Easiest, best pumpkin pie ever–not too strong a pumpkin taste and quick to prepare.

Bake and cool one 8 or 9 inch pie shell.

Prepare:
1 package Dream Whip: 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 tsp vanilla prepared as on package.

Mix:
1 package instant vanilla pudding (The big package or if you have 3.4 oz packages, use 1 and a half packages)
2/3 cup milk
1 cup canned pumpkin
3/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Combine 1 cup prepared dream whip with pudding, milk, spices and pumpkin mix. Beat slowly until mixed well about 1 minute.

Pour into baked and cooled pie shell. Refrigerate about 2 hours until set. Top with remaining dream whip.

This pie is quick to make and pleases even people that don’t much care for pumpkin pie!

In crockpot combine:

Two beef bones and beef stew cuts (about 1/2 to 3/4 pound of meat) The bones are critical in getting enough flavor in the soup. If you leave them out, make sure you use beef stock in place of any of the water.

4 diced celery stalks with leaves
1 diced potato
1/2 diced large onion
1 can tomatoes, diced
1/3 cup sliced green beans
3/4 cup barley or a mix of wild rice and barley
8 cups of stock/water (I use two cans of store beef stock and three cups of water. At the end, I add one more can of chicken stock to blend all the flavors. The canned stock contains a lot of salt, so no additional salt is required.)
1 cup diced carrots

Cook on high in crockpot, covered for 6 to 8 hours, until the meat falls into tender pieces. Add chicken or beef stock as it cooks if more liquid is needed. The barley/rice will soak up the liquid so check it several times. About two hours before you wish to eat, add 1 tablespoon of minced rosemary leaves (optional.)

At the end, remove the bones. Cut any large pieces of meat. Serve with toasted, buttered fresh bread.

At the BMB household we sat outside and gave out candy. This year’s star costumes:

The six year old neighbor kid dressed as a fairy–only her wings slipped and left them flapping at butt level as she ran from door to door.

The penguin toddler that decided to just go on in our garage like he owned the place. He appeared to be looking for a quiet place to lie down and take a nap.

The Ninjas. I asked every 5-year-old ninja (and there were a lot of them) for their best ninja pose. What did I get? Blank stares! “I don’t know.” Not a one seemed to know what such a pose might be! I found that remarkable.

The four-year-old superman. When I asked him for a pose, he stood there shyly and pulled on his cape. I thought it a good try for his age. It became a great try after he got his candy, he pushed his cape out behind him and ran down the driveway to make the cape fly! Then he looked back at us and said, “I got pose!”

I asked a ten-year-old kid with blinking red eyeballs and frankenstein-like cape for a pose. I kid you not, he gave me a “James Dean” cool pose. His dad stared at him and said, “I don’t think she meant a fashion pose, son!” The kid looked at dad and said, “What did she mean?” Dad shook his head and said, “It’s Halloween! You’re dressed as a monster! You’re supposed to be scary. A scary pose!” The kid thought about this (still half in his James Dean pose) and then said, “I haven’t got one of those.”

I ask a lot of kids what they are supposed to be. Best answer of the night came from a 10-year-old girl with a curly blue, long wig, a red cape with shamrocks, white face paint and bright lipstick: “Well, I ah…I’m just…I’m a…random…guy.” ???? ooo-kay!

It was a nice evening–not too hot or too cold. Fair number of kids, and all of them polite!