Pumpkin-on-a-stick

I follow the Iowa-based Earl May Garden Center on Facebook, and a recent post encouraged customers to check out the Pumpkins-On-A-Stick now in stores.  I had never heard of pumpkins-on-a-stick, so I did a quick Google search and discovered that the plants are very popular for fall flower arrangements.

The plant is actually an eggplant, not a pumpkin.  The thorny branches start to bud into white blossoms, which grow into tiny green fruit that turns orange in the fall. The eggplant looks like a tiny pumpkin.  Earl May offered the plants in decorative pots, with artificial fall leaves to add a little more holiday color.

The average first freeze date in central Iowa is just a few weeks away, so I decided to just place the pot inside the concrete planter by our front step. (Plus, the plant has some sharp thorns, which I didn't want to touch!)  I planted a few pansies around the pot to help hide the plastic container.

Here's a couple close-up shots of the pumpkin-on-a-stick.  The orange leaves are artificial, but the orange pumpkin-shaped fruit is real. If you look closely, you can see the white blooms and the green fruit that hasn't turned orange yet.

It was a bit of a splurge -- the plant cost $20 -- but I really like the festive fall color it adds to my front porch.  Have you ever grown pumpkin-on-a-stick?  I had never heard of it before until I read about it on Facebook.

2012 World Food Festival, Des Moines

Once again, I ate my way through the World Food Festival in Des Moines last weekend.  I was blown away by the variety of food offered by the vendors this year.  I would say that the World Food Festival is now favorite food-related event -- even better than the Iowa State Fair. And that's saying a lot!

Last year, my favorite booth was the Ethiopian Association's.  So that was my first stop this year.  I ordered the mild chicken wot with vegetables and rice.  As my husband says, anything with curry has got to be good.  I loved all the spices in this -- fresh pepper, rosemary, curry.  I wolfed down this whole dish!

The $1 sample at the Iowa Machine Shed booth was the chocolate bacon chipotle cookie. Look how gorgeous this cookie is!  And it's coated in chocolate!  This was easily my favorite treat at the World Food Festival this year.

I told myself I was only going to get one dessert, but I couldn't resist this "special edition" cupcakes from my favorite bakery, the Ames Cupcake Emporium.  These are Iowa cupcakes, made with bacon and cornflakes.  That's a little candy pig on the top!

I stood in line for 10 minutes for the one item I was really looking forward to trying, the Hello Gourdgeous pizza from Gusto Pizza Co.  It's a pizza topped with butternut squash, red onions and sage.  I've been wanting to make a squash pizza at home, so I was excited to try this out.

Sorry for this photo of the half-eaten pizza, but I wanted to show you the pumpkin-puree "sauce" that topped the pizza. So creative!

So fellow Iowans, did any of you visit the World Food Festival this year?  What was your favorite dish?  There was so much to try, it was hard to choose what to indulge in.

Gap in apple pie crust?

OK, this isn't the prettiest pie.  You'll just have to trust me when I say it was delicious. It was so good, I ate a slice for breakfast the next day!  But as you can see, there was a gap between the pie crust and the apple pie filling.  I stacked the apple slices so high they were tumbling off the pan before I placed the final crust.  But the filling still cooked down so much that there was a gap under the crust.

At first, I thought it was the variety of apples that caused the problem.  I bought the apples at the nearby Center Grove Orchard in Cambridge.  How cute is this farm store?!

The late freeze and summer drought have cut this year's apple crop, and not all the varieties are available yet.  I asked the orchard staff what was the best for baking pie.  They recommended that I use a mix of McIntosh apples and Gala apples (since the Gala apples were on sale).

When I saw the gap in the pie crust, I searched the Internet for an answer to why it happened.  Then I got the bright idea to call the Iowa State University Extension Answerline, which is staffed by home economists. And they answered my question right away.  Turns out, I needed to cook the apple pie filling before placing it in the pie.  They also recommended that next time, I try a different variety than Gala apples, which are actually better for eating than baking.  So glad I thought to call the Answerline!

Oh, and if you're looking for a basic apple pie recipe that's similar to the one I tried, here's a good one from Pillsbury.

Do you have any apple pie baking tips?  I'm always looking for advice in the kitchen.