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/

End of IBW 2013

 International Babywearing Week 2013 might be coming to an end on Sunday but we will continue to be carried away at greenberries.  Our staff of Certified Babywearing Educators work hard to choose the most effective and reliable carriers available. Due to the sometimes overwhelming amount of carriers the consumer is exposed to, the greenberries staff has hand selected the brands and styles that we feel most confident in selling to you, our customer.  We are always mindful of safety as well as ergonomic positioning for your developing child.  Greenberries also carries a wide variety of carriers for varying stages in a child’s life, birth thru toddler. To help you get the most from your babywearing experience with your child, greenberries hosts monthly workshops as well as one-on-one consultations with certified babywearing educators on our staff. Our ‘berries team also attends expos, classes and workshops in the area to help troubleshoot carrier issues and spread awareness about babywearing properly. Regardless if you are an avid babywearing parent or looking to gain knowledge about the benefits of babywearing, we hope that you will visit our staff at greenberries to discuss carrier options and safety!

Greenberries is now your destination for Certified Babywearing Educators!

As we close out International Babywearing Week 2013, we are pleased to announce our staff of Certified Babywearing Educators! Greenberries is now the only store in Maryland with 4 Certified Babywearing Educators on staff. After a 3 day intensive workshop with Joanna McNeilly from the Center for Babywearing Studies, 4 of our staff members are officially certified to educate the public on proper babywearing and carrier use while helping fit the needs of each individual family. 

 Greenberries was host to a half dozen experts, post-partum and birthing professionals for this event, which spanned an in-depth and hands-on training on carriers from soft structures to ring slings, stretchy wraps to wovens, and everything in between. Within this, discussions and lectures were held over infant and child needs and development, parental needs and successful communication, safety in babywearing, the science behind babywearing, kangaroo care, and much more. 

Most importantly, the class brought the science, safety, and hands-on knowledge together to the most important goal of a Certified Babywearing Educator: finding the right carrier for the parent and baby together, strengthening the parent-child bond, and instilling confidence and comfort in the carrier the parent has chosen. Meeting with a CBE should leave a parent with all the tools and skills needed to choose the right carrier for them and their child, use it with comfort and confidence, and a trusted professional to turn to with any questions. 

Our Four Certified Babywearing Educators share a bit of their babywearing backgrounds and why they chose this course as a professional step: 




Cortney Baca: "My first experience with babywearing was after my son was released from NICU. I felt so separated and disconnected with him some days, and the Moby wrap was our go-to for building that inseparable bond through skin to skin, keeping him upright to ward off reflux, and simply keeping people's germy hands off my newborn in the cold and flu season he was born into. As I grew into a professional birth doula and greenberries staff member, this certification was the next logical step in helping other parents find that freedom and confidence I found as a new mom. Greenberries always looks for the highest in quality, service, and education, and the commitment to have such a well-trained staff just shows that. I'm thrilled to be a part of such a great business, there's no other in the area like it."

Amy Takemoto: "I have been babywearing for nine years, and teaching it to parents and caregivers for seven. As a certified babywearing educator, my goal with every consultation is to find a carrier that not only fits correctly, but will also deepen the connections between parent and child on a deeply fundamental level."


Alicia Haler: "I love babywearing because as a mama through adoption it gave me a way to bond with my daughter that I was not able to form by breastfeeding or by carrying her I'm my womb. I want all family's to know the joy and closeness that come from the bonds that babywearing helps form."

Rachel Baliff, on owning a shoppe that can bring parents closer to their children and be a resource for families who are looking for guidance in babywearing: "I missed out carrying my kids because I didn't want to make the investment, and I regret it to this day! I love helping new parents discover the joy, warmth, and closeness of babywearing, so I can live vicariously through them. I'm so excited that four of us are now CBEs, and we can become THE destination for babywearing education, sales, and support, throughout those early years through preschool."

 The staff at greenberries is so excited to share our knowledge with our customers. If the opportunity to meet with our Certified Babywearing Educators sounds perfect for you, please call to schedule a one-on-one consultation or check out our website for a calendar of our in store workshops and events. We can't wait to see you!