Munchie Monday: Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice

Monica/Yummly . Pumpkin Pie Spice recipe is slightly different from what I did.  Actually the only difference is that I did not find mace in the bulk spice bins so I left it out.

This makes a little more than a pint of pumpkin pie spice.

1 cup ground cinnamon
1/2 cup ground ginger
1/4 cup ground cloves
4 teaspoons ground nutmeg
4 teaspoons ground allspice


Mix very well.  You may have to put through a fine-mesh strainer to get the little clumps of ginger to cooperate.

You can turn this into apple pie spice by leaving out the ginger and cloves, but since I like those flavors, I will probably use this indiscriminately as either pumpkin or apple spice.

This is the oatmeal ready to eat with maple syrup and walnuts on top.  For Dear One.

Food Friday: Slow Cooker Steel Cut Oats with Pumpkin and Maple Syrup

Monica at Yummly has some great recipes.  She put out a few pumpkin recipes this week.  I am trying the Crockpot Pumpkin Steel Cut Oats recipe.  Sort of.

This is what I did:

In a two-quart bowl, or maybe it is three-quart, I will have to check, I placed these ingredients:
1 cup uncooked steel cut oats
3 1/4 cups unsweetened almond milk
Half a can of pumpkin purée--about 3/4 cup
1/4 cup pure Vermont maple syrup
3 caps vanilla--probably about 2 teaspoons
Heaping tablespoon of homemade pumpkin pie spice (cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and allspice)
Heaping tablespoon ground flax seeds
1/4-1/2 teaspoon himalayan pink salt
2 Tablespoons butter

The recipe called for grated apple or applesauce but I forgot this.  Since it is a new recipe anyway, I don't suppose it matters much.  I don't have very high expectations but would be pleased if it turned out to be tasty.  When it is cooked I can always add some applesauce to it if it seem needed.

Mix all these ingredients together carefully in your bowl then place in a large crockpot.  Our crockpot is 7-quarts and oval.  When the bowl is in the ceramic crockpot bowl, VERY CAREFULLY pour in warm water about half way up the bowl of ingredients, cover, then turn the crockpot to LOW for 8 hours.  I am writing this part after having put the porridge cooking.  More in the morning when it is, hopefully, cooked and delicious.

Pumpkin Oatmeal in the Crockpot ready to "double boil".

UPDATE:
I started the crockpot cooking at 9 PM.  This morning at 6:30 AM I opened the cover.  This is a crockpot that cooks on low for 8 hours then goes into warming mode.  You do the math to know how long this was in the crockpot.

In the night I woke up once and had the delightful benefit of smelling the cinnamon!  A great fragrance to enjoy. It put me right back to sleep.

Pumpkin Oatmeal after cooking

The pumpkin oatmeal had cooked to perfection.  The solids had solidified and some liquid was on top.  After stirring for a minute with our trusty wooden spoon it was nice and smooth.

Pumpkin Oatmeal after stirring.

Taste test:  well, it is certainly edible.  Not very sweet, which is a plus, though Dear One may want a spoonful of brown sugar or even maple syrup on it.  The pumpkin is there but not overpowering.  The texture is luscious and smooth.  I think this is a good recipe that I might make again.  I will add apple the next time, though, to see what difference that makes.  I think today I will throw some chopped pecans over the top and add some more ground flaxseed.

The Ugly Bug Infestation and What I Did About It

Bugs are not my favorite.  Some bugs are less favorite than others.  Arachnids, for example, are really really out there in terms of not being loved by me.  When Daughter M and Grandson J were here last week we were heading out of the apartment for someplace and M turned to me and said, "Charlotte is living in your doorway."  Those were NOT words I wanted to hear.  I have still not been able to read Charlotte's Web all the way through.  Please don't tell the grandchildren.  They think I am brave.  Well, I am not brave in the face of arachnids.  I can't even call them by their common name without cringing.

Well, we have had some other bugs here lately.  M saw a large black bug over the doorway and kindly brushed him down with the broom and off he went. I thought.

Night before last we were just going to sleep, when about to turn off the light a large black creature came whizzing into our bedroom.  AND DISAPPEARED ON MY SIDE OF THE BED!!!

Dear One kindly leaped out of bed...well, crawled out actually...and came to check. He could not find any bugs.  We knew it was not a fly and it did not move like a bee so I suspected an ugly bug.

Now, I do not know what ugly bugs actually are but they are about an inch long with a hard pointed-on-both-ends carapace and too many legs and wings.

Yesterday I came into the workroom to do some more changing audio cassette tapes into digital files.  I had just sat down at the computer when I saw that something dark moved out of the corner of my eye. Yikes!  I looked over and there was an ugly bug on the baseboard.  My heart rate accelerated magnificently. (It was good to know my heart is capable of such a thing...!) I happened to notice that I had an empty pill container near my hand on the desk so I gathered all my courage, squatted down...no small feat in itself...and managed to scoop up the ugly bug and imprison him in the medicine bottle. 

As I was writing the previous, M called.  I went into the bedroom to take the call and THERE ON THE BLINDS WAS ANOTHER ONE!!

Horrid creatures!  Here they are, all three that I have arrested, in their prison cells.  I am withholding food and drink and hope they will die soon. 

Why they are here I don't know, but they creep me out.

Please understand I am not complaining because there has been an amazing lack of unpleasant creatures for over a year.  Well, there were the ants, but like the pains of childbirth, once they have been gone for a while, it is easy to forget them.

Transfers Week--Bedding

Dear One and I are responsible for getting the right bedding to the meetinghouse where the incoming missionaries will arrive for interviews, a little training, supper, and assignment to companions and areas.

Last night Dear One and I had to purchase more sheets then went to the storage garages and loaded into our car comforters, fleece blankets, and sheets to round out the needs of the missionaries.  The trunk was already full of new Costco pillows.  Well, we only give them new bedding.

So, here are a couple of pictures of the car loaded for bear:

One of my responsibilities is to order bag suppers for the arriving missionaries and the Senior missionaries who help them get through the evening of interviews, bedding allocation, etc.  I usually purchase apples and/or other fruit and bottled water to go with their sandwich, chips, and cookie.

Here are 30 Pink Lady apples and 35 bottles of water.

We moved much of the bedding plus the water and apples to Elder and Sister J's car since Elder J will be going out to the meetinghouse early tomorrow to help with the actual parking lot transfers.  He will kindly bring in the water and put it in the refrigerator plus also put the bedding in the Relief Society Room where the arriving missionaries will pick them up.

Tonight is the Departing Dinner.  It is always a joy to help prepare for the missionaries. It is also always tough to say goodbye.  In fact, I do my best to avoid that.  Usually Dear One and I leave before the very last cleanup is done to go pick up the bedding.  That has already been done!  Tonight we need to get to the library to return a Library of Things item...since it won't work tomorrow when the item is due.

It occurs to me that this post is not very interesting.  Sorry.  I can't think what to write to make it better. This blog is meant to chronicle our missionary experiences.  Since some of it is mundane, well, what can I say more....Happy Fall to everyone!

Munchie Monday: Parkview Dutch Potato Soup

When I was at the Parkview Adventist Medical Center for their Lifestyle Choices program a few years ago we would meet together and make some food item sometimes.  What I liked absolutely the best was called Dutch Potato Soup.

We were having a  full-time Senior Missionary potluck supper at the President's home after General Conference...to get together, to eat together, and to discuss things we learned and were touched by in General Conference.  We do this at every Conference. It is such a lovely evening.  We brought this soup.  Some people enjoyed it, but it pretty lightly salted so I am always tempted to add salt and pepper to my bowl. I didn't actually eat any at the supper because there were so many other delicious foods to try. I was sure there would be some to bring home so I could eat it then.

Dutch Potato Soup  (the way I made it)

1. First thing to do:  put 1 1/2 cups raw cashews in a large measuring cup and fill with water.  Let sit while the next steps take place.

2.
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 cups chopped sweet onions
4 teaspoons coarse kosher salt

Put the above in a large skillet on medium and cook until the onion juice has been extracted and the onions are nicely translucent.  It look my skillet about ten minutes.  I stirred it frequently. When we were at Parkview they emphasized that you MUST put all the salt in with the cooking onions to extract juice and flavor...so I add that message here.

3. While the onions are cooking,  peel and thinly slice russet potatoes and press down in a measure cup to equal 8 cups of potato slices. Add 6 cups water to a large pot and carefully dump in the potatoes.  Bring to a boil then cover and turn down heat to simmer for 15-20 minutes until potatoes are soft.

4.  Add 4 teaspoons of granulated garlic to the cooked onions and stir well.  It might clump up but that will be all right. Stir well.

5. Drain the cashews through a mesh strainer then rinse well.

6.  Put 2 cups water in a high speed blender then add the cashews.  Blend on high for 1-2 minutes until a smooth cashew cream is ready.

7.  Add the cashew cream to the cooked potatoes.  Stir well and cook 1-2 minutes.  Add the onions.  Use a spatula to get  all the onion, garlic, and olive oil out of the frying pan and into the soup.  Stir well.  Serve.  It looks pretty with chopped parsley on top, even dried parsley.  We did not happen to do that at the potluck supper.

This makes enough soup for 10-12 large servings.  Dear One had seconds.

Food Friday: Treat Counter

Well, to call this food is really stretching it, but here is the story.

Sister J's daughter sent her and Elder J a box today. Inside were Halloween decorations, plus some chocolate-covered cinnamon bears from the BYU Bookstore and a Halloween checkers board with orange and black candy checkers.  We decided we should can the jelly beans and get some candy corn instead...so off I went to Winco.

This is what we now have:

It is possible that you cannot tell that the pitcher with wrapped caramels in it is a skull.  Very cute.  The covered bowl is unwrapped candy.  I am positive it will go down well.  I have it more than arms' length away from my own mouth, though.  No need for sugar on my side of the desk...not that I will be totally virtuous even though I set a new healthy goal this morning...

On the other end of the counter, right in front of me, is a bowl of vegetables plus today some fruit.  Plus you will notice an empty candy dish.  The dish was mounded up with wrapped mini chocolates this morning.  Now look at it!!  There were eight missionaries in here today.  Enough said!

On a different note: behind  my chair you will see a printer with some white paper on top of it.  I am feeling very smug this afternoon BECAUSE  for several days I have not been able to use that printer.  We were beginning to think we would need to get a new one.  This morning I decided that if it was broken anyway, I might as well try to fix it.

On YouTube I found a "Clean the Dirty Stripes Off You Printer Output"  or some such title.  Don't look for that because that is not even close to what the title was, but I put in the printer brand and type and found a 10:46 minute video on how to fix your printer.  Amazingly, I did all the steps one after the other and did not have to go to the last step which was calling in a service provider.  The printer is happily working again.  Or at least, I am happy it is working.

Vegetation Near Us, Plus Rocks

This beautiful tree lets us know that it really is fall.  Early autumn is such a beautiful time of year.  I love it.

For months now I have been meaning to take a picture for our grandchildren who love rocks.  There is a rock garden just outside our office building.  Every time I go by I smile thinking of the grandchildren who love rocks.  I mentioned to Dear One that there was one particular rock that I was sure one certain grandchild would love, and maybe we should bring it home.  He reminded me of all the signs in national parks that say not to touch or take with you anything when you leave...so I guess I will not bring a nice rock back to Vermont next summer.  It is a nice thought, though!  This picture is the best it is going to be.  Sorry, Chickadee!