The Great Glass Pumpkin Patch and Red Flannel Hash



Hellooooooo! My last post was August 15th. What the heck was I doing for a month and a half that kept me away from blogging? Gee..it's hard to remember. Watching the passing of summer into fall? Counting my adorable little mini bell peppers as they ripened? Working with my newer bunch of Goos to get them used to sitting on my shoulder? Check. Check. Check.

But the real boring story is that I've been busy working. Boo! Oh yes. However, VeganMoFo III is here to save me once again. This is my second year participating and I have been anticipating it all year! Last year's MoFo gave me the opportunity to meet so many other vegan bloggers online..and it didn't just end with VeganMoFo..we read and comment on each others' blogs regularly. We all know it's hard to find a big group of vegan friends because we are such a small percentage of the population so finding friends online is almost imperative for any vegan looking for a little cooking know-how, support or other tidbits! Hello MoFo!

To start of my "MoFo'ing" here are some pictures I took this weekend at the MIT glass pumpkin festival. The glass studios at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) do this as a fundraiser for the studio. They do one preview only day where you can look and touch but not buy. Not only is this helpful for my budget, it avoids the madness of the next day where swarms of people descend upon the MIT campus to purchase the pumpkins!

The glass studios put all the pumpkins under a tent on tables. In past years, the pumpkins are all spread out on the glass but since it's a rainy weekend in New England, this wasn't possible.

Literally overwhelming how many different styles and shapes of pumpkins were present!

From more traditional "pumpkinish" colors to crazy colors..

I hope these people brought their checkbooks..the pumpkins are expensive. From $40 for a small, tiny little pumpkin the size of a medium tomato...

To much higher prices..such at the price for this adorable little glass gourd..I loved him immediately but the sticker shock made me that realize he and I were not meant to be! $245..ow!

Of course this is putting me into the mood baking...unfortunately I don't have a cute little pumpkin recipe to share with you so more on that later. Instead I am going to share this weekend's experiment: New England Red Flannel Hash.

This is an old New England dish..I remember my mom making this when I was a little kid and for some reason I think it was always after skiing. Since my fridge is overrun with beets, it seemed to be an ideal time to try to veganize this old favorite. The result was tasty..H had a few servings which is always a good benchmark.

New England Red Flannel Hash (adapted from "Old New England Recipes" by Bear Wallow Books)

4 tbsp. vegan margarine
1/2 cup chopped onion
3 cups boiled potatoes, diced
2 cups (cooked or canned) beets, diced
2 cups vegan corned beef alternative*
1/2 cup soy or almond milk
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. hot sauce (or more to taste)

Melt the margarine in a frying pan and sauté onion, Stir in remaining ingredients in order given. Cook and slowly brown. When crust forms, turn as an omelet.**

*I used Gardein BBQ pulled shreds..Lifelight's steak tips would work fine too.
**Mine never turned omelette-y so I just served it as is and it was fine!