When did I become a dog person?

Gracie LOVES to go to the beach

No, it's not a cigar!

Strike a pose

Bailey, our foster dog.

Our original, The one and only Cinnamon

One of These Things .....

One of these things is not like the other

One of these things just doesn't belong

Can you tell which one we're keeping at the farm

Before you finish reading this blog?

Sign made by The Lovey using a salvaged redwood plank from an old (and rotten) portion of the deck.

Making Preparations

In this time of slow growing winter crop and healing of injury, we are making slow moves to organize ourselves: in our heads, on the farm, in preparation for next year. The Lovey and I have created a farm blog. From this point on, all farm related topics will be posted on this site. That is, unless you all revolt like the Netflix customers. If that's the case, then we'll have a second think about our strategy.

In the meantime, here's the beginning of pumpkin pie:

7 pounds, 12 ounces of Sugar Pie Pumpkin. After processing, we have 3 pounds 3  ounces of pulp.
Perfect for 3 pumpkin pies.      

She Said' Yes'!

Congratulations to Number One Son and the Love of his Life!!!! So Excited for you both and thrilled that our son chose such a great woman to share his life with! YAY!

Not all Winter Squash are the Same

So, when we last left our heros, we were trying to guess how much puree can be made from a 15 lb, 2 oz pumpkin. Cinderella pumpkin. Before I give you that answer, let me introduce you to two other pumpkins that were grown on Seven Cats Farm

Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present The Valenciano Pumpkin:

This is how it is described in seed catalogs:

"These creamy, white-skinned beauties are about 8-10 lbs in size, round and slightly flattened in shape. Vigorous vines bear uniform fruit with nice thick handles. A unique specialty pumpkin can be both eaten and used ornamentally. Flesh is high quality, dense and sweet. Not as rugged as orange pumpkins, harvest right away and keep protected for best quality off the vine."

This pumpkin weighed 8 pounds, 2 ounces when harvested. I was surprised at the yellowness of it's flesh when I cut into it. Not what I expected from a pumpkin. Sadly I made soup with this right after I roasted it, so I don't know the puree weight. The soup was squash-y tasting. Exactly what I was looking for.

The next winter squash I would like to introduce you to is called Sweet Meat.

Again, as described in seed catalogs:
"Vigorous and spreading, this amazing tasting squash can top 10 pounds or more. Sweet meat squash is soft grey-green to deep green on the outside, the sweet, fine-grained orange flesh is an amazing keeper and great for pies! Excellent grower in our cool California coastal climate. 

Sweet meat makes a great addition to any meal.  Taste almost like a sweet potato.  We have even cut up chunks, put butter on them and popped them on the grill in some tin foil.  YUM!!"

This was harvested weighing 9.3 pounds. Okay, It's AWESOME! It's name really captures what this squash is. I made puree out of this one (2 lb, 3 oz or roughly 25% of it's original weight) and then made pumpkin lasagna. Yum yum. 

So - the answer to the original question? My 15 pound, 2 ounce Cinderella Pumpkin, after being cooked, pureed and hung to drip dry, weighed 3 pounds, 3 ounce, or right around 20% of it's total weight. Who was close?

How much puree will this pumpkin make?

It seems like every recipe I find that calls for Pumpkin Puree list the amount as 'one 15 ounce can'. Very rarely do I find puree measured in cups. I have a zillion pumpkins that were grown to be eaten! Here's how I make puree. How many 15 ounce cans do you think are in this pumpkin?

15 pound, 2 ounce Cinderella Pumpkin

Here it is, cut in half so you can see the size of the seed cavity

I scraped out the seeds and cut it into quarters

Put it in a pan, flesh side down and added a little water so it would not burn. Next time I think I'll cook it skin side down. I want to bring out the sweetness by roasting instead of steaming. 

Cook it at 350 or 400 degrees until done.

Scrape the pumpkin out of the shell, put it in a food processor and process, process, process.
I had to do this in batches.

Put the puree in a cheesecloth lined strainer to drain the liquid out of the puree. You want a dense mush instead of a watered down mush.

See the liquid coming out? Lots of liquid.

Finally, hang the cheesecloth to get the last bit of the liquid out. It's quite amazing to see the amount that is still in there at this point. 

Okay - so, how much do you think this ball of pumpkin puree weighs? Remember, it was originally a 15 lb, 2 oz beauty. Leave your guesses in the comments section. In the next post, I'll tell you the answer!

I know, I know

We post a lot of sunset photos, but really - it's kinda crazy the gorgeous sunsets we get here. Can't beat it.  And this is not photo shopped. It's what's really out there. Gorgeous.