IF IT WEREN'T DANGEROUS IT WOULDN'T BE FUN - 2

The weather was sunny and the snow was deep.

 Plus every ride down began with a free ride to the top courtesy of Crazy Chris’s Four Wheeler Haulage.

 

Which was also an excuse for Crazy Chris to hot rod the hill.

Sledders shot down with their face a few inches from frozen slush.

 Well…some went down in reverse.

 Screaming was optional.

 What just happened?

 Grab the sled and catch another ride to the top.

 Rider down.

 No serious injury.  Just dust off and go again.

 Yeeee---Haw!

 Skills!

 Clear the hill for one last ride.

 Load up the toys and go home.

IF IT WEREN'T DANGEROUS IT WOULDN'T BE FUN - 1

Back in the days before dirt we went downhill in the snow on evil sleds made of wood and nails.  The sleds could shoot our tiny bodies out into traffic or run over us with their metal blades. 

Then there was the long slog back up the hill in sodden snow pants, frozen cloth mittens and our brother's old boots.

Now sledding is an excuse for Crazy Uncle Fergus to crank up the ATV and provide rides to the top even wilder than..

out-of-control rides to the bottom.

If one sled isn't wild enough, try a sled train.  

But it helps to have a little faster snow.

I was learning how to take videos with my Nikon.  

I missed some great shots because of mitten fumbles, pushing wrong buttons and bad focus.

This is a GIF, (however you want to pronounce it) I created. Still learning about this process.

Part 2--still photos.

NEVER SAY "NO" TO PIE

I’m not sure why three or four butternut squash plants grew in an empty space in my garden last summer.  We weren’t home a lot of the time.  Maybe some guy traded his cow for seeds and ditched them in the dirt before he went home to avoid defending his irrational act.

 

 I let them grow since they discouraged weeds, but they never grew tall enough to climb.  Still, I didn't think we’d have a growing season long enough for butternut squash to mature.

 I was wrong. 

Then I had the challenge of what to do with a dozen squash.

 We gave away a few to neighbors.  Our granddaughter painted up a bunch to decorate our place for Halloween.

 I tried a butternut soup recipe I saw on television.  The general consensus on that dish was, “Meh.”

 We like baked squash. But even after all that we still had a stack of the guys, now with faces, staring at us when we walked by their spot in the  basement.  And months later they were still as good as the day we picked them.

 So I peeled and scooped out the seeds of one, cut it in chunks and steamed it in the microwave oven for about 10 minutes.

When the squash was cool, I mashed it up…

 …and used some of it instead of pumpkin to make pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.

I still had about two cups of squash left.  It was pie time.  Using Libby’s Famous Pumpkin Pie recipe: 

I tossed the cooked squash chunks into a blender, poured in the evap. milk, and the eggs and some grated fresh ginger and kicked it on.

 I added in the sugar and spices and poured the whole mix into a waiting unbaked pie shell.  Soon the whole house smelled like Thanksgiving.

 The not pumpkin pie was a hit.  DH said he liked it much better than pumpkin.  So did I.

  

"Vegetables are a must on a diet.  I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread and pumpkin (or butternut) pie."—Garfield the Cat