Pumpkins To Squash : Fruits and Veggies Monday

in #fruitsandveggiesmonday5 years ago (edited)

Woohooo! Hi friends :)

We all know what we are doing today… celebrating #fruitsandveggiesmonday with @lenasveganliving and brand spanking new judge, @gguy773. It’s good to be here y’all.

As we are just getting out of October, which is pumpkin everything month in my book, I thought I’d share my pumpkin carving experience this year. Pumpkin art gets pret-tea serious in my house. Dandays just popped his pumpkin carving cherry last year, and he did so like a pro. This year we tussled over carving spots, carving tools and maybe a short discussion about our carving designs but as always we got it all figured out.

860C25E1-0E61-4910-A84F-05F99196D1E0.jpeg

I know what you’re thinking, “yeah, but where is the food puravidaville?” Well, I’ll get there but I think that this may be my last chance to post a pumpkin carving swaray, and I’m going to take it.

E0115078-FF31-4D51-9D12-F43688D2B23C.jpeg

First, you must scout your carving location. Our apartment is pretty small so this part was easy, in the kitchen of course :).

Second, you must prep your work area. We did this with cut garbage bags to avoid a pumpkin mess everywhere. It helps a little.

805C6621-E94F-4A6E-BF90-D2D2FF484D4C.jpeg

I decided to bring my pumpkin to the sink for easy access to the garbage and strainer (you’ll see why), while gutting this bad boy.

C2AD6679-AC65-4E41-AE13-731C5968ECDF.jpeg

Those scrapers that come with the rinky dink pumpkin carving set you buy at the grocery store work really well. Look how nice the inside of that thing looks 🙄

See what I mean about that strainer now?

DD034769-F388-4B03-A69B-5D9E94CFDB21.jpeg

I wet my decal and wrap it to my pumpkin like so. This is where @dandays and I get into a passionate discussion about how much skill it takes to carve a pumpkin this way. I suppose he would know, this is his second year in a row after all 🤷🏼‍♀️ wink wink.

B5CE7D0E-6044-4CA2-A380-48C3F9EFC94A.jpeg

It takes me a little over an hour and some good music and tahhhdaaaa! We’ve got a jack-o-lantern…

F5077327-72AC-454E-8EC0-4B645F245831.jpeg

Dandays was a bit disappointed that this year his didn’t turn out so well. He is quite an ambitious pumpkin carver and set out to free hand carve an EOS symbol. Last year, his bitcoin pumpkin turned out well so I just left him to it. When I heard an “oh no” coming from the kitchen I knew it wasn’t going to be good. His entire symbol fell through and created a massive hole in the front of his pumpkin.

94D78DA5-CBAC-4794-A365-D260A94C030B.jpeg

I quickly carved some devil horns to disguise the mishap but Dandays wasn’t feeling it. What he was feeling was what I whipped up next…

265B1151-675F-463F-A4F6-936D133C88B5.jpeg

With the fresh pumpkins in the air I decided to cook up a butternut squash disguised as french fries.

A68ABE37-91E1-4518-BC09-9657C8DAD060.jpeg

Using my handy dandy scraper from the pumpkin carving kit I cleaned out all of the seeds and goop. This is my first time working with a butternut squash so the entire process was interesting to me. Like a meat head I peeled the skin, which is quite thick and unnecessary for those that will re create this dish.

Then I chopped the squash into the shape of french fries.

A0F98F85-1EC9-4B26-A2A6-25C3E625F02C.jpeg

With my oven preheating at 425F, I tossed half the squash in olive oil, black pepper and pink himalayan salt. Then I I did the same to the other half but using cumin, garlic powder, chili powder, salt and pepper.

6C9B1735-8B6A-4F3C-8D47-9206D6492780.jpeg

With those roasting I quickly chopped up two potatoes, one sweet and the other golden, then some broccoli.

C339F28A-B384-40BE-95D5-7C8F256DE811.jpeg

I love broccoli. In under 5 minutes I’m mixing the potatoes and broccoli with a tinge of olive oil, pink Himalayan salt, black pepper and wrapping in foil to roast in the oven with the squash fries- about 35 minutes!

5C9F042A-5F72-4D92-9060-34419AC7DB61.jpeg

Keep an eye on those fries, they aren’t going to crisp up the way potatoes do. I pulled mine out 5 minutes before I pulled the potatoes and brocc out.

46B77195-FD56-4699-9961-9C026A674088.jpeg

Yum 😋 so good! With this 5 minute intermission, I threw together some arugula (😉 Thanks @plantstoplanks for inspiring this arugula craze in my house), red onion and walnuts tossed in a balsamic, Italian seasoned and honey homemade dressing and let it sit in the refrigerator until the bake was done.

C175AD97-860C-4F32-933D-5A182C209062.jpeg

This is what resulted. I had a jar of homemade tomato sauce from the other night so dolloped a couple spoonfuls ontop of the bake and plated everything up. It turned out to be such a good dinner because it was whipped up in such a boundaryless way. Both @Dandays and I were satisfied and satiated.

Now, if I only had roasted those seeds at the same time I would have been a true genius. I guess there’s always room for improvement.

Thank you for visiting! Happy #fruitsandveggiesmonday folks.

Pura Vida ✌️

Sort:  

Your jack-o-lantern looks amazing! Such a brilliant way to trace and carve the lantern. The candle illuminates the lantern's design very well :) And love your pumpkin fries too. I seriously thought it was potato fries when I saw the photo :)

Thank you @marblely! Pumpkin carving is much easier than it looks. The fries are actually made from butternut squash. I think pumpkins and squash are in the same family though. With all of the pumpkin stuff happening I decided to cook up a squash 🤷🏼‍♀️ I’m glad you stopped by.

Oops sorry, yah they do look similar in colour and texture. Thanks again for sharing and wishing you a happy weekend there! :)

Posted using Partiko iOS

First time with butternut squash? Look at you breaking down some veggie barriers! Our telepathy is working because I used some in my entry this week, too. Give me all them roasted veggies. I think I could pretty much live off of them this time of year. Bummer about @dandays' pumpkin, but 💩 happens. I think the horns were a nice touch. 😉 Glad you are still solidly on the arugula bandwagon!!

I carved that bitcoin one last year and we all know what bitcoin did this time last year. So....

I was going for EOS this year and the whole thing frikkin grenaded!! Now I’m backing up my back up keys! Ha! Happy Monday @plantstoplanks, great entry here, equally as inviting as the one you and I are communicating on right now. 👍🏿

Well, this is Interesting, 🤔 I was just going to show you the last picture I took before everything went to “💩” and apparently the picture went there too! Hmm.. better update the Nano.

Hhhmm, I didn't know @puravidaville was married to some kind of pumpkin carving oracle!! 🤣 I guess I should consult you before I invest in anything, haha!

Haha… “oracle” love it.

Roasted veggies are the best! Great minds really do think alike :) My neighbor thought his pumpkin just had a big mouth. Haha… thanks for stopping by @plantstoplanks !

Oohh, happy @curie vote!! Definitely well-deserved! :)

Thank you, thank you kindly. It’s always a good day to get a curie visit :)

You got me drooling again my Dear Puravidaville. Butternut squash fries? Amazing!!! I am a big butternut lover but I never thought of making fries from it. I definitely must try, oh my goodness, they looks scrumptious. I mean everything does. But I am sorry about that pumpkin mishap; I hope he felt better after he had such a delicious meal 🍒 🍌🍑🌿🍍🍓🍇
1 Collage.jpg

Thank you Lena. I was never even a fan of the butternut soup but decided I’ll try something new with the fries. It was a win! Always happy to see you here. :)

That is actually a cute jack-o-lantern pumpkin carving . You were very patient to have gone though the details like that. How big was the pumpkin that you used?

You are very creative with the "french fries" squash. And the broccoli. I am already fine with plain beef broccoli dish but roasted? Ah, I'm drooling... Something worth trying when I get home, I guess. Thanks for sharing these! 😊

Hey @macoolette, thanks for stopping by! The pumpkin carving it’s actually easier than it looks. The carving kit and stencils help a lot :)

Those squash fries were deliscious and are definitely in the regular dinner item rotation now. Try them out, you’ll love them.

The carving kit. Yes, that should do the trick. I was thinking of pure knife and thought it's gonna be a big challenge.

Yap, potatoes may not always be available so an alternative is definitely worth a try... Thanks again for sharing these. 😊

Another great post, butternut French fries, I think I will have to try that.

Thank you @gguy773! I hope you do, they are delish.

Hi puravidaville,

This post has been upvoted by the Curie community curation project and associated vote trail as exceptional content (human curated and reviewed). Have a great day :)

Visit curiesteem.com or join the Curie Discord community to learn more.

Thank you @curie! Always a good day when I see you :)

Butternut squash fries, i must try it. Sounds delicious and sweet. This is my kind of dinner. Yummy!

Thank you @sherylneil. They were a little sweet, reminded me of sweet potato fries.

Wow, that pumpkin you carved is a real masterpiece! But no worries @dandays, I think I wouldn't have done any better than you! At least you got to enjoy those delicious looking butternut squash fries afterwards. Actually, the whole meal looks so appetizing, all those veggies and colors, yum! 😋

I love that french fries don't necessarily mean that they're made out of potatoes anymore. I'm not saying that potato french fries aren't good, but it's nice to have for example sweet potato fries every now and then. :)
Great job with the pumpkins and cooking, everything looks great @puravidaville!

I think you’re right, you can never have too many variations of fries. I’m so glad you liked it! I thought I might miss the window to post my pumpkin carving but just decided to sneak it in there real quick. Dandays got over it as fast as he got under it. Haha… the fact that I bring him warm, home cooked goodies probably eases the blow.

Sorry for the delayed response, we just got back from a quick trip to Las Vegas. Thank you for always supporting my blog @jasmink 😉

Your timing for this post was perfect, don't you think? I mean I'm not the only who liked this, congratulations for the 1st prize this week! You truly deserve it!

I hope you had a great time in Las Vegas! 😊

You have surprised me friend, after seeing so many pumpkins hallosteem, I find an exquisite food, (do not throw the seeds for the next reserve and put them to bake until toast, then a pisca of salt and eat)
:)

i haven't tasted pink himalayan salt, i haven't seen it in supermarkets either. but your broccoli and potatoes with pumpkin and their peppers and garlic and other species look too rich.

Very enjoyable reading and really took me by surprise with the publication, very ingenious.

Greetings, thank you for sharing this publication.

I made roasted seeds so have plenty of seasoned goodness to snack on for a bit. They are great on top of salads or even just by themselves. I’m glad you stopped by @arrozymangophoto. Thank you for the support :)

Food artistry! This is beautiful and so appealing. Yummy yummy 😋😋

Thank you @tolustx! We really enjoyed this dish too. I appreciate you stopping by.

Coin Marketplace

STEEM 0.36
TRX 0.12
JST 0.040
BTC 70446.49
ETH 3571.68
USDT 1.00
SBD 4.73