Pumpkin Pudding

We love pumpkin pie but I am lazy and don't always like fussing with pie crust.  Besides its the filling I like so why not make Pumpkin Pudding instead.  I found a recipe for Impossible Pumpkin Pie in Betty Crocker's Creative Recipes with Bisquick and adapted it for my pudding.

We grow our own pumpkin so I use my homemade pumpkin that I freeze in 750 gram yogurt containers.

Ingredients
3/4 c sugar
1/2 c bisquick
2 Tbsp butter or marg
1 large can evaporated milk (13 oz)
2 eggs
1 container pumpkin (If you use store bought 1 16 oz can)
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice
2 tsp vanilla

Grease your crockpot and get out your blender.  Drop two eggs into the blender.

 Add sugar and bisquick.

 Measure in spices.  Drop in softened butter or marg.

Add milk, vanilla and pumpkin.  Since I use more pumpkin than the original recipe calls for my blender won't hold all the ingredients.  So I hold back some of the pumpkin and some of the milk.

Blend until ingredients are mixed and smooth - for about 1 to 2 minutes.

Pour into greased crockpot.

I then blend together the remaining pumpkin and milk.

I add this to the crockpot and stir together.

Cook on high for 4 to 5 hours until a knife inserted into the centre comes out clean.  Somebody got to the pudding before I could get a photo of it.

Serve warm or cold, entirely your preference. 

Serve plain, with ice cream, whipping cream or with cream as shown below.  Enjoy!

Lulu at the Spa

Lulu likes to dust bath like any other chicken.  The other girls have their baths on sunny days in the winter in the bare dirt under the trees in their run.  That is one of the few places in the yard where the ground doesn't get covered with snow and gets warmed enough by the sun for them to bath.

I tried to let Lulu have a quick bath in their dust hole but there were too many of them to try to keep them from pecking her and chasing her away.  It didn't help matters that Lulu thinks she is invincible and makes a certain sound that usually starts a fight.  She often makes this sound when she is outside their run and usually one of the girls takes her up on her challenge and they try to fight through the fence.

So when I read that chickens like to dust bath in wood ashes, I made Lulu her only little Spa.



I bought a fairly large storage bin and set it in the basement on an old piece of lino.

I added several inches of cold ashes from our wood stove.

Every few days, we take Lulu downstairs and set her in her box.

Sometimes Lulu just lays there and picks at some of the charcoal bits.

Other times she has a full out dust bath.

She pecks at the ashes and pushes them around until she has made herself a hollow just the right shape and size.

She starts to kick with her feet and wiggle her body in the dust.  Every once in the while a big puff of ash flies in the air.

She sometimes twists her head and neck around so it gets rubbed in the dust as well.  She gets a good workout at the spa stretching and working all her muscles.

By the time she is finished, she is covered with ashes and very content.  At this point, I often take her outside for a quick shake.

Lulu then grooms herself and is all soft and shiny again.

Banana Cake Bakeoff

One of the local grocers gives away their over-ripe bananas.  Several times, I've been lucky enough to be there when that happens and have used them to make yummy things.

Today I had a hankering for banana cake and thought back to the days of the snack cake mixes we used to buy.  Easy, peasy - throw it in a pan with water, stir, bake and eat.  I went online to look for something quick and easy.  I found several and decided to make them both so I could compare. Plus as a bonus, lots of cake left over to freeze for another day.

Here are my results.

Banana Snack Cake #1
The first was slightly adapted from Group Recipes  http://www.grouprecipes.com/58775/banana-snack-cake.html  .  My changes are in italics.

Ingredients
1/2 cup shortening (I used marg.)
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (2-3 medium)
1 tsp vanilla 
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt (I omitted the salt)
1/2 cup buttermilk (I used 1 Tbsp vinegar in 1/2 cup of milk)
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used 1 cup walnuts)

In a mixing bowl, cream shortening and sugars.

Add eggs beating well.  Beat in bananas and vanilla.

Combine flour and baking soda and add to the creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk. Stir in nuts.

Pour into a greased 13x9x2-in. baking pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

The online recipe also contained a frosting recipe which I didn't use.

Banana Snack Cake #2
This recipe was adapted slightly from All Recipes http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/banana-snack-cake/Detail.aspx .  My changes are in italics.

Ingredients

1 cup white sugar

1 cup butter (I used marg.)

2 eggs

1/2 cup buttermilk (I used 1 Tbsp vinegar in 1/2 cup milk)

1 cup mashed bananas

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

1 cup quick cooking oats

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt (I omitted the salt)

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup flaked coconut

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan. In a medium bowl, mix flour, oats, baking soda and salt together and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then add eggs.

Mix in buttermilk, bananas and vanilla.

Add flour mixture and mix well.

Finally, fold in the nuts, coconut and 1 cup of the chocolate chips.

Pour batter into a 9x13 inch pan. Sprinkle top with remaining 1 cup of chocolate chips.

Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

The results?  Both cakes were moist and tasty and I would make either on again.

The first one was more basic with only the nuts added but the banana flavour was strongest.  I would possibly add 1 cup chocolate chips next time since chocolate and bananas go together so nicely.

The second recipe was chewier in texture because of the oatmeal.  I think next time I would omit the coconut and the cup of chocolate chips sprinkled on top.

So the final verdict is ALL IS GOOD!  ;)

Snow Poem and Photos

World of White

When I woke up this morning
My world was layered in white

So cold it was and very still
Snow had fallen through the night

 

No birds chirped a good morning
The bugs were hidden away



Instead was this harsh cold
I felt as though it would stay



 I could barely see my lawn chair
For white had settled so thick  

 

I wished I had seen it fall
This snow as it began to stick

 
The trees and bushes were
A fresh and lovely sight



Snow decorated the branches
Making winter look just right



We must enjoy the changes
So lovely and cold and bright



It will not last for long
This wonderful world of white!

poem by Marilyn Lott

All photos taken near Edmonton, Alberta.

Weird Eggs

Every once in the while, one of the girls decides to show some individuality and creativity and leave us a unique looking egg.  Don't you love it when you're chickens get artistic!  ;)

The first one was rounder than usual and covered with chocolate coloured freckles.

  

The next offering was almost looked like is was textured in white Spackle like you use on the ceiling or when you texture a wall.

The third artistic egg was done in a patchwork design.  It looked cracked but was sturdy and hard.

 The last egg is the hands down (or should I say wings down) winner in individuality.

The shell was not completely finished and a tube-like structure protruded from the end.

The whitish area you see had a rubbery feel to it.

The next day the white tube had been sucked into the egg and all you saw was a rubbery indent in the one end.  Unfortunately, I did not get a picture of it. :(