Halloween Playdough

Liam's teacher asked me to make some "fun Halloween play dough" for his kindergarten class.  A little bit of thinking and a trip to the dollar store and we created some orange glitter play dough filled with plastic ants, flies and spiders. 

Liam is very excited to take the "bug dough" to school tomorrow. And I can't wait to hear all about it. 

Play Dough

2 cups flour

2 cups water

1 cup salt 

2 tbsp oil 

1tbsp cream of tartar

Food Colouring

Mix all ingredients together in large pot. Heat on medium until dough forms. Turn out on floured counter. Dough will be sticky. Knead in extra flour until it is the right consistency.  Finally knead in the fun stuff ... Glitter and bugs!  (Or whatever you creative mind can come up with!) 

From Pumpkin Patch to Pumpkin Pie

Our journey from Pumpkin Patch to Pumpkin Pie started a couple of weeks ago.  On a sunny Saturday morning, we went to Miller's Farm in Manotick in search of pumpkins.

We took the wagon to the pumpkin patch to look for the perfect pumpkin.

Although there were lots of great pumpkins in the field, all of the REALLY big ones were already at the store area and we wanted a REALLY big pumpkin!  We came home with a 40 pound pumpkin.

Then it was time to get that pumpkin cleaned out and turned into a Jack-O-Lantern for Halloween.  Once all the guts were removed, it was carved into a scary face, as per Liam's instructions.

As is the case with all good Jack-O-Lanterns, when Halloween is over, so is their life.

 The 40 pound pumpkin turned Jack-O-Lantern was destine to be cut into pieces ...

 ... put in a 350 degree oven ...

... and baked for an hour.

 As if that wasn't enough torture for  poor Jack, he was then peel and chopped into smaller pieces ...

 ... tossed in the food processor ...

... and made in to puree.

And that my friends, is what we used to make a lovely pumpkin pie for dessert!
(And A LOT left over to go in the freezer for future pumpkin goodies!)

Pumpkin Pie Filling

1 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

1 cup milk

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

Mix all ingredients together and bake at 375 F for 50 minutes.

For a large deep dish pie, double recipe.

Memo: The Maple Tree In My Yard

Dear Mr. Maple Tree:

Somewhere along the way, you seem to have become confused.  It is only August.  It is still summer.  You are not supposed to change colour in the summer, you are supposed to change colour in the FALL. Fall does not begin until September 22nd, 2010.  There is no need for your leaves to be orange yet.  

I know that you feel that you are your most attractive when your leaves turn red and orange however, you need to be more patient and wait until the appropriate time to put on your bright colours.   Summer is short enough as it is, no one wants you changing colours early to give the illusion that fall is here.

I urge you to do the right thing for everyone.  Stay green for a little while longer.  We will all enjoy your bright colours when the time is right, but for now, you are only going to be badmouthed, yelled at and complained about if you continue to push us closer and closer to fall.

Please share this request with any other trees in the area who, like you are trying to rush into fall a month early.  We need to work together to keep summer around for as long as possible.

Thank you for your cooperation,

Nicki

Property Manager