOO concerned about it!

Step 7 - Puree the pumpkin

To get a nice, smooth consistency, I use a Pillsbury hand blender.  By blending it, you give the pie a smooth, satiny texture; rather than the rough graininess that is typical of cooked squashes.

A regular blender works, too (unless you made a few frozen daiquiris and drank them first..). Or a food processor or even just a hand mixer with time and patience.

With the hand blender, it just takes 2 or 3 minutes!

Another visitor says using a food mill, like a Foley Food Mill, with a fine screen, accomplishes the blending/pureeing very well, too!

Step 8 - Done with the pumpkin!

The pumpkin is now cooked and ready for the pie recipe.  Get the frozen daiquiris ( or Alley Kat Pumpkin Pi beer ) out from step 7 and take a break!

Note: You may freeze the puree or pie filling to use it later! Just use a freezer bag or other container to exclude as much air as possible.  It should last a year or more in a deep freezer On the other hand, you may NOT "can" it:

A number of breeds from the far north are collectively called spitz dogs. Spitz is German for “pointed,” in this case referring to a pointed muzzle. Other characteristics shared by spitz-type dogs are prick ears, a thick double coat, a bushy curled tail, and a robust and confident personality.

Huskies, Norwegian Elkhounds, Akitas, and Pomeranians are all spitz dogs.

From my "page a day calendar" on dogs...

Need I say more

but new hinges, green paint and easily opening latch.

The afternoon dog romp on the porch was interrupted by overhead calls. Nanuq stopped dead and I managed to catch these migrating Canada geese heading south.

This was my list for yesterday: 

• BAG LEAVES IN FRONT YARD
• USE LAWNMOWER TO GET LEAVES ON OTHER SIDE OF FENCE
• LOAD IN BACK OF CAR
• INDDOR PLANTS RE POTTED ON BACK PORCH
• EMPTIES IN BOXES OR BACK OF CAR TO DEPOT
• SPACE ON WORK BENCH IN GARAGE
• POTS UNDERNEATH
• TOMATO WIRES IN GARAGE
• GARDEN TOOLS IN GARAGE
• REMINDER ABOUT BIKE TIRE

And these are some shots of how far I got in the last few days....

This gate has always been a problem & used wire and bungy cords to secure.... some prep work before the carpenter coming.  My front fence needing to be repaired as someone probably ran into it. Mid november afternoon hauled out the green trim paint. Instructions for mail man  and others as gate unstable.

Tools in garage from back yard abit of pre-snow organization.

This morning it snowed so I am shovelling, off the the bottle depot, lawnmower hospital and hopefully home before carpenter arrives to fix the gate!

the new "used" station wagon is getting the breaks and winter tires and needed fluid changes. The other afternoon I had to wait for a pick up from the garage and caught this great sky as sun set is closer to 5 PM now.

....both the dogs getting some attention from a cyclist who had parked his bike nearby ....just like this photo I took through window of Wild Earth cafe!

Just a few shots as the girls coming in the back of the wagon and enjoying their runs and dips in wet creek not yet frozen over

as I have finally purchased a vehicle before the snow flies, my insurance expires next month and room for the dogs!

It has been an interesting process and one I probably do not want to repeat for a while.

Did I learn some new things?

• Yes, the internet in an invaluable tool for checking out different models, years such as AMA info on liens and history check e.g. reports from Car Fax, to Google images of each ( I am very visual and discovered hatch back and wagon are very different ) and Auto Trader and Kijiji ads in my area. However it was humorous as one ad got misplaced and discovered it was a lady from NFLD who was willing to pay shipping if I bought her late 90s used vehicle!
• Also learned the wholesale and retail prices are important to know when dealing privately....what the seller would get on a trade in vs. the price a dealer would sell the car for.....
• That as a single middle aged woman I can hold my own in asking intelligent questions on used cars
• What ABS stands for and the repeated flashing light on the dash is likely a computer or fuse glitch.
• That as much as I did alright test driving 5 speed manual such as a 2008 Hyundai and 1995 honda civic hatch back or 1998 VW Passat, not the best choice in the long run....consideration stopped on a hill in the middle of winter with 2 active dogs in the back would I be distracted???? YES...choose an automatic!

Is this a stressful emotional process?

• Yes if pressed for time and with too many choices

• Yes I have met a number of private sellers and usually get  their own personal stories and history of the vehicles...sometimes I can trust my intuition and sometimes I may be gullible.

• I really loved the Volvo 850 T 1995 ( see last blog ) and all the features, especially heated seats and well maintained but pushing my upper limits on the budget, a higher mileage and in the long run may have cost me more in repairs.

• As I wrote in facebook: looking for a good used vehicle is somewhat like pregnancy as it generates everyone else's stories and advice but the end result is still uniquely your own.

So here is the new addition 2000 Ford Taurus SE wagon with about 181, 000 kms.

Yesterday I was pretty wound up as I dashed about with the rental car getting insurance renewal and plates, did not get an inspection before purchase  and driving very slowly home from the north end of the city in the dark worried about breaks and power steering. It  has sat in a garage for about 6 months  and needed complete winterizing and coolant flushing from Lubex done this morning and after the insurance inspection and new battery, will need new rear tires and some front break work scheduled for Monday afternoon. 

But the guys at A-1 tire and battery reassured me it is in good shape and I made a good decision.

So not a love affair or any pet names or heated seats but practical and basic with room for the dogs and fit into the garage.