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Trick or Treat night is almost here
I need to buy more candy this week I don’t have near enough for the hordes. Thursday I’ll make a big pan of lasagna (in my brand new pan gifted to me by a very dear friend.) Then on Friday night, all I’ll have to do is heat it up after the children have finished. It saves me time.
I supply the garlic bread. G is bringing over a pumpkin swirl cheesecake that is to die for and I have a weakness for cheesecakes. The pumpkin swirl is one of her best. I know this because whenever she makes a cheesecake she brings me samples.
While the lasagna is cooking Thursday night, I might carve a pumpkin or two if I can the size I like. I haven’t seen many good ones yet. Most of them are too short, too small, or too thin. Yes, I’m picky.
Friday G and I will spend the day decorating the porch—a haunted house theme this year. We’ll get our exercise going up two flights of stairs to the attic to haul all the decorations down. It’s going to take several trips.
Doggoned Green Tomato Pie
Doggoned Green Tomato Pie
3 ½ c. peeled and sliced green tomatoes
¼ to ½ cup of golden raisins (optional)
3 tbsp. butter or margarine
6 tbsp. lemon juice
1 c. sugar
¼ C lt. brown sugar
3 tbsp. flour
¼ tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. nutmeg
¼ tsp. cloves
1 tsp instant tapioca
Sauté the tomatoes in the butter and lemon juice until just tender. Combine tomatoes with sugar, flour, salt, tapioca, and spices. Line 9″ pie pan with pastry, pour in filling, and cover with top crust. Snip a couple of vent holes in top crust. Bake at 450 degrees 10 minutes then reduce to 350 degrees and bake until crust is brown–approximately 35-40 minutes.
Green tomatoes are good in everything…right?
My potted vegetable garden
I love green tomatoes. I’ve picked them early to fry them when I couldn’t wait for the first frost warning. I’ve mooched them from neighbors on years I didn’t grow any. Last year I planted two tomato plants in a pot, this year I tripled that because last year I had no green tomatoes at the end of the season.
I harvested all the green tomatoes left on my vines before we had frost this past week. Now I have a basket full of them. We’ve had them fried, made into chutney, green tomato salsa, and diced and sautéed with the onions in a chicken liver curry. Remember, DH is on a soft diet. (Nevertheless, the curry was very good!) Now I am dredging up all the green tomato recipes in my files.
I think tomorrow, I’ll make green tomato pie but that only takes three and half cups. Maybe more chutney is in order to use up what I’ll have left. I could dice some into the chili I plan to make on Friday. I bet that would be good. Hmm, there’s that recipe I saw for green tomato bread—that’s it, next year I’m planting more tomatoes.
Things have a habit of disappearing
Now that the temperature is on the rise, I’m more in the mood to start putting up my porch decorations. I will only put up black garland with orange lights and a few other strings of Halloween inspired lights. The major portion of decorations won’t go up until the day of the 30th, which, for our town, is Trick, or Treat night this year. They come down as soon as the pumpkin strikes eight. They then become the party décor in the house for the rest of the night.
If I lived in an area, where ripping people off wasn’t a blood sport, I would lavishly decorate on October the 1st. However, I don’t. Things have a habit of disappearing and not in a ghostly way. Only the cheap stuff goes out before Trick or Treat night.
Where’s Waldo Owl?
There's Waldo!
Back in my post ’43 Days to Halloween,’ I wrote about the rubber owl I’d bought. I named him Waldo. Waldo has become a fixture in the house and an unending source of amusement. Dear Hubby and I keep moving him. I don’t think Waldo will be consigned to a box in the attic after Halloween. We’re having too much fun.
It’s amazing how many places we’ve found to put him. We’ve become quite creative. It took DH a while to find him when I stuck him in the glass fronted (stereo rack system) cabinet. (We keep our DVD player in there now.) For the many days, that Waldo stared out at DH from there, DH didn’t find him. G did—yes, she’s also enjoying the game. It took DH a week to locate Waldo.
Now I have to move him again—I’m thinking that inside the fridge might be fun. I haven’t put Waldo in there yet. Of course, that’s only if DH doesn’t move Waldo first.
Doggonedmysteries 