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pumpkin butter

Easy Pumpkin Butter & Weekend Events

by Eating Bird Food on September 8, 2011

It’s raining, it’s pouring, the old man is snoring…

I don’t know about you, but I’m sooo over the wet, dreary and humid weather we’ve been experiencing this week. Definitely ready for some sunshine and fun this weekend!

One thing that has kept me in a good mood this week is the big batch of pumpkin butter I made last weekend. Pumpkin makes everything better and it’s now pumpkin season – well, maybe not officially but blog world seems to be overflowing with pumpkin recipes lately so it’s pumpkin season in my mind. I’m lovin’ it.

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To anyone wondering what the heck pumpkin butter is, it’s basically a sweet pumpkin spread, similar to apple butter. And, it’s delicious. There’s really not much else to say about it.

I used cooked cushaw for this recipe because I had some in the freezer that my boss gave me months ago but you can certainly use a regular pie pumpkin or even canned pumpkin puree. All will work, just don’t get pumpkin pie filling as that has already been sweetened.

Pumpkin Butter

Makes 5 cups, enough to fill 10 4 oz. ball jars or 5 1/2 pint jars

Ingredients:

5 cups fresh pumpkin puree (or 1 29 ounce + 1 15 ounce can of pumpkin puree)
1 cup brown sugar (or sucanat)
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon allspice
Pinch of sea salt

Preparation:

Combine all ingredients in a crock pot/slow cooker and stir to mix well.
Set on low heat and cover loosely, leaving a little space for the steam to escape so the mixture can reduce and thicken.
Cook for about 6 hours. The pumpkin butter should have cooked down and thickened. If it’s not as thick as you would like it, just take the lid completely off and let it cook for another 30-45 minutes.
Let cool, remove from crock pot and put pumpkin butter into jars or airtight containers. The pumpkin butter will last a week or so in the fridge, but you can also freezer preserve it by storing it freezer safe containers (or jars).

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I had actually planned to “for-real can” the pumpkin butter by using the water bath technique, but I found several sources suggesting it’s not safe to can pumpkin butter due to it’s low acidity. I’d rather be safe than sorry and we have plenty of room in the freezer so that’s the method I decided to go with.

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If you have a few extra minutes this weekend, why not make a batch of pumpkin butter? Your kitchen will smell like fall deliciousness and a few hours later you’ll have a tasty spread. I will warn you though, you’ll want to put this pumpkin butter on everything.

Trust me – I’ve been dipping crackers in the pumpkin butter, eating it by the spoonful, putting it on top of oatmeal and even stirring a tablespoon or two into my tea and coffee.

So besides making pumpkin butter, what are your plans for the weekend?

I’m excited because there are quite a few things going on here in Richmond –>

Saturday, September 10 at 9:00AM – Lululemon is hosting Salutation Nation this weekend. The event here in Richmond will be held at Deep Run Park. Find out more info about Salutation Nation 2011 Deep Run Park here.
Saturday, September 10 from 12:00PM-6:00PM – Whole Foods Market Short Pump is hosting Richmond’s first Food Truck Festival. I’m super excited about this event because I love food trucks but I still haven’t tried many of them here in Richmond. Here’s the line up: Whole Foods Market Food Truck, The Lunchbox, Boka Truck, Habanero’s Taco Cart, RVA Vegan – Bike Powered Food Cart, Espresso A Go Go, Mark’s Wicked Delicious Kettle Corn, Farm To Family, Grill Majesty
Saturday, September 10 and Sunday, September 11 from 11:00AM – 5:00PM – Grayhaven Winery is have a South African Food & Wine Festival. Food + Wine = perfection.
Saturday, September 10 and Sunday, September 11 – RVA Music Fest

Looks like it’s going to be a busy weekend. I’m excited!!

{ 32 comments }

Kaput

by Eating Bird Food on November 12, 2009

Look what I found on my desk when I walked into work this morning!?!

How sweet was it that a co-worker that I recently told about the blog brought in Farmer John’s Cookbook- The Real Dirt on Vegetables for me? (Thanks Kate!) Of course I’ve already read through it and I’m super excited to try some of the recipes. The best part is that the cookbook is written by a farmer, John, who harvests for a CSA. Yes, he is wearing a boa on the cover, and I’m still not sure why. However, the book is awesome- it highlights stories from the farm shareholders, offers a list of what vegetables are in season when and has recipes categorized by vegetable. It’s perfect for someone that is part of a CSA as you could find out storage and handling details, culinary uses, and plenty of recipes for unusual veggies like Kohlrabi, Daikon, and Celeriac.

For breakfast this morning I took a break from the norm (oats) and had a bowl of quinoa flakes. I’ve had them once before long ago (almost 1 year!) and wasn’t hooked so this box has been sitting in my pantry since then. (YIKES) Something made me try them again. Let’s be honest, it was because I was out of bananas for my standard banana whipped oatmeal/oat bran combo.

I’m glad I gave them a second chance! This bowl was made with 1/3 cup of the flakes, 1/2 cup almond milk, 1/2 cup water, and 3 drops of liquid stevia, and it was delightful. Smooth, creamy, sweet (from the pumpkin butter and stevia), and full of protein! The best part about quinoa flakes is that they are gluten free (holla back celiacs!) and they are a complete protein source (holla back vegetarians!) Try em out!!

In other news, my head phones broke. The worst part is that they stopped working about 10 minutes into my 5 hour flight to CA last week. I was kicking myself for not accepting Isaac’s offer for me to bring his BOSE noise canceling headphones just as I found out that US Airways doesn’t offer headsets. I was not a happy camper.

So these are the Nike Aero headphones that went kaput. They cost $39.99 from Target, which I thought was pretty pricey for a pair of workout headphones so I expected them to last…

Now, maybe I’m just spoiled because my last pair (Phillips) lasted all throughout college and 2 years after (that’s 6 years folks!) and they actually still played music when I bought the new ones- they had just become too dingy to wear in public.

I tried to find a similar pair of Philips but couldn’t so I settled with the Nike Aero Sport. They seemed promising- sweat proof, sleek, and a wrap around the ear design. I’ve never been a huge ear bud fan- they never fit in my ears, always fall out, and are uncomfortable so I figured these were a good bet.

They ended up being fine- comfortable and good for a person like me that sweats a lot. The music quality was quite awful, but they were for working out so I didn’t mind that much. However, now I’m more convinced that $40.00 was too much to spend, because they only lasted 9 months!

I made a stop by Target last night to grab a new pair before hitting up the gym.

I know I know, I said I didn’t like ear buds but these caught my eye as they were only $20.00 and are specifically designed for smaller ears. Since I was headed to the gym after Target I was able to try the buds out right away. They fit well, sounded better than my old ones and take up less space in my bag. Overall, I’m pretty stoked about finding a pair of ear buds that actually fit. This was a quick trial run because I only wore them for about 15 minutes while walking on the treadmill. I’m nervous to see if they hurt my ear after a prolonged period of time, but I have high hopes that they wont!

I still have my receipt from the aero headphones and I’m trying to decided if it’s been too long to take them back – I just think headphones should last more than a year- at least!

Do you wear headphones when you workout? If so, what type?How much would you spend on headphones and how long should they last?

- Brittany

PS I just had the BEST dinner I’ve had in a while (well, since last Saturday- haha) – I can’t wait to share the recipe tomorrow!!

{ 40 comments }

Lovely PB

October 9, 2009

It’s not what you think. Although I do heart peanut butter, the title is paying tribute to another PB in my life at the moment: Pumpkin Butter! Pumpkin products tend to flood the market this time of the year and for a pumpkin lover like myself, this is simply amazing. So yea, I recently purchased [...]