From the garden to Pumpkin Pie

2 of my very own pumpkins made it to the Thanksgiving table this year.  Well one did today and one will next week.

 To make this lovely pie you cut your pumpkin in 1/2.  And scoop out the seeds.  Then cover with foil and cook for 1 hour at 350.

It should look something like this when done cooking.  Simply take a spoon and scoop out the pumpkin so all you have left is the hull.  Mash up the pumpkin.

The follow the recipe below....enjoy!








1cup Sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 1/2 cup mashed pumpkin
1 2/3 cup sweet condensed milk
2 eggs

Mix all together till smooth. Pour into a unbaked 9" pie crust.  Bake for 15 min At 450 and 45 min at 325

Pumpkin pie made like this tends to look a lot lighter and less orange than store bought either mix or prebaked.  It will also look uncooked in the center but if you place a paper towel on it and the towel does not soak anything up it is done. (learned that last night from my sister Melanie)  Cool completely, cover and place in the frig till ready to eat.  Be sure to add lots of whipped cream....

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day - August 2011

Welcome one and all to Irish Gardens on this rainy Bloom Day.  Well at least it's raining here.  It has been raining for the last 3 days.  I know we needed the rain but we need sun too.  It seems we are getting a lot of extremes this year....heat or rain, sun or shade.  So on to the bloom day pictures which surprisingly there is a lot of for a rainy day.

 Rose of Sharon still showing off it's double purple blooms

 Pumpkins are still flowering like crazy...still only one pumpkin so far though

 Beef-master Tomato plants are still flowering up a storm.

 Cucumbers too....lots of yellow orange over by the greenhouse

Even the Watermelons are still flowering still no melons yet though

 Only 1 eggplant harvested as of yet but lots of pretty purple flowers still popping up all over.

 Echinacea is still showing off her pretty purple flowers

 The pretty and delicate marshmallow flowers are still busy opening up.

 Finally some green beans are finally flowering

 A wild flower that was finally identified as Asiatic Day flower a local wild herb.  How cool.  Another herb to add to my collection.

 Blush Satin Rose of Sharon showing off it's beauty as well.

 Finally morning glories are beginning to open

 My new favorite morning glory is this beautiful variegated leaf

 Another beauty is showing off this Bloom Day.

 Poor hydrangea bush is falling over because it is heavy with rain.

 Hibiscus is looking down this morning also heavy with rain.

 Another Rose of Sharon that is showing off it's beauty.

And finally to end my blooming show is this pretty lady the Mandevilla vine...

Let me know what you think.  Head over to Carol's garden and see who else has posted about what is Blooming in their Garden....Gardens all around the world participate.

Thriving Thursday - On a Friday

Another week almost passed me by before I got my Thriving Thursday post out.  If it helps I started it yesterday but things came up and I had to stop.  So on this Friday morning what is Thriving in your gardens?

 I have a pumpkin.....finally a pumpkin that didn't fall off.

 My herb Marshmallow is flowering...pretty white flowers with purple middles....

 The orange froggy dude is doing great in the greenhouse.  He really likes it in there.

 While the White Rose of Sharon bush is flowering it's beauty, the bee's are playing in the pollen.

 Baby spider plants are rooting quite well in water....this guy was potted up to be sold through the other site (www.theirishgardens.com)

And finally Tomato's, Cucumber's, and herbs were thriving and ripening.

So what is Thriving in your neck of the garden blogosphere?  Write about it and add your link below.

Where did the time go?

So I just realized that I missed 2 Thriving Thursdays.  How did I do that? Oh well.  Anyways I have lots to show you all.

Like my Marshmallow plant is now flowering.  Such a pretty delicate flower.

 Blue Chiffon Rose of Sharon is in full bloom. So pretty with the rain drops.

The white Rose of Sharon is also blooming beautifuly this rainy morning.

 My new Rose of Sharon bush is this beautiful Blush Satin.  I love it.

 And the old big double purple Rose of Sharon bush is also flowering.  Can you tell I like Rose of Sharon bushes.  They are just so pretty.

The first of the Rose of Sharon bushes along the driveway have finally bloomed....simple yet pretty.  So far thats 5 different types that are in bloom right now.  I still have at least 1 other variety to bloom.

 Finally a pumpkin to speak of.  Gets bigger every day so thats good.

And the big news of the day other than the pretty blooms around the gardens is my tomatoes are finally starting to turn a color other than green.

Ok so thats not the biggest news of the day.  A few weeks ago I decided that I wanted to start a small business selling my herbs.  See they love the greenhouse and I had started to add cuttings to the compost pile because they were growing so fast I had more than I needed.  I mean I was cutting mint and basil every week and now my dried herb containers are full.  So as of late this past week I received my sales tax licence in the mail so Irish Gardens is now open.  I am so happy and can't wait to really get started.

Does anyone have any rain to spare?

So yea it's been hot as crazy here lately.  The weather forecast for the last few days has all been the same...
A chance of rain.  Hot.  Chance of t-storms. Hot. Humid. Hot.  You get the point right?  Well yesterday it sprinkled.  Just enough to make everything look wet.  Today it misted.  Just enough to look like it was going to get everything wet.

I found out that my pumpkins were falling off the

 vine just before the flowers open because of all this heat.  I have had over 6 of them fall off the vines now.  I am starting to wonder if I will even get a pumpkin this year.  Course I am further than I was last year.  Last year I got 2 male flowers and the vine died.

But look this flower is on the cusp of opening.  In fact now the flower is shriveled.  The pumpkin is turning yellow though I sure hope it isn't dying.

So how is the weather where you are?  Getting any rain?  Have any you can send this way?

Attack of the vines

 The vine bed has shown a lot of growth over the past month.  This picture to the left was taken just over a month ago.  Small spots of green plants in a freshly built garden bed.

 Taken 10 days later this picture shows growth as well as flowers.

 Taken 10 days after the last this one too shows a lot more growth and more flowers popping up everywhere.  The small green spots are much bigger and now the new bed shows a lot of yellow as well.

Again 10 days after the last picture this is what I came home from vacation too.  No longer can the canvas be seen nor can flowers be seen.  In-fact the the garden frame it's self is almost hard to see.

This picture was actually taken the same day as the last one but after I fenced in the garden.  See if I hadn't then when the hubby goes to mow the lawn he may end up mowing pumpkin or cucumber vines.  Since that would be bad I contained them.  It's amazing how each picture (except the last 2) was taken about 10 days apart and each clearly shows growth.  Some more than others.

Another surprise when we came home from vacation besides the lawn attacking vines was this......

Just look how pretty it is.  My first cucumber ever.  And it was impressive in size considering when we left 5 days before there were no cucumbers that showed any sign that they had been pollinated.  Lots of cucumber's with buds just none bigger than they began.

Stay tuned new installments of Attack of the.._______ will be coming soon, tomatoes, marigolds, Rose of Sharon, just to name a few.