Pies and Soup and Cakes oh my!

Nov 6th, 2009

by Dan.

It seems that the Halloween pumpkin Evan and I carved has somehow contracted Single Parent Dad’s hideous body wasting disease. I think it must have happened when we took it down to his house last week. I think I may even been able to pinpoint the exact moment of infection:

Thankfully I’m not worried about the health of any of the Hughes family as the disease is only transferred from vegetable to vegetable.

But this pumpkin is certainly rotting at quite an extraordinary rate, far faster than Amy’s one. Even renowned pumpkin expert Professor Beryl Chicken says it’s beyond hope:

“I’m sorry, but I think this pumpkin’s clucked”

I’ve still got three healthy and uncarved pumpkins sitting out in the front garden however. I did have four but I used one on Monday to make a pie and some soup.

I was particularly pleased with the pie (made from a recipe very kindly sent me by DJ Kirkby). I even made the pastry from scratch and everything. Of course it took me about six hours in total to do it, and when I’d finished the only person who actually liked it was me (Kerry and the kids not being too keen on cinnamon). But I enjoyed myself and that’s the main thing. Plus I got a thrill out of the fact that both the pumpkin and the eggs I used were purely the product of Old McHughes farm. Tom Good has nothing on me.

On the other hand he soup was ok, but nothing special. I think it suffered from the fact that the variety of pumpkin I planted is intended for carving rather than cooking – the bigger ones are less tasty apparently. Again I was the only member of the family who was willing to eat it, but even then I ended up throwing half of it away. Don’t feel too sorry for me though as that’s the outcome of much of my “cooking” efforts so I’m very much used to it.

My next culinary project is going to be a Christmas cake, something else that I’m the only one who’ll eat (my family are both picky and weird). I put a call out on twitter for recipes and got a gratifying number of replies. I think I’m going to go for the one given me by Jane from Nine Long Months; mainly because it’s one handed down to her from her mother and I like the provenance that goes with that.

However, judging by the fact it took me so long to make the pumpkin pie, I think I’m going to have to clear a full week in my calendar for the cake. Maybe it’d be wise to aim for next Christmas rather than this so as to avoid disappointment.

Bookmark It

Who am I?

My name's Dan and I live near Huddersfield in the North of England. I’m a 34 years old part time stay at home dad. For three days a week I'm also a community mental health nurse but you won’t find me blogging about that here. I’m married to Kerry and we have two children - Amy (6) and Evan (3). I keep chickens, grow veg, and take the occasional long walk. If you want to know how other's describe me then take a look here. If you haven't been here before feel free to say hello in the comments.

Mini blog

www.virusstompers.com. Jeff from View From the Cloud and his son have just set up a new business. If you have a computer virus in need of stomping then Jeff's your man.

- #

Some Vague Utopia. Hadrian's Walker Catherine has caved into per pressure and just started her own blog. And distressingly good it is too. already she's probably better than me. Damn.

- #

All 11 Dr Whos unite for a special. It's just a pity that it's a 15 minute Children in need thing rather than a proper 2 hour extended episode.

- #

Congratulations to Xbox4NappyRash. Now he has to think of something else to write about.

- #

19 Comments on “Pies and Soup and Cakes oh my!”

#1 Discontented Little Mummy
on Nov 6th, 2009 at 1:09 pm

I had to chuck our pumpkin out this morning as it was becoming a health hazard. I think it was about to walk on its own lol. The piie sounds good.
Discontented Little Mummy´s last blog ..Monster Mummy

Dan Reply:
November 6th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
@Discontented Little Mummy, it was good. Very good. not so good for my diet though.

#2 Erin
on Nov 6th, 2009 at 3:09 pm

Well if you finish the cake by next June, it should keep until Christmas.
Erin´s last blog ..Aaaaaaand WOOPS

Dan Reply:
November 6th, 2009 at 9:51 pm
@Erin, perhaps i should make it in time for the walk, then we could all have a slice.

#3 MrsW
on Nov 6th, 2009 at 3:10 pm

As long as you keep it in an airtight container and feed it brandy throughout the year your cake will be lush for next Christmas – this works for me, I often squeeze into a dark cupboard with a bottle of Three Barrels and a straw…
MrsW´s last blog ..Can we put the tree up yet?

Dan Reply:
November 6th, 2009 at 9:52 pm
@MrsW, hehe.

is that how you feeed them though? Through a straw? I’m going to steal some syringes from work and use those i think.

MrsW Reply:
November 6th, 2009 at 11:48 pm
@Dan, That’s high-tech – I just poke holes with a cocktail stick and pour it in.
MrsW´s last blog ..Can we put the tree up yet?

#4 TheMadHouse
on Nov 6th, 2009 at 5:18 pm

I will find you a nice receipe for curried Pumkin soup and We too are doing Christmas Cake
TheMadHouse´s last blog ..Master Mad the Bakers Boy

Dan Reply:
November 6th, 2009 at 9:52 pm
@TheMadHouse, sounds good. At this rate i’ll open my own food blog on the side.

#5 Kevin Spencer
on Nov 6th, 2009 at 6:28 pm

Pumpkin Pie. Yummm. Second only to Pecan Pie in the Kev likes pie department.
Kevin Spencer´s last blog ..Those Kats

Dan Reply:
November 6th, 2009 at 9:53 pm
@Kevin Spencer, I think i’m more of a savory pie man. can’t beat a propper butchers pork pie. Mmmmm

#6 Rosie Scribble
on Nov 6th, 2009 at 9:24 pm

Don’t let Single Parent Dad near the Christmas cake, is all I’m saying.
Rosie Scribble´s last blog ..Mistaken for Madeleine

Dan Reply:
November 6th, 2009 at 9:53 pm
@Rosie Scribble, why, what do you think he’ll inject it with?

Dan Reply:
November 6th, 2009 at 9:54 pm
@Rosie Scribble, Ah I see what you meant now. I forget what I’ve written sometimes.

#7 Seattledad
on Nov 6th, 2009 at 10:23 pm

You have found patient zero. Now you need to do something about it.
Seattledad´s last blog ..The Darndest Things

#8 SingleParentDad
on Nov 6th, 2009 at 11:29 pm

I’ll have you know I’m a fruit. And you’re right, as a doughnut, you are completely safe.
SingleParentDad´s last blog ..Signing the homework diary

#9 Lee
on Nov 7th, 2009 at 1:02 am

I think I may plant a pumpkin vine, if only because I like the way they look :)

Of course I’m sure I could stockpile pumpkin soup in the freezer for whatever impending zombie apocalypse (watched a double feature of Resident Evil last night and frankly the survivors all looked as though they could use a good cup of pumpkin soup afterwards).

I just had a thought too, if you take a couple of photos a day of the pumpkin heads as they ‘melt’ that would be an awesome effect when put together in a slideshow!
Lee´s last blog ..Robocop was a student once

Dan Reply:
November 7th, 2009 at 1:17 am
@Lee, the pumpkin vines get very big, be warned, but I’m going to have a go next year again. This time I’m putting them in my “orchard” with my three dead apple trees.

and the time lapse thing would be very cool indeed. Although my three remaining ones are the oblong mutant variety so not sure how they would work really – not iconic enough

#10 Adrienne
on Nov 10th, 2009 at 5:38 pm

All I have to say is: Mr. Potato Head — not just for potatoes anymore. We had sooo much fun creating pumpkin heads using Mr. Potato Head parts, and my lazy bum didn’t have to clean up pumpkin guts or save the seeds I was pretending I was going to try to roast…again.
Adrienne´s last blog ..Ho Hum

Pies and Soup and Cakes oh my!

19 Comments on “Pies and Soup and Cakes oh my!”

Leave a Comment

Who am I?

Where else to find me

Mini blog

Disclosure

Comments

Top Commentators

Categories

Meta

Blogroll

Supporting Hadrian’s Walk

Podcast Feeds