Mary's Place: I LOVE PUMPKINS......

Can’t wait each year for their growth that makes them pop up out of the fields. Where they are planted along the road headed out of town you can see them real good.

Some are big and some are small. I know that somewhere there will be a “Biggest Pumpkins of the year” contest and an eager farmer will win the price. Might be a ribbon or something of value to them, anyway….

Just a little Pumpkin History….

References to pumpkins date back many centuries. The name pumpkin originated from the Greek word for "large melon" which is "pepon." "Pepon" was nasalized by the French into "pompon." The English changed "pompon" to "Pumpion." Shakespeare referred to the "pumpion" in his Merry Wives of Windsor. American colonists changed "pumpion" into "pumpkin." The "pumpkin" is referred to in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater and Cinderella.

Native Americans dried strips of pumpkin and wove them into mats. They also roasted long strips of pumpkin on the open fire and ate them. The origin of pumpkin pie occurred when the colonists sliced off the pumpkin top, removed the seeds, and filled the insides with milk, spices and honey. The pumpkin was then baked in hot ashes.

They are showing up in decorations on porches and around driveways and mailboxes.......

This time of year as the Fall season rolls around, I like to bake things with spices, makes good smells coming from my kitchen.

Here is a new recipe you might already be aware of it. My niece just told me about it. It’s a WW recipe that I will be trying in the next few days, she told me they even freeze well, that does it, I will be making them! You can too.....

"Weight Watchers Muffins- 2 point each! Taste like pumpkin pie!"

Ingredients:

1 (18 ounce) box spice cake mix

15 ounces pumpkin

1 cup water

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients in mixer.

2. Makes 24 muffins.

3. Cook for 20-25 minutes at 350°F.

4. They will be very moist.

5. Makes 24

6. Calories 97.6, 2 WW points

ANOTHER THING....Notice how talented people are getting in their carvings of Jack-O-Lanterns?

I was wondering where did that trend get started?, our fiends at the Discovery Channel provided this information. Never heard this one before, makes you wonder how other things got started….Hum!!!

History of the Jack-o-Lantern.......

People have been making jack-o-lanterns at Halloween for centuries. The practice originated from an Irish myth about a man nicknamed "Stingy Jack." According to the story, Stingy Jack invited the Devil to have a drink with him. True to his name, Stingy Jack didn't want to pay for his drink, so he convinced the Devil to turn himself into a coin that Jack could use to buy their drinks. Once the Devil did so, Jack decided to keep the money and put it into his pocket next to a silver cross, which prevented the Devil from changing back into his original form. Jack eventually freed the Devil, under the condition that he would not bother Jack for one year and that, should Jack die, he would not claim his soul. The next year, Jack again tricked the Devil into climbing into a tree to pick a piece of fruit. While he was up in the tree, Jack carved a sign of the cross into the tree's bark so that the Devil could not come down until the Devil promised Jack not to bother him for ten more years.

Soon after, Jack died. As the legend goes, God would not allow such an unsavory figure into heaven. The Devil, upset by the trick Jack had played on him and keeping his word not to claim his soul, would not allow Jack into hell. He sent Jack off into the dark night with only a burning coal to light his way. Jack put the coal into a carved out turnip and has been roaming the Earth with it ever since. The Irish began to refer to this ghostly figure as "Jack of the Lantern," and then, simply "Jack O'Lantern."

In Ireland and Scotland, people began to make their own versions of Jack's lanterns by carving scary faces into turnips or potatoes and placing them into windows or near doors to frighten away Stingy Jack and other wandering evil spirits. In England, large beets are used. Immigrants from these countries brought the jack o'lantern tradition with them when they came to the United States. They soon found that pumpkins, a fruit native to America, make perfect jack o'lanterns.

It's time for you to get started on your Pumpkin.....