Dreams and their Meaning

[flowerbug]

Free-range thought. In our sleep, the mind is unconstrained, and even the deepest memories are accessible.

Memory is a funny thing. When I as young, I had nearly photographic memory; I could read a textbook once, and remember everything. That sure changes as we get older! I think that cumulative memory has a way of over-writing the "mental chalkboard", to the point where I can pull out some of my old dusty sci-fi books & enjoy re-reading them. Maybe fodder for more creative dreams in the near future.

i've re-read some books lately that i've not read in 20 or more years. saves on the budget and library runs when the weather is bad or i just don't feel like going out in the cold. books i've read recently i remember well enough but back past 10 years or so i can usually do ok and enjoy the book again. other books i re-read every year (Dune and The Hobbit and TLOTR books and Enders Game and Speaker for the Dead, Songbird and The Two Faces of Tomorrow are all books i re-read on a pretty regular schedule). there's some others i also re-read but those are the main ones that i really enjoy and find much in each time to keep me interested in. always looking for good science fiction and fantasy authors. but i'm really picky.

just yesterday i finished The Hobbit again for the somewhere in the 30ths time. and i re-read another sci-fi book which i'd forgotten enough to enjoy it called The Turing Option which was ok, but i really didn't like the ending. i like about any book which is AI oriented if there is any sort of realistic descriptions of what may bring about an actual intelligence. i've re-read Dune recently enough too and appreciated that it still does well and holds up with the changes even if it was written so long ago.

 

[Marie2020]

haha! peanut butter and apples is always Mom's thing. i like it ok, but i usually go for other things.

i like peanut butter on about anything, carrots and raisins a bit of cinnamon, celery. another calorie boost is cream cheese. also goes good with many vegetables. we make veggie pizza with crecent roll crust and cream cheese mixed with ranch dressing mix and then topped with various sliced veggies. almost everyone likes it. onions are the toughest sell. we love onions on and in almost everything but not everyone else does. if she doesn't like the ranch dressing mix in the cheese she may just like plain cream cheese. i can always find ways of adding more calories to about anything. a simple spice or pumkin cake can be cut in half and put a layer of cream cheese frosting (cream cheese, butter and powder sugar) in between and some other frosting on top if you want, but my sister makes punkin rolls so when she's made the thin cake layer and when it is still warm she rolls it up with the cream cheese frosting/filling and... yum... you can tell i've not had elevenses yet or even onesies.

i bet she may also like any kind of custard/punkin combination as that is a lot like squash so you can hide calories in that too. cream, sugar, eggs, spices, what's not to like? punkin pie without the crust IMO.

Pumpkin pie us something I have never tried. I can only get hold of squash which too me is very similar.

I've never had confidence in pastry making, I so wish I could get over this because I would love too try a slice of pumpkin pie

 

[flowerbug]

Pumpkin pie us something I have never tried. I can only get hold of squash which too me is very similar.

I've never had confidence in pastry making, I so wish I could get over this because I would love too try a slice of pumpkin pie

you don't need a crust IMO. if you can make a custard then you can add to that pumpkin puree which is same as squash puree in our country. if you can't get fresh and don't want to cook and mix it then there are canned versions available (a bit too sweet for my own tastes but that's ok).

good pastry is an art form. i love it too. but i can also do without. custards and puddings can have so many forms that i doubt i can ever get sick of them. ok, to get back on topic you could say i'd happily dream about custards and puddings.

 

[Marie2020]

you don't need a crust IMO. if you can make a custard then you can add to that pumpkin puree which is same as squash puree in our country. if you can't get fresh and don't want to cook and mix it then there are canned versions available (a bit too sweet for my own tastes but that's ok).

good pastry is an art form. i love it too. but i can also do without. custards and puddings can have so many forms that i doubt i can ever get sick of them. ok, to get back on topic you could say i'd happily dream about custards and puddings.

Now we are talking of sweet dreams at their best

 

[Marie2020]

@flowerbug
Would squash work the same?. I have a little mini blender I could have a bash at using.

 

[flowerbug]

@flowerbug
Would squash work the same?. I have a little mini blender I could have a bash at using.

in some places they don't have different names for squash and pumpkins. i agree with that. however, you do want the more dense types of squash and not the wimpy ones that are more often used as summer vegetables. i think pumpkin was used more traditionally because often they don't have as dense of flesh and not as much flavor as some of the squash so they added spices to cover up the lacks (IMO of course). buttercup and kabochas i think would work great, if too dense you can cut them with lighter squash. whatever you like really. i've never used a blender on squash, i just mash them up after cooking them and that is good enough for me, a few lumps won't do me in.

 

[digitS']

The most popular canned pumpkin in the US is a variety of squash something like a butternut. The pie recipe on those cans and the website is the one I use with my own garden squash - although I don't often grow butternut or their near kin.

The etymology information that I have come across says that the word "pumpkin" was the name of the European melon and derived from "pepo," "pompon" - a reference to those vining fruits. Pumpkins and squash are from the Americas.

I've made custard pies and tapioca puddings, the latter quite regularly. Other than the obvious similarity between custard pie and pumpkin pie, I've never thought to make a pumpkin custard, @Marie2020 .

However. It should work fine ... Hey! Look what I found PBS recipe .

Steve

 

[meadow]

Pumpkin pie us something I have never tried. I can only get hold of squash which too me is very similar.

I've never had confidence in pastry making, I so wish I could get over this because I would love too try a slice of pumpkin pie

When we make pumpkin pie with a crust, we use this rustic (non-pastry) recipe:

Oat Flake Piecrust
from Eunice Farmilant's, Natural Foods Sweet-Tooth Cookbook, p 101

1 1/2 cup oat flakes
3/4 cup brown rice flour [wheat flour is fine]
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/3 cup cold oil
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 Tablespoons crushed nuts or seeds

1 egg, optional
2 to 3 Tablespoons cold water or fruit juice

Mix together the first 6 ingredients. Dough should be very crumbly. Add egg and a small amount of water. As soon as dough begins to hold together stop adding water.

Dough will be very soft and doesn't need to be rolled out. For a bottom crust, simply press dough into a pie pan with your fingers. For a top crust, crumble over pie filling.

Meadow's Tip: When patting dough into pie pan, start by forming the sides. This allows an even thickness and pretty edge to be achieved, while the remaining dough can be spread evenly across the bottom.

Normally we don't use a crust. Lately though we've been cooking up the remaining pumpkin from last season and freezing individual slices of pie. If making 'pumpkin pudding', we use the same recipe as for pie (recipe from can of Libby's pumpkin puree) but with half the liquid. We also substitute a small amount of maple syrup for the sugar, add a generous serving spoon of blackstrap molasses [similar to your black treacle] and some fresh ginger if available.

eta: canned coconut milk works well as a dairy substitute

 

[Marie2020]

When we make pumpkin pie with a crust, we use this rustic (non-pastry) recipe:

Oat Flake Piecrust
from Eunice Farmilant's, Natural Foods Sweet-Tooth Cookbook, p 101

1 1/2 cup oat flakes
3/4 cup brown rice flour [wheat flour is fine]
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/3 cup cold oil
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 Tablespoons crushed nuts or seeds

1 egg, optional
2 to 3 Tablespoons cold water or fruit juice

Mix together the first 6 ingredients. Dough should be very crumbly. Add egg and a small amount of water. As soon as dough begins to hold together stop adding water.

Dough will be very soft and doesn't need to be rolled out. For a bottom crust, simply press dough into a pie pan with your fingers. For a top crust, crumble over pie filling.

Meadow's Tip: When patting dough into pie pan, start by forming the sides. This allows an even thickness and pretty edge to be achieved, while the remaining dough can be spread evenly across the bottom.

Normally we don't use a crust. Lately though we've been cooking up the remaining pumpkin from last season and freezing individual slices of pie. If making 'pumpkin pudding', we use the same recipe as for pie (recipe from can of Libby's pumpkin puree) but with half the liquid. We also substitute a small amount of maple syrup for the sugar, add a generous serving spoon of blackstrap molasses [similar to your black treacle] and some fresh ginger if available.

eta: canned coconut milk works well as a dairy substitute

Thank you.

This reads as an interesting alternative I will eventually experiment with this recipe, it may be good with apples as well

 

[meadow]

Thank you.

This reads as an interesting alternative I will eventually experiment with this recipe, it may be good with apples as well

You're welcome. It is good with apples! The original recipe was for a pie that had a mashed sweet potato filling, topped with applesauce made from Gravenstein apples.