RecipeMuncher

Time for hay rides, grilled corn, and roasted pumpkin seeds. You couldn’t tell it was Fall with the heat, but it’s that time of year to go searching for the great pumpkin. If you can resist, bypass getting a pumpkin from a dirt lot in the middle of the city, or from a concrete parking lot at the grocery store. Take a day trip to one of the many outlying pumpkin farms around Los Angeles.

Check out the Halloween Harvest Festival at Pierce College right off the 101 in Woodland Hills. Leave your car at home and take the Orange line to the De soto Metro stop. Plus, your metro ticket gets you free admission! From Sept 26 - Nov 2 explore a corn maze, brave the haunted house, enjoy hay rides and more. If that sounds too kid friendly for you, the place takes on a special sinister quality after dark.

Lombardi Ranch in Saugus kicks off pumpkin hunting season on Sunday Sept 28th, with live music, a pumpkin carving and Scarecrow contest, a bake sale and free train rides. And every weekend through Oct 26, enjoy live music and prime pumpkin hunting grounds. Proceeds benefit breast cancer research.

A truly unique Halloween experience can be had at the Filmore & Western Railway Co. Starting Oct 4th, take a train ride on the Pumpkin Liner for . Start at the Filmore train station, ride out to a pumpkin patch, eat some tasty BBQ, traverse the haunted hay maze, and browse the arts and crafts booths.

Beginning Oct 4th is the Fulkner Farm Pumpkin Patch. Search their acres of bright orange pumpkins for the perfect pumpkin. There is a giant sunflower forest for the kids, towering hay pyramids, hay rides, farm animals, pony rides, mini train rides, face painting, a country store, delicious food and great entertainment.

On Oct 18th and 19th check out the family friendly pumpkin festival at Cal Poly. Choose from thousands of pumpkins right out of the patch. Eat and play games at the College of Agriculture student club booths or head over to our popular insect fair that runs from 9am - 4pm (located at AGRIscapes, next to the Farm Store). They also have a petting zoo, horse rides, entertainment, and lots of activities for kids. Admission is free, pumpkins are .

Also on the 18th and 19th is the Calabasas Pumpkin Festival, with free carnival games, car exhibits, animal exhibits, skateboarding demonstrations, contests & live bands. Carnival rides available at an extra charge.

And of course, there are those of you who for some reason are afraid to leave the confines of the city. So for you we have the Lopez Pumpkin Patch across from the Farmer’s Market and Mr Bones in Beverly Hills.

Printable version here.

Olan is another vegetable preparation which is very typical of Kerala. It is made of Ash Gourd (also known as Winter Melon) and Pumpkin (both very commonly available vegetables) and and a handful of cooked black-eyed beans simmered in coconut milk and then seasoned with a little coconut oil. There are no spices used with the exception of green chillies. Yet the green chillies do not make it spicy, just lend a flavour.

Despite having no spices (unusual in an Indian “curry”), this is not bland. It is very tasty, full of flavour with the slight sweetness of coconut milk. No traditional festive meal (called a “Sadhya”) in Kerala  is complete without an Olan.

Olan (Pumpkin and Ash Gourd/ Winter Melon in Coconut Milk) by Aparna

Tags: Ash, Coconut, Gourd, Melon, Milk, Olan, Pumpkin, Winter