A little bit obsessed.

Nearly finished 

I'm sorry I have been neglecting my blog these past two months. I'm not working, so have plenty of time to devote to research and writing but I have discovered a new love and, rather than sit in my comfortable leather office chair in front of the computer, I am drawn upstairs to a previously unloved and ignored third bedroom where I have set up a picnic table and garden chair.  I can happily spend hours sitting here despite the lack of home comforts. I have discovered the joys of dabbling in water colours and don't really want to do anything else.   Vegetables are the obsession at the moment and I bought a large pumpkin in the market last week just so I could paint it.  That achieved I had to do something with it. In the past I would have made Teo's favourite Kabak Tatlısı, sweet baked pumpkin, which I like but one spoonful is enough for me. I was also feeling lazy so didn't want to peel and chop this hard and knobbly specimen. So I just cut it in half, turned it flesh down and baked it for 40 minutes at 200 degrees C.

Turn upside down to cook,  quite a lot of liquid is produced.

Allowing a little time to cool down, it was easy to scoop out the seeds and then spoon out the rest of the now pureed flesh. A quarter went into my vegetable soup, a quarter into Jake's brown rice and mince that I cook up every week (According to Mr. Google it is good for dogs with delicate stomachs) and half into a sieve to drain away the excess moisture.  A pumpkin cake is in the oven as I write.  If it works I will post the recipe tomorrow.