Soup Weather

Hi guys! Soup weather! Sweater weather! Long amber sunsets and early darkness, chilly nights and sunny days.

As the days get short and colder I think most of us start thinking of hot comfort food, stews and casseroles, and especially hot bowls of homemade soup.

The other week I gave my friend a bag of  Honey Crisp apples, [her fave] from the farmers market. I thought she'd enjoy crisp apples for her brown bag lunches. Instead she made the most delicious amazing Apple-Butternut Squash soup.

She brought me some to try. Very different, and soooo good. Almost sweet, but savory and nutty.

Here is her texted recipe

Apple-Winter Squash Soup, by LK

1 butternut squash, 2 Honey Crisp Apples [or any XL large apples], 4 Cups chicken broth [or veggie broth], 3 shallots, half a large sweet onion, salt, pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, coconut milk.

Roast cubed butternut squash in oven 375*, about 1 hour.

Peel and cube 2 large apples.

Add to stock pot with onions, butter, spices. [I'd saute the onions  gently first,

she doesn't say though.]

Add stock and bring to a simmer.

Add squash and shallots to stock pot, simmer 20 / 30 minutes.

Use an immersion blender [or hand mixer] , blend until smooth.

Add 1 Cup coconut milk. Simmer until warm. Done! Yum!

*****

Served with a green salad and crusty bread, this soup makes a hearty and nutritious autumn or winter supper.

Mel had some lovely soup suggestions too. A cabbage/ veggie/ smoked sausage soup:
cabbage-and-smoked-sausage-soup

 Or this one, which uses fresh kale.

kielbasa-kale-stew

And I want to try this one: slow cooker cauliflower/ sweet potato soup.

All these soups are wonderful ways to enjoy the autumn harvest finds from the farmers market. So fun to shop outside on a crisp seaside October day.

Do you have a favorite soup recipe? Or a favorite soup, if you're not a soup maker yourself? I grew up with canned soups, Campbell's only: tomato, chicken noodle, chicken rice. Best with American cheese grilled cheese and chips, dill pickles, not an everyday event at our house. Otherwise, the only soup was my dad's truly awful leftover-turkey carcass & rice soup. To avoided at all costs on the day after Thanksgiving.

[oh and, in later years, my mom's excellent homemade cream of leek soup, and brandy-laced French onion soup. These were rare treats indeed, often simmering on the stove when I'd come home from college, a long drive/ late cold night. She'd make a stack of tiny rye bread/ rare roast beef/ horseradish sandwiches to go with. My dad would be making homemade donuts! Friends loved coming home with me for a weekend, as you can imagine.]

love

lizzy

gone to the beach.....

Here's my Food file on Pinterest, if you're looking for more ideas, or just for fun. food

Dressing Up for October

Hi guys! The cold spell earlier this week finally got me going on my October home dress up. Probably won't keep the brilliant tomato soup orange pillows til Thanksgiving. I'll see how long I can tolerate them. Right now I like them a lot, the rooms just seem so cheery when I walk in.

Lots of things you've seen before. But every year it's all a bit different too.

Even Mo gets an autumn quilt for his crate.

This is my white pumpkin, on a blue transferware plate. I like to keep some small spots of my usual calmer blue and white.

Restful little corners....

I love anything woodland-y, things like moss and fallen leaves and acorns. I got this  great garland somewhere, on sale, maybe...Joann's. Acorns and oak leaves.

But it can't stay. Someone finds the acorns much too fascinating and oddly yummy, as I think they re just some sort of plaster-y material.

My ''drieds''. I collect interesting pods and seeds and berries all summer and fall.

In the winter I'll put the sunflower seed heads out in the dunes, for the birds and little animals.

As Autumn progresses I  will keep the mercury glass and brown tones, the sepiaware plates, the drieds. And perhaps switch out the pillows and quilts for soft tan and grey.  I love these pillows, so...maybe?

thrift shop sweater pillow?

[all from Joss & Main]

How do you dress up your house---or yourself---for October?

love

lizzy

gone to the beach