Easy as Pie: How to Roast a Pumpkin (the easy way)

Roasting squash has never been my thing. They're large, unwieldy, and rather rude when you're trying to hack them into bits with a knife. Add in how messy they are to scoop out, remove the stem, quarter and/or peel, and those cans of butternut or pumpkin puree sound so much nicer. I'm a sucker for the beautiful golden squash at the farmer's market or in the produce display, looking so lovely, and mocking me with their fall abundance. Every year I'd buy the pumpkins and butternut anyway, wrestle it into submission, and work it into my recipes, feeling satisfied at having won yet again, only a few bandaids on. I was mentioning this to a friend when she started looking at me like I had two heads. Having only one head, I asked what was up. She was incredulous "you cut them up BEFORE you cook them??" Well, yes. Didn't everyone? Apparently not. That day I learned there was an easy way. And I am here to tell you it changed my life.

Are you ready?

Roast them whole. Then cut.

Yup, it's that simple. I know, let it sink in. I was amazed. If anything, the flavor is even better, because they don't dry out while cooking.

1. Get your squash, be it pumpkin, butternut, kobucha, or otherwise.
2. Preheat oven to 350 F, and wash the squash in warm water.
3. Put the squash in a pyrex casserole or a cookie sheet, something with a lip in case it gets leaky in there, you don't want to scrub squash juice out of your oven, right?
4. Roast for about an hour, or until the flesh pierces easily with a fork
5. Remove, and let cool for a while until you can handle it. I often slice mine open partially to let it cool even faster, because I'm not one for patience usually.
6. Cut the stem away carefully, like you would a jack-o-lantern lid, only this time it's gloriously easy! (the stem can get brittle in the hot oven and threaten to leave pieces if you don't remove it first, that kills the buzz of a tasty custard...)
7. Scoop out seeds and "pumpkin guts"
8. Scoop flesh out of the skins.
9. Pat yourself on the back. You have roasted squash, and it was easy.

Use the fleshy bits to make a puree, or however your recipe calls for them. If you want a thick puree, reduce the puree in a saucepan over medium heat, the excess moisture will steam off.

Guest Blog: Fall Family Portraits

The leaves are changing, it's cooling off, and that means we're officially in portrait season!  Many families want fall portraits, whether it's for Holiday cards or just to take advantage of the beautiful autumn colors! 

One of the questions I’m most often asked by clients is “what do I wear?”  And I’ll be honest, fashion isn’t really my thing.  In fact, I regularly send pictures of myself in dressing rooms to my sisters to ask them if what I’m trying on is cool or not (the answer is often no).  But, I do know what looks good in photographs.  

Do: Choose something you’re comfortable in.  When I had my family pictures taken by Whimsy Photography Studio (we met up at the beach and did a swap!) I tried coming up with a color scheme first.  But then I couldn’t find anything I was comfortable in.  I admit that I’m difficult to please clothing-wise.  So, I decided to start with my outfit choice first, and build my daughters and husband’s outfits around me.  I found a dress in my sister’s closet that I liked and built our outfits around that.

 

Do:  Coordinate, but don’t match.  Choose 2-3 colors or patterns that go together and go from there.

This is from Maria’s half of our swap and when I saw her family’s choices a couple days after mine, I was jealous!  I love how she incorporated the colors with everyone.  See how her necklace picks up the blue in her son’s and husband’s shirts, and her daughter has pinks in her dress?  Perfect!

I love how this family highlighted turquoise in their outfits.  It’s almost not noticeable, but it connects them without looking overly matchy.

Don’t: Wear a lot of white.  A little bit of white or cream in a picture can look nice, but everyone in white, or even several in white can give a glowing appearance.  The eye naturally goes to the brightest part of an image, and you don’t want that to be your clothing.  You want it to be you! On that note, try to avoid very bright colors in general.

Do: Consider the setting.  The clothing choices this family made were perfect for a summer beach shoot.  They’re light and summery!

Think about what the scenery is going to look like.  Are there leaves on the trees?  For fall, are the leaves going to be red?  Yellow?  Brown?  No leaves?  You don’t want to blend in or clash with your surroundings.  I love how the tones in the below pictures go with the settings.

Don’t: wear t shirts with large graphics or logos.  They have a tendency to look sloppy and can be distracting.

Do: incorporate textures and accessories.  Like everything, moderation is key!  You don’t want to wear a huge necklace, scarf, headband, large earrings, chunky bracelets, etc.  But yes to a cute scarf and headband!

Don’t: overdo it on patterns.  Some patterns are fine, but if one person is in stripes, another plaid, another flowers, another polka dots and so on, it isn't going to look nice.

Do: Ask your photographer for advice.  Please take the time to plan out your outfits.   If you’re making the investment in custom portraits, spend the time to put together a well-styled look.  It’d be terrible to be disappointed in your pictures because of a poor outfit choice.  As photographers, we want you to be happy with your pictures, and, on a more selfish note, it’s always great when we can use your pictures (with your permission, of course) in our portfolios. Well-styled sessions help make a good portfolio!  I am more than happy to discuss outfit choices beforehand, either on the phone or via email or text.  I’ve had clients send me pictures of outfits or potential outfits so I can offer suggestions.

There is no one “right” outfit or set of outfits.  Ultimately, the pictures are going on your walls, so if my suggestions don’t fit with your style, then you dress yourself and your family how you’d like to look!

Introducing Anna Naturals Teas!

Anna Naturals claim their teas are the best tasting teas on the market for women and mothers, and at first, I was a bit skeptical of their claim. I’ve tried several different nursing teas, and they all kind of taste the same. The packaging is clean, simple and when I popped the lid, the tea inside smelled wonderful. As my cup of nursing tea brewed, I couldn’t stop smelling the fruity goodness. True to Anna Naturals’ claim, the tea was delicious. Greenberries is proud to carry Anna Naturals Teas.

Guest Blog Post: Capturing Our Real Life Moments

We were sitting in a yellow, cinderblock dorm room along with my roommate and several friends.  I was excited and nervous.  It was the second weekend of my freshman year of college and we had just met the previous weekend.  Our first conversation took place while I pet his german shepherd and ate the peanut butter and jelly sandwich he had prepared for me.  I like to tease him and say he won me over with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a german shepherd.  But, I know better.  It was really his sweet nature, bust-a-gut sense of humor, and green eyes.  

That was 17 years ago in College Park.  College brought together the city boy and the country girl.   While he was growing up in the DC suburbs, I was living an hour and half north on a small farm in northern Harford County. 

Over the years, we got married. 

Traveled the world. 

Doubled the size of our family.

When you’re a lover of photographs, as I am, few material possessions mean more to you than these old family pictures.  I blame my Mom.  She’s super organized and has always kept up-to-date, well-documented family photo albums.  As a child, I spent many days flipping through these albums to see how we had changed over the years. 

Today, my appreciation for her photo organization continues now that I show my children photographs from my childhood.  Thanks to inspiration from my Mom, my husband and I also have many photo albums that document our wedding and travels around the globe as well as more recent photographs of our young family.  These precious images are not just for my husband and me, but for our kiddos (and kiddos’ kiddos) as well. 

I’m sure I’m not alone here.  I know many of you are also mothers and feel the same way about documenting your family’s everyday moments.  If you’re looking for some fresh inspiration for accomplishing that, check out my free guide - 5 Tips for Capturing Genuine Photographs of Your Children: How to Document the Real Life Moments of Their Childhood  During this time of year, as we start the countdown for Christmas, you’ll also receive my Insiders Guide to the Perfect Holiday Card: Whatto Wear, What to Write, Where to Print 

Happy Documenting!

Jennifer Krafchik, owner of Jennifer K Photography, has been a wife for eight years, a mama for three, and a professional photographer for two. Capturing life through her lens is one of her greatest obsessions and she looks forward to sharing this love with you each month. Keep up with her life as a mama to two little monkeys as well as her latest work and promotions by following her blog and Facebook page.

Greenberries is proud to be a retailer of Dolphin Organics!

Our newest addition to our bath & body department, Dolphin Organics was a brand we came across at the ABC Kids Expo in Las Vegas earlier this month. Though it was favored by our staff who have a tested the product, we really fell in love with it when we spoke to founder Ayo and her team at the expo. They were kind and genuine from the beginning, generous with samples and helpful with ordering. We now carry select items from their lines and soon we will be carrying a newly developed fragrance to be released in the upcoming months.

A few points that make them stand out against the competition are their easy to read labeling system they display on each of their products and their gentle fragrance and fragrance free options. Learn more about this amazing product line at http://dolphinorganics.com/