Guess who's still around??

this cat, that's who.
anyway, i've just been sorta putzin' around for the past month, lamenting the fact that i am in memphis and not asheville, but you know, whatever.
went to cooper-young fest yesterday (big street festival that takes place pretty much in my front yard), got an orange anteater, it was a good day.

but today, something particularly and excitingly autumnal occurred! now, before i go any further, there's something you must understand about me: for a myriad of reasons (some of which i can't begin to fathom), i absolutely LIVE for autumn. it invigorates me like nothing else. the temperature, the colorful leaves, the fashion, the food--
ohhh...
the fooooood...
...
...
...
(ahem) which brings me to the autumnal something that happened today! my roommate (codename chickadee) and i went grocery shopping today, and i had it in my head that i would take a look at their winter squashes just to see if any of them looked at all edible (i grabbed a lovely dark green acorn squash that i intend to stuff with ground beef and mushrooms sometime this week). lo and behold, there was an entire display of adorable little baking pumpkins. i should have taken a picture, it was so glorious.

naturally, we had to get one. ...two.
...okay, four.
i decided to bake and puree mine tonight, so that i could (hopefully) make a pumpkin pie tomorrow. (by the way- this is the site i used to figure out how to prepare the pumpkins.)
other roommates (codenames: catabat and fergie) helped me gut the pumpkins and plop their squishy innards into a bowl, then i separated out the seeds because roasted pumpkin seeds. roasted. pumpkin seeds.

another roommate (codename mama k) let me use her food processor, and good lord is that a swanky piece of machinery. ("seriously, this thing is like my dowry!")
after i spent several minutes reverently removing various mysterious blades, attachments, and bells and whistles from the box, fergie astutely pointed out, "i think this is the only part you really need," and pulled the actual appliance out. whatever, fergie. ruin the little ceremony i had going on. see if i care.
at any rate, after i baked the chunks of pumpkin for a bit, i tossed those suckers in the processor and fired it up. the result was the most intensely golden mush i have ever seen in my life. it was so golden, in fact, that my camera couldn't handle it.

i managed to get about 3 cups of puree from those two pumpkins, and i bagged it up and put it in the freezer. i'm looking forward to making pie with that stuff. something that visually arresting has just got to be delicious, right?

oh yeah, roasted pumpkin seeds! they happened. they're not terribly visually arresting, but i guess it's like that "squares are rectangles" thing. food that is visually arresting is delicious, but not all delicious food is visually arresting. how many times can i use the term "visually arresting" in one blog entry before my keyboard spontaneously combusts?

now, it's time for a midnight snack of roasty toasty goodness, and a good night's sleep.
over and out.