Sunday, October 01, 2006

Pumpkin Patch


We took Miss F to the Pumpkin Patch this weekend. I had visions of us going out to the farm, walking through the fields to pick out our perfect pumpkin. Alas, we did not get to fullfill that vision (nor did we get to wear sweaters and bring a thermos of hot cocoa since it was 95 degrees out). We went out to Dewberry Farms and while we had a blast, their pumpkin patch was bare. We got to pick our pumpkin from various displays around the farm. Still, Miss F got to try to feed her zweiback toast to a goat, saw a donkey for the first time and enjoyed being pulled by her dad, the clydesdale, while she sat back in her royal carriage (aka Radio Flyer wagon) . We didn't go in the corn maze and while from our vantage point it looked like, well, corn...from the sky, it was cut into an homage to Jeff Bagwell, an Astros Player.

Miss F seems to be on the mend. While having both an ear infection and RSV, she's cutting a tooth, too. It's been good times in the B household the past 4 days. And, it appears she's learned how to throw a tantrum. We met with the parents of the children in her daycare class and discovered many of them have this talent, too. I was thinking it was karma coming around to kick me in the rear--giving me the first kid to hit the Terrible 2's in her 11th month.

Besides the Pumpkin Patch and the Playful Piglet Parent meeting (yeah, playful piglet, hope that doesn't give her a complex later in life...and can there be any more P's in that sentence?!?!?) we also went to the park to meet some friends. We had a busy weekend.

In honor of my appearance on the Rachael Ray Show (Oct. 11th), I'm trying to be included in my cousin Madeline's Rachael Ray Round-up. So...on Saturday night we fired up our new, propane grill and cooked Rachael's "Cubano Pork Burgers and Sweet Orange Warm Slaw" from her Get Real cookbook (which is autographed now, FYI). Here's the recipe:

1 3/4 lb. ground pork
4 garlic cloves, chopped
zest and juice of 2 navel oranges
1 tblspoon ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp coriander
3 tbls yellow mustard
several drops of hot sauce
salt and pepper
vegetable oil
12 pickle slices, dill garlic or sour
4 deli slices ham
4 deli slices swiss
1 small red onion, thinkly sliced
1/4 c. red wine vinegar
1 tbls honey
1 16 oz coleslaw mix
1 small red bell pepper
4 rolls, split

In a bowl combine the ground pork, half of the chopped garlic, half of the orange zest, the cumin, coriander, mustard, hot sauce, salt and pepper. Score the meat into 4 sections and then form 4 large patties about 1 in. thick.

Grill burgers (Rachael suggest a grill pan). Top with 3 pickles, a slice of ham, and a slice of swiss. Keep on the grill while the toppings heat up.

While the patties are cooking, make the sweet orange warm slaw. Preheat a large skillet with vegetable oil (I did 2 turns of the pan). Add the remaining garlic and sliced onion. Cook for 1 minute. Add the orange zest, the juice from the oranges, red wine vinegar, and honey. Continue cooking the dressing for 1 minutes. Turn the heat off and add the coleslaw mix, red bell pepper, and salt and pepper. Tossing to coat in the warm dressing.

Serve your Cubano burgers on the rolls with the warm slaw both on top of the burger and alongside.

These were tasty burgers. Even Miss F enjoyed 1/4 of one!

4 comments:

Madeline said...

Oh, you are sooooo in the Roundup. And you posted that on my birthday, so you get double bonus points.

Hope said...

You know, Hailey just had a cold a week or two and I swear that this was her first cold that didn't turn into a ear infection, run a temp or cough like a seal cold. Hang in there. Someday Miss F will have just a regular, old fashioned cold that doesn't require an office visit copay.

Cari said...

I love Pumpkins!! (and pumpkin bagels from Einsteins)

We are taking Emma to the Pumpkin patch next weekend!

Miss y'all!!!

Jay said...

Don'tcha just love fall?!! We're going to spend part of the honeymoon kicking up leaves in Central Park.