Sunday soup # 7- squash soup

Archaeological evidence suggests squash may have been cultivated in Mesoamerica, 8 to 10 thousand years ago. Squash is on of the "Three Sisters" planted by Native Americans, the three sisters being indigenous to the Americas: maize (corn), beans, squash. In North America, a squash is loosely grouped into two groups, either summer squash (zucchini) or winter squash (acorn, buttercup), depending on whether they are harvested as immature fruit (summer) or mature fruit(winter). Gourds are from the same family of squashes. Here is a classic autumn soup with the flavors of the season. One of my absolute favorites!

SQUASH SOUP

 2 or 3 squash of your choice

(I used 1 buttercup and 2 acorn)

-bake in 1/8” h2o face down, covered

350 degrees for 60 minutes

 -in large pot sauté:

2 tbsp butter

 l medium onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

scraped out squash

4 c h2o or veggie broth

(or replace 1 c of broth with heavy cream)

1 tsp basil

½ - 1 tsp ground sage

2 bay leaves

salt, pepper to taste

-cook 25 minutes, medium heat

-puree

HALLOWEEN

Halloween is one of my favorite times of the year! It is creative and imaginative, I love that. Here is a recap of some HALLOWEEN arts, crafts, and fun stuff...
MAIL ART
INCOMING

OUTGOING

CARDS

"Where there is no imagination there is no horror."

--Arthur Conoan Doyle Sr.

ARTIST TRADING CARDS

"As spirits roam the neighborhood at night,

Let loose upon the Earth till it be light..."

--Nicholas Gordon

CANDY VESSELS

These are made from recycled toilet paper rolls, paper bags, scraps of decorative paper and stickers.

"Nothing on Earth so beautiful as the haul on Halloween night."

--Steve Almond

JACK-O-LANTERNS

"May jack-o-lanterns burning bright of soft and golden hue

pierce through the future's veil and show what fate now holds for you."

--Unknown

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE HALLOWEEN MOVIES?

mine are:

HALLOWEEN

PSYCHO

DRACULA

THE EXORCIST

FUN HALLOWEEN STUFF:

*Halloween is often referred to as All-Hallow's Eve, it originated from a pagan holiday honoring the dead.

*Dia de los Muertas is a holiday celebrated by Mexican and Mexican Americans, which is gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember those that have died.

*The first jack-o-lanterns appeared in Ireland, crafted from hollowed out turnips and potatoes.

*Orange and black are Halloween colors because orange is associated with Autumn harvest and black is associated with the darkness of Halloween.

*Halloween is the second most commercially successful holiday, can you guess the first?

*The movie "Halloween" was made in 1978 and took 21 days to film.

*Vampires are beings that avoid death by drinking the blood of humans.

*Trick or treating began in Ireland, in preparation of All-Hallow's eve festival, people would visit neighbors and ask for contributions for the town festival.

*The number one candy of choice in America for Halloween is Snickers.

***************************************

28 THINGS....JACK-O-LANTERNS, BATS, CARAMEL APPLES, HEADLESS HORSEMAN, FRANKENSTEIN, RATS, BLACK CATS, RAVENS, VAMPIRES, PUMPKINS, CANDY, COSTUMES, FALLING LEAVES, SCARECROWS, TRICK-OR-TREATING, SKELETONS, SPOOKS, COSTUME PARTIES, THE DEVIL, CANDY CORN, BOBBING FOR APPLES, DARKNESS, BLOODY EYEBALLS, DRACULA, GHOSTS, GOBLINS, FULL MOON, THE GREAT PUMPKIN.....

BE INSPIRED BY NATURE IN AUTUMN

just photos...

Sunday soup # 6-green chile potato soup

Another green chile season recipe, this is based off my dear friend, Melody's recipe. Yum!

POTATO SOUP WITH GREEN CHILI

 -in large pot sauté:

2 tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

½ tsp cumin

½ tsp oregano

salt & pepper to taste

3 potatoes, chopped

2 green chili’s (or 2-4 oz cans)

4 c water

-cook 15 minutes

-add 1 beer, cook until potatoes are done

mixed music

Remember when you used to listen to a tape or CD, in its entirety? You knew every song and when that song ended, what the next song was going to be? These albums or mixes you made were profound and trigger many memories, right? To celebrate music, I love to make mixes of songs. I used to do tapes, now CD's or "playlists" for my music devices. Looking for gift ideas? Give the gift of music, share a little of yourself in a compilation of your favorite songs or make a theme that someone you know may like, and throw in something you like with it. 

“Music speaks what cannot be expressed, soothes the mind and gives it rest, heals the heart and makes it whole, flows from heaven to the soul.”--Plato

bulletin board

I actually saw this idea on a craft show and thought it was so cool, I thought would share. Of course I altered from what was made. You can custom make this to the size, colors, whatever suits you. 
MATERIALS NEEDED:
-fissured ceiling tile, cut to size (you can get this at home improvement stores)
-fabric of choice, piece together and sew, big enough to go over the edges of your tile
-hot glue gun, pull fabric taught and glue on the back
-ribbon, attach to back securely, then hang 

the back

the front

details

Sunday soup #5 -carrot

A carrot is a root vegetable, usually orange in color, though purple, red, white, and yellow are other variations. They are nutritious with beta carotene, vitamin a, fiber, anti oxidants and minerals. Delicious mixed with ginger root. Ginger root is a tuber, with a mild sweet yet spicy taste. It also has many medicinal properties; like helping with digestion, lowering cholesterol, or decrease pain from arthritis. Here's my recipe for carrot soup with ginger:

 CARROT SOUP

1 oz olive oil

1 large chopped onion

2 tbsp ginger root (peeled and grated)

2 garlic cloves (minced)

1 ½ # carrots (peeled and cut)

12 oz water or stock
1 tsp ginger powder

salt and pepper to taste

 -melt butter over medium

-add onion, cook 4 minutes

-add ginger and garlic, cook 2 minutes

-add carrots, cook 2 minutes

-add stock –bring to boil, reduce

simmer carrots until done 20 minutes

-puree and return to pot
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check out more soups:
potato leek
curried lentil
curry corn chowder 
vegetarian chili 
 

COLLAGE

Do you have too many pictures you want to do something with? Here's an idea for collages that you can make on your computer. You can put as little or many photos that you like to create the graphic mix. You can make it whatever size you want- to make a card, put in an album or frame up. It could be from an event, a season, a family or friend get-together. They make many standard photo size scrapbooks and frames you could put these into. Also, these would make great gifts for a birthday or holiday. Here are a few examples....

recycled book covers

I cleaned off my bookshelves and decided to take the book covers off all my hardcovers, creating an old library look. It ended up being quite a pile in the recycle bin, so I decided to make another blank notebook, that is only one sided. I cut the covers all to the same size, then pieced together, stapling to bind them. I then used recycled cardboard for the cover, which I left plain, except for the tie dye duct tape I used as the spine. It has a worn look that I will use for my new "idea" notebook. The cool thing is I am reminded of all the cool books I've read in the past.

 This is all the pages cut and stapled together.

 This is the cardboard cover with duct tape on spine.

 This is the inside cover with the duct tape as the connector of the pages and cover.

This is a blank page in the finished book.

"The worth of a book is to be measured by what you can carry away from it."--James Bryce

Sunday soup #4 -vegetarian chili

Chili was first invented by the Spanish Canary Islanders, in San Antonio, Texas, which they founded. Today, there are so many variations of chili, it can be catered to anyone's liking. Traditional chili minimally has peppers, meat, garlic, onions, and cumin. Beans and tomatoes are also added to some. Not traditional, here's my version of a vegetarian chili with all of the above, except the meat.

VEGETARIAN CHILI

 -in large pot

1 tbsp olive oil

 l medium onion, chopped

5 cloves garlic, minced

2 green chiles. Minced

-saute then add:

1 can diced tomatoes

2 c black beans

4 c kidney beans

2 Tbsp cumin

2 tsp oregano

2 tsp basil

2 Tbsp chili powder

1 tsp garlic powder

2 c broth

salt & pepper to taste

-bring to boil, simmer 20 minutes

PUMPKINS

A pumpkin is a gourd-like squash, which is typically orange or yellow and have many creases running from the stem to the bottom. They have a thick shell on the outside, with seeds and pulp on the inside. A pumpkin is a fruit.  Wondering what to make with them beside pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving? At Halloween, clean out seeds and make jack-o-lanterns, roast the seeds with a toss in oil and garlic salt. Make bread, muffins, cake, scones, cookies, pancakes, soup, lasagna, a torte, cheesecake, cream cheese spread, pudding, or tiramisu, just to mention a few ideas.

more cards...

As you may know, I am a huge fan of snail mail and mail art. The fall season is when I like to make and send more out than usual. Here are some ideas that I wanted to share with you. Again, the mediums I used were photographs, decorative papers, markers, stamps, scraps, and stickers. Hope you like...


from photos...

from mixed media...

Sunday soup #3 -curry corn chowder

Scientists believe corn was develop in central Mexico over 7000 years ago. Maize or corn is the most widely grown crop in America. There are 3 major types of corn that are grown: Flint, which is Indian corn, used for popcorn; Dent, which is considered "field" corn , used for livestock; and Sweet, which you can eat on the cob, freeze or can.

Curry powder is more of a generic term for blend of different spices based on south Asian cuisine. Most blends of curry powder usually include coriander, tumeric, cumin, fenugreek, and red pepper.

CURRY CORN CHOWDER
1Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp butter
1 medium onion, diced
1 granny smith apple, diced & peeled
2 cloves garlic, minced
-saute all, then add:
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 Tbsp yellow curry powder
24 oz. corn
3 c broth
2 bay leaves
-simmer 20 monites
-puree
-serve with herb bread