The Pumpkin House of 2010 is finished and open to display.

And it is magnificent!

We had to park a couple blocks away and it was only about 5 pm. This place will be packed after 7 o'clock.

This year there's food vendors lining the street. Cool!

Hot dogs with homemade sauce

Funnel cakes

Specialty burgers and fries

Popcorn and pizzas and Pepsi, oh my!

Still setting out pumpkins. Over 3000 so far with over 500 new carvings!

There's pumpkins honoring local schools.

And dead presidents.

The good ol USA and the military.

A little overly blatant plug for the homeowner Rick Griffith's 50's style pharmacy.

The nerve of that guy!

Displays.

All the pumpkins on this huge display are carved as musical instruments and notes. All the pumpkins on the grounds are lighted, but these are synched to music as well. This years music is The 1812 Overture.

This section off to the side is The Choir. Even has men's and women's sections!

Good grief, where do you stop? Sorry this is so long, but, there's over 3000 jack-o-lanterns here.

No way can I show them all.

So I'm gonna quit.

Right after this.

As a Halloween related treat, Rick says that he thinks the house is haunted by a ghostly little girl. I'm a bit of a skeptic, so he gave me this video clip as proof.

Skeptical as I am, there does seem to be something there. Do you see what I thought I saw?

Hahahahahahaha!

Have a frighteningly safe Halloween!!!

This years Pumpkin House, in Kenova, Wva, is scheduled to be finished on this Thursday. We plan on going over around noon on Friday to get some pictures.

*Last years PH*

If any area Xangans, or anyone that reads this, would like to go over Saturday evening while they're lit up and synched to music, let me know.

The weather is supposed to be pretty nice this weekend.

Should be fun!

You can read my past posts about this amazing house

2008 Here

2009 Here

There's an info post with a couple of videos

Here

And here is a post about the owner's 1950's style pharmacy

Here

Came in around 7:30, made coffee and a couple of phone calls.

Fired the boiler and turned on the compressor.

Cleaned the five trailers that were here waiting.

Grabbed a bite of lunch.

Got out the big-boy metal cutting hole saws and the 24 volt cordless drill.

I got me some conduit and new computer wires to run!

When we ran the new underground lines to the fuel island the overhead computer wires were still working, so we let it go for a while.

 Time to get the new ones hooked up and the old overhead lines down before winter hits.

Wasn't too bad. Couple of hours and they're safely inside the building, all weatherproof and watertight!

Got home and thought about doing some sightseeing with my buddy, John D.

Nah, don't think so!

It's 4 o'clock and starting to feel very much like beer-thirty!

What did you do today?

Normal stuff?

Or something different?

Anything at all?

Nothing?

Went up to change the light bulb in the upstairs bathroom for the second time in three days last Thursday evening. Thought it was a little odd that it had burned out so quickly. As I started to unscrew the bulb, sparks shot out from above the socket!

Yeah, I know. Turn the switch off first, Bud!

After turning off the switch, I grabbed a pair of pliers and a screwdriver and took the old light fixture down, and laid in on the pool table to check it out.

She looks in pretty bad shape, at first glance.

I'm pretty sure the light is the original one put in when the house was built over a hundred years ago. The screws holding the socket on were loose and both wires extremely frayed.

Figured I'd just run up to Lowe's and pick up one of these.

But on closer inspection, everything on the old fixture looked to be in good shape, and just needed some cleaning, tightening, and a little TLC!

First order of business was to clear of a little space on my oh-so efficiently organized workbench!

That's a little better!

After a thorough cleaning and re-aligning and tightening of all parts, I started putting her back together.

Notice, all the porcelain and ceramic pieces have matching slots and protrusions to keep everything lined up when tightened. Through the years vibrations from living next to a railroad track had loosened it all up. Everytime I changed a bulb all the pieces would turn while I tried to hold that little ceramic ring tight.

Started with a couple of new, non-frayed wires!

Since vibration is a problem here, I assembled all the pieces with a nice coating of 100% pure silicone sealer. When set it should make a firm rubbery bed to guard against vibration and make changing bulbs a lot easier!

Lookin' good!

Time to put her back up. Mght as well go Green while the going's easy!

Sometimes, I take too many pics. Now, I'm gonna have to paint that ceiling!

Put the old milkglass globe back on and it's time to throw the switch!

TAA-DAAAAA!!!

Another honey-dew, well done did.

Don't applaud, just throw money!

Wonder what time beer-thirty is coming today?

Got home around 4:30 and Karen had already added the flour and water and turned it up to high to cook for another hour.

So it's time to make some cornbread!

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

To start you need one of these. If you don't have one of these, you can't make cornbread. You can make something that resembles cornbread and may taste something like cornbread, but stop kidding yourself, it's not cornbread. Buy, beg, borrow or steal. It's essential!

This one was Karen's grandmother's cornbread pan.

******

The dry mix.

3/4 cup all pupose flour

1/2 cup cornmeal, yellow or white

2 tsps baking powder

1 and 1/2 tsps salt

1 tsp sugar

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 The wet.

1 cup milk, whole or buttermilk

(if you don't have buttermilk, you can add 1 tsp lemon juice to one cup whole milk, and let set for a few minutes. Now you do!)

two beaten eggs

1 tbsp corn oil

*****

In a mixing bowl, stir dry mix together well.

Spray iron skillet with cooking spray and add enough corn oil to cover the bottom. Place on burner and heat til the oil is hot.

While the oil is heating add the wet to the mixing bowl and stir quickly til everything is dampened and you have a nice smooth batter.

Note my mixing bowl, another precious family heirloom!

When the oil is hot, pour in the batter and let cook for 15 or 20 seconds to set the bottom crust.

Place in the preheated 400 degree oven and bake for 20 minutes.

Ten minutes in, and it's rising nicely!

When it's been in 15 minutes, I reach in with a potholder, and give it a shake and flip it a little to make sure it's not sticking.

And here is the secret to moist delicious cornbread. Do not brown the top in the oven. If you leave it in long enough to brown the top, it will be a dry, crumbly, nearly inedible thing indeed!

At 20 minutes, take it out of the oven, turn the heat up to broil, and slide it into the broiler!

Check it every few seconds, it will brown quickly!

Before long, you will have this.

Cornbread perfection!

Invert onto a plate. Check it out, it didn't stick to the pan!

Karen's always hoping it will stick on me, like hers does, but it never has. lol

I think it's time to eat!

Lordy, that was so good! Been a long day, my bellies full, and the couch is calling me.

G'night everybody!

The weather has definetly turned here in NE Kentucky. It's gone from 95 and 98 two weeks ago,  in the 80's last week, to highs in the 50's this week. Plus tomorrow is supposed to be overcast and rainy. Perfect weather for a big old pot of beef stew!

And it doesn't get any easier than this, unless you open a can of Dinty Moore. *blech*

The order of the layers is important, so you need to pay attention!

I do the prep work the night before and store it in the fridge overnight to let the flavors meld.

I start with one pound of peeled baby carrots.

Next, 3 to 4 celery stalks, rinsed and cut into one inch pieces.

All the veggies are cut into app. one inch pieces so they cook evenly.

One medium onion.

Three medium potatos.

Once the potatos are added, I season all the veggies with a little salt and pepper, a pinch of oregano and thyme, add three finely minced garlic cloves, one sixteen ounce can of chicken stock, and one small can of tomato sauce.

Next, comes two pounds of good lean stew beef, lightly salted and peppered.

The final layer is one 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper, another pinch of oregano and thyme, sprinkle with one tablespoon of Lee and Perrins worcestershire sauce, and a little sprinkle of cayenne pepper.

Cover.

And refridgerate overnight.

We start it around 7am on low and let it cook til we get home around four. You do not take off the lid or stir it during this entire cooking time. Everything needs to remain in it's assigned layer to cook properly.

When whichever of us get's home first we'll mix one tablespoon flour with 1/4 cup water and stir it in. At this time turn the heat to high, give it one more good stir, and cook for one more hour to thicken the broth.

It's nice to come home from a long rainy day at work to a thick hearty stew waiting on you, and the aroma that fills the house is heavenly!

All we'll have to decide tomorrow is whether we want rolls or cornbread to go with it.

I'll be voting on the cornbread.

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I'll post pics of the finished stew, and my cornbread recipe, tomorrow if there's any interest?