Happy Fall Return & Pumpkin Puree

    After a very long hiatus, I am back in the blogging world. The blog looks a little different with an added mission. This has been a very long 6 months of so, with a lot of changes around the house as well. We have converted to as homemade or close to ground to table as possible when it comes to eating. This means the days are a little slower and the food takes more effort. I use the term "Urban Homesteading" kind of as a catch all for the changes around our home. I try to use homemade, local-made, or go without when possible. 
    Things this does not include are: clothes, cars, computers (obviously), every toy, and I am sure a few I am forgetting. We do not live on a farm and are not pretending to be completely Eco-perfectly-friendly or completely self sufficient. This is a slow process and somethings we will just not give up or have the space/money to handle on our own.

   In other big changes, I no longer nanny full-time but instead work for an amazing family two early mornings a week. This allows for a much easier flow of homeschooling, housework, ect. I LOVE my new just even with the hours of 5am-930am.  I am NOT a morning person but I am finding a new found appreciation for the quiet dawn I am now part of two days a week. 
    Long story short, new direction overall for blog, hopefully lots of new posts soon, & fun fall activities to share!

ROASTED PUMPKIN PUREE

    Today's activities include roasted pumpkin puree with pumpkins from a local farm. I use pumpkin all fall and winter long just like the rest of the pacific northwest. I love trying new ways to utilize it and having it be as fresh as possible is always preferable to me. I don't how ever love taking the time every time I was some to cut, de-seed, roast, puree, and then use the pumpkin. So to stream line this process I spend about one afternoon a month roasting and pureeing around 6-10 sugar pumpkins. I know you can use the bigger and less expensive pumpkins but the small sugar ones definitely taste more like the "traditional processed" pumpkin we are all used to. I can not take credit for this idea though, one of my favorite blogs, The Pioneer Woman, is where I got the idea. I love her easy to follow and well put together recipes. The pictures below are The Pioneer Woman's from her post on how to take this.......

and turn it into this......