Autumn in the Catskill Mountains.

...I cannot endure to waste anything so precious as autumnal sunshine by staying in the house. So I have spent almost all the daylight hours in the open air.

~Nathaniel Hawthorne, 10th October 1842

All of the photos were taken this morning in Delaware County, NY.

Wise Words From Thomas Merton

“If you want to identify me, ask me not where I live, or what I like to eat, or how I comb my hair, but ask me what I am living for, in detail, ask me what I think is keeping me from living fully for the thing I want to live for.” ― Thomas Merton

I was recently inspired to paint inspirational quotes that are meaninful to me. I have decided to put the paintings with quotes in my Etsy Shop. This one is acrylic paint on paper. The painting measures 20" by 14". If you are interested in this piece, it will be in my Etsy shop .KMORONEYART

Making Pumpkin Puree with "Rouge Vif d'etampes" Pumpkins

What a Gorgeous Pumpkin!

I received some beautiful french heirloom pumpkin seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co.

And here is the result!



"Rouge Vif d'etampes"



I decided to make pureed pumpkin for cooking and baking this fall with one of the pumpkins. Here is how to make the homemade pumpkin puree.

1. Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees.
2. Line a sheet pan with foil.
3. Cut your pumpkin up into wedges, remove the seed parts and lay the wedges of pumpkin skin side down, on the sheet pan.
4. Bake the pumpkin for 1 hour at 400 degrees.
5. Remove the pumpkin from the oven and allow it to cool.
6. Remove the skin of the pumpkin and process all the pumpkin in a food processer.

It will look like this:

I then carefully packed my puree in quart sized freezer bags (2 cups per bag) and froze them. I flatten my bags so that I can stack them, to save space in my freezer like so:

So what is my favorite pumpkin recipe? It is this one "Libby's Pumpkin Cranberry Bread". Try it, you will not be disappointed!!!