Blue Ribbon Kitchen: Hello, Pumpkin!

Hi friend!!

Happy October.... and I was wondering...

Do you remember this nursery rhyme:

Karri Perry, quite contrary,

How does your garden grow??

(Perhaps the name was slightly different...)

Well, I was as surprised as I could be

to have to finish my version of this rhyme...

"With vines and leaves, as big as trees

and pumpkins all in a row!!"

Really!!

I could not believe my eyes ...

The other morning with

the sun catching one of the
orange-yellow blossoms
waving in the wind...

literally, waving to me...

and as if it could talk:

"Hey, here I am...

Come see this!!"

I spied it...

A realllly big pumpkin vine.

See for yourself...

There was not just one vine...

but six of them, and some of them were enormous.

I didn't spy any pumpkins at first glance...

I didn't spend too much time investigating,
due to a few too many mosquitoes buzzing around.

So--my discovery turned into a pretty great

show and tell...

Once everyone got home in the afternoon...
(I was counting down the minutes until they were all home)

we marched ourselves to the edge of the woods...
and we looked...

To everyone's surprise...

(except me...I already had my great big surprise in the early morning...)

They gasped... and giggled...

And to what do we owe this

great pumpkin mystery??

As it turns out,

last year, a few of our pumpkins were

lovingly tossed into the compost...

...with the help of our woodland friends...

TaDaa...
We have our very own pumpkin patch!

Keeping with the spirit of things
and because it is the busiest month of the year...(for some)

and it might arguably be the prettiest month of the year

...OCTOBER...

I brought a little of the beautiful outside in...

you know,...to spruce up our

dining room.

A pumpkin here...a pumpkin there...

A little splash of orange is just the thing to put me in the mood for a

second cup of pumpkin spiced coffee and a slice of something...

basically, anything decidedly warm and fall-like.

Just for a little extra pumpkin fun...

I'm including a few of my favorite past

pumpkin-inspired foods and crafts for this post.

I hope you enjoy them and that
it puts you into the autumn mood.
Even if you are not a crazed pumpkin-spice fan,
these recipes are perfectly balanced and very delicious.
The crafts are pretty cute too...

Aren't the Zinnias so gorgeous??

They are my favorite cutting flower

and the colors...

they are so vibrant...so bright... just stunning.

I am very patiently waiting on a frost to end the

mosquito season...

but, I think I could stand a few more weeks
of warm weather

if it means I get to collect a few
more breathtaking bouquets

from my garden like this one!!

Thankfully,

weather decisions are not up to me...
...the contrary one.

Back to the pumpkin fun:

Here is an award-winning pumpkin cake!!

(I'm sort of under-selling it... this cake has won more awards than
almost anything I have ever baked...really...
and it won best-of-show, two years in a row...a really great cake)

Easy. A super make-ahead dessert.

Visit: Pumpkin Cake-Award Winning Must-Have Dessert

Pumpkin fudge...
It's so easy and makes a great party finger food.

Visit:Pumpkin Fudge

And while this isn't all pumpkins...there are a few
pumpkins sprinkled throughout the tree...
Besides, it's

one of my very favorite
things this time of year.

Simply an adorable table
decoration for Halloween!

Visit:Halloween Photo Tree

See, there's a little pumpkin guy...

And this fun craft is new

and perfect for October...

A great way to share hope and support!!

Made with a faux pumpkin...this

super-cute craft will last and last.

Visit:Think Pink October Crafts

And finally this post was from last October...
it's a great reminder to enjoy
all the beautiful fun and plentiful activities
October has to offer...
Even if you don't make it to every hay-wagon ride
in your county ...
Well...you'll still be doing just fine!!

It's October and there is simply too much
amazing October-ness to squeeze into 31 days.
The Over-Achieving Month of October Post