Halloween - grace grits and gardening

The Fault in Our Stars Pumpkin

October 28, 2014 By Talya Tate Boerner

I have an announcement. Sunday night, I finally watched The Fault in Our Stars. Am I the last (girl) person to see it? Probably so… Although I read the book months ago, the movie is haunting me. I’ve been thinking about the Shakespearean quote that inspired the title.

Since it’s pumpkin carving time at my house, I decided to do something a bit non-traditional. Instead of carving the typical bright orange pumpkin, I carved one of my gray-green pumpkins. I adore these peculiar pumpkins. They seem moody and broody, and if they could talk I’m certain they would say things like “whatever” while rolling their hollowed out eyes.

These are the teenagers of pumpkins, obnoxious yet with personality plus.

When I saw this star design pumpkin from Reader’s Digest, I knew exactly what I wanted to do—carve the night sky into my green pumpkin. I’d call it The Fault in Our Stars Pumpkin.

I gathered up all my pumpkin carving tools including a few nails, screws and screwdrivers. These would be used to make the star pinpoints.

First step of course was to clean it out. I wasn’t expecting this pale pumpkin to have such a rich, fragrant interior. It smelled more like a watermelon or cantaloupe than pumpkin.

This was truly an experiment in pumpkin carving. I made different sized holes to give the impression of star distances. And I avoided spacing the stars evenly because nature is random.

I extended rays from a few of the larger stars using a knife.

There was a hammer involved too.

The Fault in Our Stars pumpkin isn’t perfect. Like the quote infers, it isn’t meant to be.

can you find the little dipper?

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

Musical Pairing:

Ed Sheeren – All Of The Stars

Keiser’s Kitchen – a foodie blast from the past

October 3, 2014 By Talya Tate Boerner

Fall in the part of the Delta where I grew up meant harvest, football and countdown to the Keiser Halloween Carnival. Friends, it was THE big event in our little town. I’ve written about my reign as Halloween Queen HERE if you’d like to get background information. The thing to know for purposes of this post is that the PTA mothers raised money for the school primarily so their kid and class representative could wear the coveted cardboard glittery crown.

A.BIG.DEAL.

Way back in Nineteen Hundred and Sixty-Nine (gasp), the year I was nominated Queen of the second grade class, our most successful fundraiser was the Keiser cookbook, aptly named Keiser’s Kitchen.

This cookbook belongs in a museum showcasing middle twentieth century PTA Mom handiwork.

Way before computers and high speed copy machines and your choice of cool fonts, regular construction paper covers were cut to size, manually stapled and hand lettered using a Bic marker. Someone (probably Momma) collected and typed the recipes on a clunky manual typewriter before running them off on the mimeograph machine in the teacher’s lounge. And I’m sure there was sniffing. Sniffing the mimeograph paper was the reward at the end… (if you don’t know what I mean, you are showing your young age.)

What a labor intensive project compared to today’s technology.

Our copy of Keiser’s Kitchen is priceless.

During the upcoming fall weeks, I plan to recreate these dishes as presented (along with maybe a little story about the Keiser mom who originally submitted the recipe). There are over thirty recipes, so I won’t do all of them because really, how many Jell-o salads does one need? But I plan to make lots of them. I think we need to remember these recipes, taste this simple, basic food lovingly made by our mothers who saw to it that we gathered around the supper table every night for a family meal.

I’ll warn you now, there will be no salted caramel frosting or balsamic anything. But sometimes maybe that’s what we need.

Stay tuned!

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

Another Halloween

November 4, 2013 By Talya Tate Boerner

I am a scarecrow
Wielding two thousand pieces of candy,
One by one, to make it last.
Really? Yes, really. Two thousand…
Kids queue from curb to porch, an
Exceptional sunflower costume—
Xtra piece for you. Por Favor
Chocolate? Yes,
Everyone’s favorite. The
Line squirms and snakes
Longer, as the sugared-up and
Eager clamor for more, more.
Now wait—haven’t you already been here
Tonight? The hour grows
Late.
You refill my wine glass
Up to the rim. Even scarecrows
Need Pinot. Leftover lentil soup for
Dinner? What dinner? No time to
Eat. I’ll feast on Milk Duds.
Really it’s allowed tonight,
Practically expected.
Required even.
Enhanced excitement. Big
Sister reminding little brother—
Say ‘Trick or Treat’, don’t forget…
Underneath an almost full moon
Reawakened memories mold my thoughts,
Envelop me.
Really? You aren’t wearing a costume…
Even adults scam for sugar
Parading infants, holding them high, a
Lion King offering
Into the air as justification.
Eastward, clouds
Dance around the black treeline.
Quietly I creep from my post
Undetected during a lull in the sweet-
Eating throngs. This scarecrow is
Entirely out of goodies, down to one
Nasty, sticky piece lodged
In the bottom of her plastic cauldron.
Empty.Sorry, no mas.

Another Halloween - creative writing prompt - Munger Place

Munger Place Halloween

talya

Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

This was written especially for FEARLESS FRIDAY PRACTICE –An acrostic off the following phrase… “I work excellently under pressure,” replied Queenie.

Plus, include the following words: restless, lentil, sunflower, glass, overcast, air and mold.

P.S. If you are reading this post from your phone, the acrostic phrase may not line up correctly…Oh well.