Professional Clutz, Don't Try This at Home!

There are many things that should never be done at the same time because the results could be disastrous.  For instance, texting and driving or in my case talking and walking. 
Most morning are hurried in homes full of children that need to get to school and parents who need to get to work.  How we all make it out the door some mornings is a miracle.  As the "mom" I spend most of morning shouting exclamations to my children.  "Get dressed!", "Eat breakfast", "Stop talking and just eat!", "Brush your teeth", "Brush your teeth now and stop playing in the bathroom!", "Get your backpack!", "Don't forget your lunch!", "Let's go!".  There are many more but you get the idea.  No normal conversation occurs between me and my children in the morning.  I suppose I have conditioned them to be this way but I don't know how to do it differently and get the same outcome.  Perhaps Dr. Phil could weigh in. 
This morning was no different than any other except for the fact that I needed to get to work.  I volunteer in the kitchen of the Ogden LDS Temple every week.  I wanted to go to cooking school, but we can't afford it and I already have a full time job helping my children to successfully reach adulthood so getting paid doing anything is out.  I figured the next best thing was to work in a kitchen and learn from other people who had already gone to cooking school.  It has been fabulous!! 
I digress.  This morning I needed my children to be on time so that I could be on time.  I woke up early, showered, got dressed, put on make-up (this rarely happens), did my hair (this happens even less than the make-up) and began to race down the hall yelling orders at my children to get out of bed, I had to go soon.  In my haste to get down stairs I failed to factor in the skill required to carefully navigate stairs so as not to kill yourself combined with mommy nagging. 
I hit the top step with a bound and went for the second step only to find it didn't quite connect with my foot;  my really clean, dry, bare foot.  My bare feet had absolutely no traction and the dry winter weather doesn't help.  My foot went out from underneath me and I fell on my posterior and began to slide down the stairs rapidly.  Unfortunately my arms were already gripping the stair rails and I just grabbed them harder to try and stop myself.  This produced rather acute pain that I am really starting to feel now in my arms and neck.  My lower body launched down the stairs while my upper body was trying to hold me back.  Trying to change the laws of physics is painful.
When I finally stopped.  I noticed my husband standing at the bottom of the stairs staring at me with that horrified look I know so well.  It is a combination of how much is this going to cost and what part of her will be damaged now.  I assured him I was fine and I am pretty sure I was embarrassed.  Although, embarrassment isn't an emotion I express regularly anymore given the many opportunities I afford myself to be injured. 
Now that night is upon us, I can tell you my neck and shoulders are really sore.  I may need to see a chiropractor but I probably won't.  I have taken great care to pay attention as I have encountered stairs through out the day.  Doing this twice in one day would probably get me membership in a 12 step program.  Oh well, as my mom always says, "this too shall pass".

Pumpkin Pancakes

3 C Pancake Mix
4 eggs separated-whip up the eggs whites to fold in
1 tsp baking powder
3 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 1/4 C Water-added as needed to thin out batter
1 C Buttermilk
1 T Carnation Malted Milk Mix
2 C Pumpkin Puree-canned or homemade.  Other squash purees work fine in this recipe too.  I used acorn squash puree the other day and my family was none the wiser!  For how to make your own puree, How to cook your own pumpkin puree

In a small bowl beat the egg whites till stiff peaks form.
In a larger separate bowl, mix all of the other ingredients together with a wisk or electric mixer except the water.
Add water 1/4 cup at a time to the batter until you reach your desired consistency.  You don't need to add all of the water.  The weather will play a role in how much water is needed.  Humid, less water; dry, more water.
Fold the egg whites into the batter completely.
Using a 1/3 cup measuring cup, pour batter onto an electric griddle set at 375 degrees.
Cook for 2-3 minutes on the first side then flip over to cook for another 2 minutes on the other side.  Before flipping, the pancake batter should bubble up and the bubbles should pop.  Then you know they are ready to flip.   
They taste wonderful with maple syrup!
Add thin apple slices to the batter for an extra yummy treat!

How to Cook a Pumpkin and other large squash

I cook when I am stressed out and I had a whopper of a stressful day last week waiting to hear how my father was doing in the hospital.  So, I baked a leftover Halloween Pumpkin.  It was huge too.  It was the only one that wasn't carved and it took most of the afternoon to do it so it kept me occupied.  It was easy enough to do.  I don't think I will ever buy pumpkin in a can from the store ever again.   This process can be applied to any large squash, i.e. acorn, butternut, banana, etc.  The flavor is similar from one squash to the next and can be interchanged in recipes with little notice. 
Cooking a Pumpkin:
Cut up pumpkin-discard seeds and innerds
Place pumpkin pieces face down on jelly roll pans or casserole dishes.  Whatever oven safe pans you have.
Put some water in the bottom of the pan or dish so the pumpkin doesn't dry out in the oven. (about 1/2 to 1 inch)
Bake at 375 degrees until the pumpkin is tender and fork will easily go into it.
Take out and let cool till you can touch them.
Scrape cooked pumpkin off the skin into a large bowl.  I used a fork and it worked great.
Put pumpkin pulp into either a blender, food processor, or a bowl and use a stick blender to puree in the bowl.  I used the stick blender and it worked great.  Less mess and it purees really fast.  The food processor works well too.  You may have to add a bit of water to it to get it the consistency you want in the blender or food processor. 
Put pumpkin puree into freezer bags and freeze till you want to use them.
Canning pumpkin puree is not safe because commercial equipment must be used.  I found freezing works just fine.