November is a month of thanks - and it starts with our Veterans

Tuesday, November 11, is the day the celebrates the ending of World War I, at least that's how the day began. But in 1954, President Dwight Eisenhower passed the resolution that changed it to Veterans Day, a day to honor the men and women that have proudly served our country.

There are probably very few families who don't have a military veteran in their midst's. I'm very proud of my father, father-in-law, and uncles and cousins that have served to protect the United States. I thank them, and all the others for helping to keep our land safe and free.

Thank you, to all of you. You are our guardians, and we shall always hold you near in our hearts and prayers.

Kicking off the Holiday Season at the St. Peter's 31st Annual Craft Fair

It's so hard to believe that we've rolled around to another Holiday Season! Yet here we are, busily preparing products for our flurry of holiday fairs.

One of our favorites is the St. Peter's School Annual Craftmarket. This year the event is November 7 & 8, this Friday and Saturday. There are always so many interesting crafts and gifts. It's one of our favorite craft fairs of the season. Friends and family start the holiday shopping and enjoy a good time.

We hope to see you there this weekend!

Type rest of the post here

Pumpkin Wrap Up

Unfortunately, time and family business kept me from writing more about my favorite squash - the Great Pumpkin!

I did get to carve a few of my dozen pumpkins in time to tantalize our trick or treaters. And I also had the opportunity to start the roasting. This is the time of year that I store up on mashed pumpkin for future recipes of pies, butters, cookies, breads and face masks.

So many people opt for canned pumpkin, when its so easy to roast your own. Simply cut
the pumpkin into halves or quarters (depending on it's size). Scrape out all of the seed and strings (see the previous post for a yummy use for the seeds). Place the pieces, skin side up, into a large roasting pan. Put about 1/2 inch of water into the bottom. Cover with an aluminum foil tent and place into a 350 degree oven. Check in about 25 minutes.

Don't let the water totally boil out. If the shell is soft, the pumpkin is done. Remove from the oven and let it cool in the tent (it will finish steaming that way).

Once the pumpkin is cool, turn over and simply scrape out the soft, sweet pulp. You can freeze this or store in the refrigerator until you're ready to whip up some great and tasty treats. When you defrost the pumpkin, if it's too juicy, simply drain through a few layers of cheese cloth.

There will be a lot of pumpkin juice in the bottom of the pan or when you defrost your pumpkin. I like to mix pumpkin juice and sparkling cider or ginger beer.

So don't let you uncarved pumpkin simply turn into squirrel food or a pile of mush. Roast them up and be ready for Thanksgiving Pumpkin Pies, Pumpkin Muffins, or any number of sweet autumnal goodies.

It's Pumpkin Time!!!!! Getting the seed of an idea.

I LOVE this time of year. I love the crispness in the air, the bright color of the turning leaves, and the suspense that seems to build around the coming of Halloween. Don't love the fact that it starts getting darker earlier, but I'll accept it knowing that it leads to glowing orange globes delighting passersby and trick-or-treaters. You know - pumpkins!

Every since I was a small child, many years ago, I've adored carving pumpkins. There's something so viscerally cool and yet creepy about slicing off the top of these fruits of Autumn and pulling out all those slimy, icky insides. Cleaning and carving transform the simple pumpkin into a frightful - or playful - vision that dances in the long night.

Over the next few days I'll give carving tips, recipes and preserving ideas for keeping the pumpkin going. Today, however, lets get to the guts of the matter.

Pumpkin seeds are little gems inside even bigger gems. They are packed with zinc, manganese, copper, iron and protein. Their sweet nuttiness makes them a great addition to salads or any dish. And they are a terrific snack.

You can easily buy shelled pumpkin seeds, called Pepita's, but making your own is so easy. This is the recipe I typically use, but you can change around the spices to suit your own taste. Sugar pumpkins have slightly smaller, softer shelled seeds. We leave the hulls on for some extra crunchiness.

Garlic Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
Pumpkin Seeds - about 3 cups
Paprika: Sweet, Smoked and Hot
Garlic Salt
Kosher Salt
6 tbs. salted butter
Garlic Powder

Take the pumpkin seeds from your carved pumpkin and rinse them off, removing all the strings and any visible pumpkin pieces. Put 1/4 cup of kosher salt in a bowl and add pumpkin seeds. Fill with water to cover seeds. Stir, then cover with a dish towel or saran wrap and let sit for at least 2 hours, overnight if possible.

Drain the seeds and rinse off. Spread on a clean, dry dish towel and pat dry.

Set the oven at 375 degrees. In a roasting pan or cookie sheets with sides, place the butter and put in the oven. In about 5 minutes, remove from the oven. The butter should be mostly melted. Add the pumpkin seeds, 1 tsp of smoked paprika, 1 tsp of sweet paprika, and 1/4 tsp of hot paprika. Sprinkle on garlic powder and garlic salt (about 2 tsp of each). Stir into the seeds and spread them out to a thin layer. Return the pan to the oven.

Let the seeds roast undisturbed for about 15 minutes. After that time, stir up the seeds and check for browning - you want them brown and crunchy, not burned. If needed, put in to another 10 to 15 minutes.

Remove from oven and stir. You can add more garlic salt or kosher salt if you'd like. Let cool completely and put in an air tight container.

Munch away any time you want a snack. These are also great in Nuts & Bolts (similar to Chex Mix). And they're the perfect munch while watching Halloween horror movies!

Tis the Season for Holiday Craft Fairs - Support your Local Crafters & Artists

The Autumn Art and Craft Fair season is winding down. Soon the outdoor events will heed to the chill in the air and move indoors. The hectic, fun and exhilarating Holiday Craft Fair Season is about to commence.

Cindy and I love going to craft fairs and festivals. Not just to sell the terrific products we make, but also to see what other artists and crafters have been creating. It a wonderful way to get to meet the creators of your purchase and find out the history of the item. Even before we started Celtic Chairde Creations, we enjoyed spending a few hours (or a whole day!) going through a fair finding unique gifts for friends and family - or ourselves.

Jane Sandlar from Ducky Life Teas is one of the folks we've been blessed to meet at our fair outings. In fact, we now use some of her marvelous teas in some of our jams and jellies (we love to drink them, too!) Her newsletter from September says it best:

"Craft shows started out as huge outdoor events held mostly in rural towns and usually in the summertime. They provided an outlet for local craftspeople to display and sell their creations. When shows moved indoors (in the early 1970s) and tapped into the holiday gift market by continuing into the fall, their popularity grew tremendously, propelling the crafts industry to new levels of recognition and potential profitability.

For some artists and craftspeople, creating and selling their personally crafted products is a hobby. For many though, it is their main source of income. Shows, fairs and festivals, with their low overhead and growing appeal, remain the ideal marketplace for artists and crafters to sell their unique creations directly to the public.

Art & craft shows, fairs and festivals run the gamut from free, local events held in churches or schools and featuring traditional country crafts and very affordable homemade gifts to large, regional, juried events that charge admission and feature higher end jewelry, art, handcrafted furniture, and pottery.

If you prefer green, sustainable products and locally created and individually crafted goods, these shows are the places to find them. Prices, even the higher ones, are reasonable. For your dollar(s), you get art and crafts made with real materials and personal workmanship.

If you still need convincing to support the people who display their wares at shows fairs and festivals, there's the sense of community you'll feel. You get to actually meet and interact with the person who crafted your necklace, wove your basket or used their hands to form your pottery. And how much more special can a purchase be than when it helps artisans continue to pursue the work they truly love?"

What more can I add, other than I hope to see you at one of our upcoming craft fairs and we can get to know each other!