Pumpkin Soup

Last week I was inspired by the coming of November and a delicious cup of soup that a coworker brought to work. At first the creamy peach hue inside the stockpot on the break room table had me hesitant, but the smell coming out of it had me intrigued, and of course after one sip, it had me hooked. I asked for the recipe made a few tweaks to add a couple more veggies and started on my own version the following day. Below is the original recipe with my tweak connotations in parentheses.

PUMPKIN SOUP
1 cup butter
1 large onion, chopped
(6 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed)
(1 handful of Italian parsley, rough chopped)
4 stalks celery, chopped
(2 carrots, peeled and chopped)
(2 medium potatoes, skins intact and chopped)
1 cup flour
6 cups chicken broth (I used 1 carton broth and 16 cubes [roughly 2 cups] of my homemade stock)
1 29oz can of pumpkin puree, I recommend Libby's
1 cup apple juice
3 cups milk (I used 2 1/2 cups milk and 1/2 cup cream for extra richness)
Salt, pepper and thyme to taste

Melt butter in a large stockpot over medium high heat and saute onion, celery, garlic, parsley and carrots until softened and translucent. Add flour and mix well to create your roux. Slowly stir in broth until smooth, add potatoes and apple juice and bring to slow rolling boil. Add pumpkin and return to slow boil. When potatoes are tender, using a hand blender, mix until smooth and little to no lumps remain. I use my Vita-Mix in batches, but anything would work. Return soup to heat, add milk (or cream), salt, pepper and thyme and continue to cook over low heat until ready to serve.

I honestly think this would be a great appetizer before Thanksgiving dinner, and even more adorable served in baby pumpkin bowls.

Garnish with croutons, pumpkin seeds and a sprig of parsley. Enjoy!

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Hot Spiced Apple Cider

So today in San Diego it decided to drizzle... all day. No rain, no thunder, no lightening, just barely there drizzle. Charlie was supposed to go riding with the boys, but seeing as how slick wet roads and motorcycles at 60+ MPH don't mix, we stayed in, cleaned house, and watched The Breakfast Club instead. He's currently folding laundry (*gasp!* a man who does housework!) so I decided to warm up with a mug of spiced cider. I worked with what I had in the house and came up with this sweet little autumnal treat.

* apple juice or cider (if you use juice, use twice as much liquid and cook longer to reduce by half)
* ground cinnamon
* freshly ground nutmeg
* a dollop of maple syrup
* a pinch of salt
* a dab of brown sugar

You could also add any of the following;

* Allspice
* Clove
* Citrus peels

Put it all into a medium saucepan and cook for 10-15 minutes, pour into an adorable mug, let cool and enjoy!

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Caramel Apple Crumb Pie

Last night, the fall weather got the best of me and I decided to make an apple pie. This is the first pie from scratch I've ever made so I researched the components extensively beforehand and made my decisions based on ingredients, level of difficulty and the comments left by the people who had attempted it before me.

I posted pictures of my success on Facebook and after an overwhelming response of people asking for the recipe, I decided to share it here. Bear in mind this was my first pie and feel free to add and subtract ingredients at will to your liking. My pie was tart with a sweet syrup and a slightly salty crust, which in my opinion balanced itself out perfectly.

I started out using 5 Gala apples because they hold up well in baking and are a nice in-between of sweet and tart. I peeled them, and sliced them into thin slices, placed them into a large bowl and set them aside for the moment. Next in a medium sized bowl I added 1/2 a cup of apple juice (reduced from 1 cup, but 1/2 a cup apple cider would work too) the juice from 1/2 a lemon, cinnamon and fresh grated nutmeg, 1/3 cup maple syrup (the real stuff people, not Aunt Jemima) and 2 teaspoons of sugar - brown or white depending on the flavor you want to achieve. In a large skillet I melted 2 tablespoons butter and sauteed the apples until the color changed to a rich yellow, sprinkled them with some cinnamon and sugar, then poured the juice mixture over the top and cooked about 2 minutes more. I transferred the apples into my pie crust that I had prepared earlier and returned the juice mixture to heat, added 2 teaspoons of cornstarch and simmered until thickened, and poured it over the apple filled crust. I topped my pie with a crumble I made of 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup brown sugar, cut with 3 tablespoons butter until it resembled a coarse meal, then I sprinkled it over the top but not before drizzling the apples with caramel sauce. I got mine at Starbucks, I use it to make Charlie his coffee in the morning, but it worked well on the pie too! The girls at my Starbucks got a kick out of my creative use for it. I baked the pie at 375*, loosely covered with tinfoil for 25 mins and then uncovered for another 25 and it came out perfectly.

For the sake of me testing this recipe I used a Pillsbury readymade rolled pie crust. They are found in the refrigerated section of the grocery store and come in packs of 2. Feel free to use any type of crust you would like. Next time I'm going to attempt to make homemade crust, so I will definitely share those results as well.

I topped my pie with some homemade whipped cream to which I added a bit of sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon and whipped on high in my Kitchen-Aid for about 5 minutes.

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