A green Halloween, what a great concept.  Yesterday I wrote about how my girlfriend and I have been creating Halloween recipes with a pumpkin we bought for $3 and so far has provided over 30 meals for us.  A good friend of mine Scott Bird wrote an article recently about 10 ways to make your Halloween more environmentally friendly.  Some very straight forward ideas for a green Halloween.

Another buddy wrote a Halloween Workout using pumpkins, hay bales and other odds and ends from the holiday he found around his house.

Tomorrow is Halloween, I hope you have a safe and eco friendly Halloween and then eat your pumpkins

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At 39 years of age, I finally attended my first Oktoberfest. I’m no longer an Oktoberfest virgin.

Darlene, myself, Paulette and Darlene’s brother in law Troy attended the Oktoberfest celebration this past Saturday night at the Shaw Conference Center. Doors opened at 6:30, but we left home at 7:30. We were wondering when they would stop serving food (how late I mean) and we risked it. It seemed that they kept serving to at least 9 PM. So if you’re wondering this yourself, I would risk it up until 9 PM for the years coming.

Music was provided by some Umpah pah band for the most part of the early evening and then David Wilcox for the rest of the night. Troy didn’t believe me that David is blind. I’m not completely sure if he’s blind, but I do know that after a show at the Edmonton Northlands Exhibition a few years ago, he had to be led off stage after his set. A guy came out, stood in front of David, put David’s hand on his shoulder and then led him off stage.

So at the end of David’s set, sure enough, a guy came out and led David off stage. Anyone have any confirmations or explanations on this?

Paulette borrowed a “Helga” outfit from a friend in Calgary and it was a big hit.	My girlfriend Darlene and Paulette a few drinks into the evening
This has been officially named the “Coop scarey face” by Koralee Nickarz.	This is where the evening begins to get a bit weird. A typical photo taken by Paulette. I should do a post of “just” Paulette’s breasts. I could fill a page.
This is the only photo completely approved by Darlene for showing. The top one I like, you know, the green Oktoberfest hat, great looking girl, etc, but Dar’s not too happy with herself in it. So, the top one of Us, I like and this one is Dar approved.Is Oktoberfest a Holiday? anyone know? Or just a celebration of sausages, beer and music?

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My girlfriend and I have been creating some great Halloween recipes over the past week or so preparing them for her whole food recipe section on my weight loss blog. We realized that there is an abundance of pumpkins this time of year, most of which are being used for pumpkin carvings. We’re eating them.

A single pumpkin that cost $3 has provided enough for 3 recipes and over 30 servings. That’s a pretty good ROI if you ask me.

This is the Halloween Pumpkin that we bought. Like I said, $3.

One recipe we created was a Spiced Pumpkin Apple Curry and the most recent was a Smokin’ Pumpkin and Corn Chowder. We still have one more left to make, and the one I’m most looking forward to, Darlene’s Spiced Pumpkin Pancakes.

I gotta say, I love curry and so far, the Pumpkin Apple Curry is my favorite. Made with Pumpkin and Butternut squash and apples. Mmmmm,

From what I know, most people carve their pumpkins, put a candle in them, place them in the window for Halloween night and then throw them away. I mean this is a popular time of the year for pumpkins. There are many great deals on pumpkins especially after Halloween night. Buy them, carve them up into freezable portions and then eat them over the next few weeks or months.

If you’re not familiar with pumpkins as food, pumpkins are a member of the squash family just as Spaghetti squash, Butternut squash, Acorn squash and the one you’re probably most familiar with, the Zucchini.

I was not aware of this:

Though considered a vegetable in cooking, botanically speaking, squash is a fruit (being the receptacle for the plant’s seeds), and not a vegetable.

-source (wikipedia)

Na, it’s a vegetable.

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You know, I don’t know what to write as a leading paragraph for this video about Sam Harris’ thoughts on religion and faith. There is a lot of discussion right now on my other blog about beliefs. It’s become a hot topic. Sam brings up the fact in the first part of this video about the fact that very few of us respect the beliefs of others. I’m finding that to be the case as well. I believe that we each have the right to believe what we want, regardless of what that is. I will not censor any comments on any of my blogs with the exception of hate.

Raised by a Jewish mother and a Quaker father, Sam studied Buddhism during a leave from Stanford. He’s currently working on a doctorate in Neurology specifically in the area of belief.

“The end is at last near!” It’s a tremendously appealing story, widely held now and in history. It has consequences, and that’s the subject of this Seminar About Long-term Thinking by Sam Harris, author of the incendiary, reverse-apocalyptic book, THE END OF FAITH.

“Faith is the license that religious people give one another to keep believing when reasons fail. To keep believing in the absence of evidence. This is unacceptable in any other area of our lives”
- Sam Harris

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