PUSHING PUMPKINS FURTHER

I posted the following back in September 2015. I was amazed, almost appalled, at the proliferation of pumpkin. Though each year I do see more and more of the various types of pumpkins themselves, it's really the pushing the pumpkin spice that is sweeping the nation. The list is now much longer than the one I came up with three years ago.

I'm always astounded at the bizarre flavors that are tried out on us. Just this morning, the email from Simplemost reported that the latest flavor for candy canes is mac and cheese.  Again, why wouldya?

There’s a new ‘drug’ around: pumpkin. The pumpkin production people have raised their heads out of the pumpkin patch and decided to really push pumpkin.  No longer do we have just pumpkin pie and pumpkin bread, but everyone has followed the success of Starbucks pumpkin coffees, lattes and such. I say, “Why wouldya?”

Today is the first day of fall, and along with canned pumpkin for pies and real pumpkins for carving, on this morning’s Harris Teeter on-line flier we have from them, in alphabetical order no less -

On the Dairy page:

International Delight Pumpkin Spice Creamer

Nestles Pumpkin Spice Coffee Mate

Philadelphia Pumpkin Spice Cream Cheese

Pillsbury Grands Pumpkin Spice Rolls

Pillsbury Ready-to-Bake Pumpkin Cookies

And on the Grocery Page:

Alpine Spice Pumpkin Cider Mix (Don't mess with a good thing!)

Bigs Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Seeds

Blue Diamond Pumpkin Almonds – (I’d love to know how they did this. I

        Guess that the artificial flavors guys got in on this recipe.)

Boulder Potato Chips – Turkey Gravy and Pumpkin Flavors (really???)

Bigelow Fall Harvest Pumpkin Spice Tea Bags and Tea Cups

Clif Bars Pumpkin or Gingerbread – (well, gingerbread is o.k.)

Creative Snacks Pumpkin Granola

G.H. Cretors Pumpkin Caramel Popcorn - (pumpkin and caramel – no!)

Gevalia and Green Mountain Pumpkin K-Cups

International Delight Pumpkin Latte Mix

McCormick Pumpkin Pie Extract - (they extracted something from a Pumpkin

        Pie?  Holey Socks!)

Pioneer Pumpkin Pancake Mix - (close, but no cigar)

Salem Pumpkin Spice shortbread Cookie - (now that one I might go for)

Stonewall Kitchens Maple Pumpkin Spread – (anything from Stonewall  

         Kitchens is great, I’ve been buying their products since they first  

         started and were selling their wares in a tent at a Manchester,  

         Vermont craft fair, so this one is o.k. by me. Might be like pumpkin 
         pie on toast! Yum.)       

Terra Pumpkin Spice Chips

Pumpkin pie is one of my very, very favorite things from about late, I say late fall into the holidays. We’re still two months away from that. It’s even a bit too early to carve a pumpkin – by Halloween it will be a shriveled pile of mush.

Poor guy, can't find his dentures.

I’m always pleased that only maybe 50% of those around our Thanksgiving table like pumpkin pie because that means more for me, especially the next morning. In my estimation, pumpkin pie is the breakfast of champions.

I’m really not interested in ersatz pumpkin in mid-September, and it is amazing to me that anyone would want their potato chips or coffee to taste like pumpkin. Some of the sweeter stuff is o.k., but pumpkin almonds?

What’s next: broccoli?   (No! It's mac and cheese candy canes!)

The Curmudgeon has spoken, and I am
unanimous in this!

      

FAREWELL FLORENCE

From the map above, you can see that the Atlantic is relatively calm this week. Florence did her dirty work on the Carolinas coast, slowly headed inland, and didn’t cause much damage for us here further west. We never lost power, and right here in this part of the community we got about 4” of rain. Other neighborhoods got more – it is always that way. Many of us here in Sun City Carolina Lakes heeded the request of community management and governance, and stayed home, holed up from Thursday to Monday, though some did venture out for church. I got a lot of reading done, and my “to read” pile is no more.

Those folks on the coast really got slammed by Florence, and many will be flooded until the rain that fell in the mountains and the Piedmont makes its slow way to the sea. I just can’t imagine what I’d be doing were I in their shoes. I do suppose it’s the luck of the draw, and you just deal with what you’re dealt. A family friend and his family were burned out to the ground in the Santa Rosa fire last year. They’re still dealing with the devastation. Nowhere is safe.

HELLO FLORENCE!

We're just above  that Ssc in South Carolina - just where the state indents at Charlotte. 

I have to tell you that my husband Frank is the original Boy Scout. As soon as it looked like Florence was heading this way, he went into action. We've got all the usual things covered: batteries, flashlights, candles, even oil lamps, a bathtub full of water, umpteen bottles of drinking water (our water here tastes terrible) a gas stove (would never be without one!) and an iffy generator.

That generator is about 35 years old, and has done yeoman service. Its battery-start doesn’t work anymore, and it is a beast to use the pull rope, but it doesn’t owe us a cent. In a freak storm that dumped a foot of snow on trees still in leaf in October of 1984, it served us well for 9 days. (We did have a bit of a problem then because our well pump wasn’t properly hooked up to the power exchange on the electric panel, and we were without running water. We collected snow, while it lasted, and were grateful for it. That whole episode is a story in itself.) 

We’ve been making and saving ice cubes, and we’ve filled and frozen bottles and jugs of water. When the power goes out, and it’s almost guaranteed that it will, and if we can’t get the generator going, we’ll just hope for the best. So I may lose a bag of shrimp, a steak, and some chicken.  Mmmm…..maybe I’ll cook up a feast!

LIVING@

Well here it is Sunday, and once again I forgot to post to my blog. I've got two "canned" articles, one already posted on the Charlotte Seniors website, one for the magazine, but I've even forgotten them. (I just had to look them up in my "To Be Posted" folder to remember what they were.)

My week has been busy with a few meetings, some writing, some editing, and a lot of research for a new community council. I'm researching other "55+" communities to find out what they mean if or when they use the word "Lifestyle." That's neither here nor there, and I won't go into that part of what I found, but I did find that this community where I live, Sun City Carolina Lakes, looks to me to be one of the best such communities in the country. Last year we were nowhere to be found on the "55 Best" list. This year we  are No. 22. We're on a roll!

Another thing I'm discovering is that no other such community I researched has anywhere near the quality of magazine our group produces. Most have advertisement-heavy magazines, most being produced by management or a company that puts out such publications. They are, of course, money makers for their communities, but so what? They are all monthly, so they can't be too timely. They give a wee bit of news as to what's going on, and, every month, relist things like community management and governance information, description of all the available recreation, clubs, and activities, and, in general, are boring. 

I am very proud of our publication. It is produced by community residents. It isn't a money-maker, far from it, but so what? It isn't boring - there's a lot to enjoy in it. We are now online. If you'd like to see it, go here and look at our latest issue, September. It's the Tenth Anniversary issue of Living@Sun City Carolina Lakes, and it's a good one. 

LATE AGAIN...

…but this weekend I have no excuse, just a wonderful reason: our oldest grandchild is here from Texas with our youngest great-grandchild. Of course you know that blogging is not in the forefront of my mind. There will be ten for brunch tomorrow morning – ten, including 4½ month-old Everly. She is a charmer if there ever was one. Oooo -I could just take a bite out of her!

Our Texas bluebonnet are here!

This morning I am beginning to prepare the family favorite Sunday brunch dish, Baked French Toast Casserole. I’m doing a recipe and a half, because it goes like hotcakes. (I must say that I couldn’t get a boule this week, so I’m using two baguettes that I cut into nice chunks.)

This is an easy recipe to adapt and tailor for numbers or tastes.

Baked French Toast Casserole with Maple Syrup

                                                                  6 to 8 servings – or more!

Adapted from Paula Deen – and - 

   Adapted by Laura Lee Johnston  (a/k/a Grammy)    01/23/11              

Bottom of Form

Ingredients

• 1 loaf French bread (13 to 16 ounces)   (I used one boule)
• 8 large eggs
• 2 cup milk
• 1 cup half and half
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• Dash salt
• Praline Topping, recipe follows
• Maple syrup

Directions

Slice French bread into 20 slices, 1-inch each. (Use any extra bread for garlic toast or bread crumbs).  (LJ’s method – cut off ends of the boule, slice the rest into 1-1 ¼ “ slices. Should be 6 nice slices, then cut those in half – use the two ends for something else.  We buttered them and gobbled them up!) 

Arrange slices in a generously buttered 9 by 13-inch flat baking dish in 2 rows, overlapping the slices. (LJ’s method – arrange the 12 slices flat in the buttered or sprayed dish – or cut it all into 1” chunks.)

In a large bowl, combine the eggs, half-and-half, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and beat with a rotary beater or whisk until blended but not too bubbly.

Pour mixture over the bread slices, making sure all are covered evenly with the milk-egg mixture. Spoon some of the mixture in between the slices. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Take dish from the fridge and make the topping. Bake 1 hour until bubbly, puffed and lightly golden. Serve with maple syrup.

Praline Topping:   Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and blend well.

• 1 stick  butter, softened
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup chopped pecans   (used 1 ½ lbs. because that’s the way the pieces were packaged – who doesn’t want more pecans!)
• 1 Tbsp. flour
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup(optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg