How to can pumpkin

First, select the proper shoes.

Personally I like these ones, they really help me reach the high shelves and look great!

Next, choose the largest, dirtiest nicest pumpkin you can. Wash it up a bit, stand back and admire your selection. I have no less than nine orbs to choose from, I will be busy.

Find the dullest sharpest knife or hacksaw in the drawer and go to town slicing this baby up. A normal pie pumpkin needs only to be halved. I only grow monsters around here.
BTW, this is a Rouge Vif d' Etampes, a French heirloom pie pumpkin.

Scoop out the seeds and pulp, plop into the steamer. You don't have a steamer? Invent one, I also hear microwaves work, we don't have one here at rancho cheapo.

Be sure to add the appropriate amount of water, don't want to scorch your pumpkin now do you? Steam for about 15 minutes more or less, depending on amount of flesh you have crammed into the pot. In the meantime, wash and prepare your jars.

Once pumpkin is steamed, skin, chop and create a huge mess. Way fun! Don't forget to keep the ice-water handy, freshly steamed pumpkin is hot! Who would have thought?

Place chunks in clean, prepared canning jars, pop into the canner and start waiting.........................
allow to vent............................
start timing.................................
maybe I should buff my nails.
If your new to pressure canning try this link for more info.

Times up! Pressure down, carefully open the giant steamy vat away from your face. I hear steam can really burn and it so does not do good things for your eyeliner. Using jar tongs, place jars on towel and allow to cool completely. Stand back, admire your beautiful new jars of fresh pumpkin, sigh and start all over. Why on earth did I plant so many of these?

I want.....Very badly!

Can you believe they are giving these away? I first saw these some time ago on another blog and thought they were cute but out of my budget. Imagine my delight at finding out they are having weekly giveaways! Oh! pick me, pick me!

Click the picture for more info:)

Wordless Wednesday - Say Cheese!

Wordless Wednesday - Around the Farm

Quick Change

I picked up these chairs at a yard sale for $3/each last weekend. I'm always looking for cheap, sturdy chairs since we entertain often and always run out of seats. While they looked fine just the way they were, I wanted something lighter to help brighten up our dark living room.


Ta Da! Several coats of white spray paint later, my new chairs look much brighter. I was so happy with this project that I started spray painting all kinds of things. I think it's my new love:)

Now if I could just do something about that hideous wall behind them.....

Lazy Sunday

What's a trip to the beach without burying someone in the sand?

Yesterday we spent a lazy day on the beach with some of my extended family. I invited three family members and their kids, then several more of my siblings and relations showed up. I must be so awesome, all these people want to come hang with me. lol

Hope your all having a fun summer!

Terrible Toddlers

Dolly/AKA 'The Beast' doing a timeout.

Pudge/AKA 'Beast Sidekick'

Once upon a time I had three toddlers and a nervous breakdown.
The toddlers got older and less toddler-like, my sanity returned and all was good.
Then my husband and I acquired rose colored glasses and began to miss having a baby in the house.
So we had Louise, and she was cute and cuddly and we spoiled her terribly.
Then we had Xavier, and he was cute and precious and we spoiled him terribly.
Then they began to grow, walk, talk and climb.

Cereal now sticks to my feet no matter how many times I sweep, I still manage to miss some or they find another box to get into.

Nothing is off limits, not even if I have to use a ladder to hide it. I miss my evening chocolate.

DVD's make wonderful Frisbee's, coasters and cymbals. We used to have a nice collection of things to watch.

Laundry never ends, never! The Beast feels the need to change at least 4 times/day no matter where she is.

Earplugs would be awesome, but dangerous after all.

Bedding is never clean, in fact it may be why the laundry never ends. Today it is covered in chocolate hand prints. Awesome!

Outside toys keep coming in and inside toys keep going out, along with clothing, paper, bottles, etc. I almost had a nice yard there for awhile.

Books are no longer for reading, they are for stacking, throwing, tearing or turning into step stools.

A good nights rest, what's that like again?

Flies love toddlers, they flock to them while outdoors knowing the toddler will soon open the door to the palace where they might find a frazzled Mom to annoy endlessly.

I used to have small collections of things I loved, now I have a rather bare, austere decor. Seriously, people look around in confusion when they first arrive. "Are you moving soon?"

And no matter how many times it gets cleaned, the bathroom is a scary place. Sometimes I think I'd rather just go outside, at least I might get some privacy.

Fortunately they do outgrow this stage, I know they do, I'm almost sure they do. Right?

Wordless Wednesday by Danny

Louise's point of view

Midnight Laundry

Why am I hanging out clothes late at night? Summer finally showed up and it's hot! I wanted the heat, my garden needed the heat, but after being spoiled by such a lovely season of weather thus far I feel like melting every time I step outside.

What's a girl to do with the laundry needing done no matter what the weather feels like? Wait 'til the sun goes down:) So what's so good about midnight laundry sessions? Huge starry backdrop, cool summer air, slight dewy feel and incredibly soft laundry. Really, it's almost like the dryer with downy, but no hot dryer sucking up electricity.(Good thing too since I evicted the dryer some time ago) Line drying laundry overnight is the best, just watch that forecast and plan for some surprise summer showers, no biggie, just leave them out longer. Summer rain is also a great clothing softener:)

Mmmm....Sweet corn:)

Inspection of the corn patch this morning revieled coon damage. Several ears had been eaten and stalks broken, uprooted and shredded. Time to get the trap out! In the meantime we harvested all the ripe ears we could find, there are still tons not quite ready. I sincerely hope we catch our pest soon, we have all been looking forward to this sweet summer treat all season long. It would be a shame to lose it right before it's ready to eat.


Nothing goes to waste around here, plenty of shucks and stalks for the goats, rabbits and chickens.


Even the dogs love sweet corn!

Trifurcated Carrots

We grow some strange looking veggies around here. Pulling up carrots is kind of like digging up buried treasure, sometimes you find a real surprise. This is by far my favorite one of the season.

Tent Trash, or Where not to camp!

Ever make the mistake of camping in the wrong place? We have many times and our latest trip was no exception.

Jesse and I got together with my brother and his family for a weekend getaway. We couldn't go too far since I have no one to do my chores. The plan was to find a place somewhat close so that I could come home and take care of chores in the mornings. After looking and finding every place we wanted booked up we started looking at campgrounds we don't normally consider. Our family is a happy-go-lucky bunch and we love to just set up camp and chill. We don't get into the whole itinerary thing or go places that want you involved. After much searching, we thought we found a campground that looked like it had everything we needed, swimming, playgrounds, reasonable rates, close enough for chores but not too close.

I had an inkling there might be trouble ahead as soon as we went in to register. When I called, there was no mention of family size or certain rules and restrictions and I had read nothing alarming on their website. Imagine my surprise when we were told family size was 2 adults and 2 children, all extra children were $4/day. Uhmmm...I have 5 children and my brother has 4, do the math. Thankfully children 3 and under were free, too bad they all couldn't pass for toddlers. Then we went to set up tents and found the place was clearly designed for rv's only with no consideration for tent families. They had tent sites, but they were gravel sites. Ever try tent camping on gravel? Oooh you so must try it once, just to be sure you get a well rounded education on camping.

It was chill time and we made the best of things, settled down and let the kids get out to play. Then came the gestapo. Yep, there were certain rules and it was clear we were going to be breaking some. Nine children riding bikes after dusk, nasty lecture from camp security. I never did find that rule posted anywhere and it certainly didn't apply to the constant golf cart traffic. Nine children playing at the beach, nasty lecture for digging in the beach sand. Somewhat odd, but we get it, no sand castles. Camp matrons that felt they needed to correct nine children whenever they dared have any fun, apparently teenagers should not be watching younger children, moms only. As an added bonus we got to listen to plenty of noise well into the night despite the quiet hours rule. Apparently we were the only ones that had to obey that one.

Fortunately we didn't let much of it get to us, we relaxed and laughed it off. We finally decided we were just in the wrong place. Some places just don't like tent campers/AKA tent trash, lesson learned. From now on it's back to the national and state forests for us, spacious campsites and building castles in the sand is perfectly acceptable.