Pumpkin Recipes

Amy bought me a pumpkin!

You have no idea how excited this makes me, having grown up in Circleville, home of the Pumpkin Show, where no part of the pumpkin is wasted.

So as I was gutting the pumpkin this morning, Papa Cam asked me what I thought I was doing.

"I am gutting a Pumpkin."
\
"I see that, but WHY?"

"I'm going to make chili-lime pumpkin seeds, pumpkin burgers, and chocolate-pumpkin pudding."

"Wow, that's ambitious."


So here are my recipes. This is the first time I have made these recipes the way they appear here - inspired by recipes from my childhood they are my own inventions.

Chili-Lime Pumpkin Seeds

You need:

Chili powder
Pumpkin Seeds from one large pumpkin
Juice of One Lime
Olive oil or grapeseed oil (about a tablespoon)

Wash and dry the pumpkin seeds. Put them in a bowl with the oil. Sprinkle on chili powder to taste (I like things on the spicy side and used about a tablespoon, but I also had TONS of seeds - about 3 cups of seeds. So about a teaspoon of chili powder per cup of seeds?) add the lime juice. Mix well. Spread on a baking sheet (I line mine with parchment paper) and bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.



Pumpkin Burgers

Despite being called a burger, these are traditionally made similarly to sloppy joes.

You will need:

1 to 1 1/2 pounds of ground beef
1/2 cup of pumpkin puree
salt and pepper
1/2 teaspoon each cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves
1 can of condensed tomato soup

Brown the beef. Add in the pumpkin puree and spices, cook until warmed through. Add the tomato soup and cook until thickened. Serve on toasted buns with fries.


Chocolate-Pumpkin Pudding

This is an American-style pudding, not a British pudding.

1 cup sugar 
1/2 cup baking cocoa 
1/2 teaspoon salt 
4 cups milk 
2 tablespoons butter 
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 teaspoon each of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves

In a heavy saucepan, combine sugar, cocoa, spices, and salt. gradually add milk. Bring to a boil over medium heat; boil and stir for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat; stir in butter, pumpkin, and vanilla. Mix well. Spoon into individual serving dishes. Chill.

This weekend according to Mallow

Friday:

Amy took Papa Cam and me to a hockey game. It was Victoria vs. Powell River. It was a very eventful game! Here are the highlights of the evening:

- I got my foot stuck climbing over a seat and badly bruised my ankle.
-I saw my first hockey fight. Amy says I am a real Canadian now.
- Amy and I both won bags of food from Fairway Market
- The Victoria Grizzlies scored the winning goal with 0.6 second left in the game!


Saturday:

Fairly uneventful. It was Mum Lily's birthday so we went out to dinner. As usual I ate very little, but it was good food. Back at home Amy and I watched Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. It was a good fun movie.


Sunday:

Amy and I went bowling with Alan and Kate. It was lots of fun, but very, very tiring. I think I've lost more weight because my pants kept trying to fall down, and Amy won the game.




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On my mind right now:

1. Do people really think that it's comforting, when you tell them you may have leukemia, to tell you about someone they knew who died of it? When this was all starting out, a friend of ours told me about a girl she knew in grade 3 who died of leukemia despite 3 bone marrow transplants. That instills all kinds of hope, doesn't it?!

2. When I was in grade 5, there was a grade 4 girl who had cancer. I saw her at school once, wearing her bald head bravely. I wonder what happened to her, and where she is now.

3. I miss having the energy to do beadwork. Nowadays it seems like even trying to come up with new ideas for pieces takes too much energy out of me.

4. Chocolate covered cranberries are delicious.

Some good news

Yesterday my wig came in. It looks all right, not too much like doll hair (which I was worried about). It fits snug over my hair, and is adjustable so when I lose my hair, I can tighten it, which is good.

Today I called my new hematologist, and when they called me back about an hour and a half later or so, the receptionist pulled some strings for me and got me in on the 25th of this month. That's only two weeks away! I'm so glad to be one step closer to beating this thing, whatever it turns out to be.

Right now I am sitting in the library next to Amy, who is busy doing her Japanese homework. She's having trouble memorizing Hiragana, and I can't blame her. She has to have it all memorized by the end of the week! All 40 characters, how to pronounce them, AND how to write them. I couldn't do that.

Cabbit continues to be a little Nurse Kitty. He is very loving and cuddly and always there with a headbonk when I'm feeling bad.

Amy and I have decided we are going to make Hiragana flash cards for her to study with.

I've just put a hold on My Sister's Keeper, which I've been wanting to read for a while now. I've heard it's really good.

Anyway, I'm going to start on that reading list I promised in an earlier post. I will update again soon!

Red High Tops

Today has been a good day so far. Last night Amy and I started watching Star Trek Enterprise because we want to watch the entire Star Trek timeline from beginning to end, chronologically rather than in the order of release. I enjoyed spending the time with her, just laying in the bed watching some Science Fiction. I say I have finally converted Amy to the dark side, she insists she did it herself. But I think if we had not met, Amy would not have become such the science fiction lover she is now.

I also accompanied Amy on the paper route. I didn't actually do any walking or paper delivery, but being with Amy as she drove from route to route, just talking, was fun, and I got to do some thinking and meditation while I waited in the car while she delivered the papers.

After all that, we slept for a few hours. Around 1:30 or 2:00 thereabouts, both of us got up and we made plans for the day. Amy had class (she should be home soon) but after that, we are going to go to the library together. I have some books on hold to pick up as well as several I am finished with that need to go back. (If I don't keep everything in one place and return it as soon as I finish, it gets lost.)

I feel nice today. I took a long warm bath, and when I got dressed I decided I was going to wear something pretty. I have a red blouse on over a black skirt, with my red crinoline underneath it all. And on my feet, what else but my red high top Chuck Taylors? It may not be fashionable, but who cares? I like dressing this way every now and then. It makes me feel feminine and pretty, which can be a hard feeling to grasp when you've been sick.

My wig shipped today, it should arrive around the middle of next week. I hope it's a nice one. It was pretty in the picture, but there's always a worry when you buy online.

I wonder how my family will handle it if I get the diagnosis of leukemia. I am pretty OK with it, it makes sense to me and I am relieved to think that it's something relatively fixable. But Amy still has a hard time with it all and I never really know what her parents are thinking. I also don't talk to my own parents as much as I should, but I've never been one to talk when I don't have anything to say. There's no news to speak of yet, and all my thoughts tend to go here or on Facebook unless they are REALLY personal. I wish I could just read everyone's minds when I want to. Just ask and get an honest, unbiased opinion of how they think of me and my situation...sigh.

I am currently fairly sure it is leukemia. The doctor at the clinic seems to be, as well. I really hope I can be sedated for the bone marrow biopsy, if not completely knocked out...

Currently that's the biggest worry on my mind after how the family will handle it. That damn biopsy. It looks painful, and everyone I've talked to says it is. VERY painful in fact. I wish there was another way to diagnose this thing accurately. I don't want to have the biopsy but I know it is necessary. But I don't handle pain as well as I used to. I think it's because I have so much other pain, everything added on top is just another step towards sensory overload. Bleh.

The Cymbalta is already helping with pain though. My ankles and back are doing much better, Knees hips and shoulders still hurt, but I'll give it time. These things can take a while.

I wonder if I should have this blog made into a book after it's all over? There isn't much out there dealing with young adults and cancer, and I was told by someone else who's been exactly where I am now, that leukemia is one of the hardest cancers of all for people to understand. I think it might help someone to know that they are not alone.

Which reminds me, there's this awesome organisation called I'm Too Young For This. Their website is www.stupidcancer.com and they deal specifically with young adults dealing with cancer. They do a lot of advocacy work as well as having an online support group type of thing. Check them out if you have a chance! I also plan to write up a reading list of the books and websites that help me the most while I continue to do research on this thing.

Anyway, Amy just walked in the door, so I will end this post for now!