Curried Sweet Potato, Carrot, and Apple Soup

Boy have I got a recipe for you today!! 

This one came courtesy of some leftover baked sweet potatoes and glazed carrots that needed to be used up. 

And of course, the ever-present quarts of home made chicken broth in my fridge. 

Cozying Up For Winter

It's been brutally cold on the mountain top lately....yesterday I'm pretty sure my contact lenses froze to my eyeballs the second I stepped out the door. 

Those of you in warmer states probably don't understand, but we do get used to the frigid winters....and we learn to embrace winter on the mountain top.

Perfect Potato Leek Soup

'Tis the season on the mountain top for snow....and soup. Lots and lots of steaming bowls of soup, to warm a soul from the inside out. 

Recently, my little mountain top market had some gorgeous leeks on sale, which I snatched up in a hurry, intent on making one of my all time favorite soups....Potato Leek. 

An Amazing Soup & A Celebration

We had a very special family dinner Saturday, to celebrate three birthdays, two anniversaries, Mother's Day, and a huge welcome back to Mom & Dad. 

Not to mention, the Kentucky Derby, of course. 

There may or may not have been a little gambling going on in my house. I'm not saying. 

The Most Amazing Chicken EVER!

Remember a few weeks back I told you about my new toy?

 

And then I reminded you about it when I gave you some great gift ideas for foodies in this post.

 

By the way, Valentine's Day is right around the corner....wink, wink!

The Most Amazing Split Pea Soup...and Conquering My Fear

Growing up, we never ate split pea soup. I'm not sure why, but I never so much as sampled it until I was an adult, working in restaurants.

 

The first time I tried it, the soup was served with sliced hotdogs and greasy croutons floating on top.

 

At the young age of 20, that was ok with me.

 

Now? Not so much.

Butternut Squash & Apple Bisque

In my last post, I shared a photo of a pot of soup I had simmering on the stove during a snowstorm. 

Since then, we've had days in the mid 60's mixed with nights in the low 20's....it's the weirdest weather, no doubt!

Welcome To My World

So, it's not even Halloween yet and we are having our SECOND snowstorm of the season on the mountain top!

Yup, welcome to my world. 

Tuscan Beef & Vegetable Soup

It's rainy and dismal on the mountain top today, but I don't really mind. 

Yesterday was such a busy day, it's nice to have an excuse to spend time indoors today, puttering around my little house. 

I do love to putter, that's for sure!

It's the everyday domestica that feels so calming and grounds me after a busy day, week, month. 

The smell of the laundry as the sheets are tumbling in the washer. 

The sound of the dishwasher as it goes through the cycles, cleaning up the breakfast dishes. 

Freshening up the house for fall, bringing in little touches of autumn with candles, throws, pillows. 

It's time to be cozy and embrace the interior once more. 

I realize I never did tell you what happened with the Amara awards. I wasn't one of the select few who made the shortlist, unfortunately, but that's ok - I am truly so honored that I was even nominated, and I sincerely thank all of you who voted for me, for your belief in my little blog. 

The folks that made the shortlist are incredibly talented bloggers - you should go check them out when you have some free time to bounce around - here's the link to all the shortlisted blogs: Amara Awards - Shortlisted Blogs.

On a completely separate note, do you remember the other day I told you I was going to make a nice pot of beef and vegetable soup? Well, I did....and it was one of my favorite soups ever, so I am so glad I took photos during the process, so I could share it with you!

As per usual, my 'recipes' are really more of a tutorial and less of an exact science. My cooking style would be called 'winging it' for sure!

Ok, here we go - Mountain Mama's Tuscan Beef & Vegetable Soup. 

I started off with 3 chopped onions, rough chop, in my large LeCrueset dutch oven, over a medium flame with a drizzle of olive oil. 

While they were sauteeing, I chopped 3 carrots and 3 stalks of celery. They were added to the onions, and all got sauteed for another 5 minutes or so. 

When they had softened, I made a hole in the center of the veggies, and added 2 heads of garlic, minced, in a tbs of butter. 

When the garlic was nice and fragrant and golden, I stirred all the veggies together and made a new hole in the center for a lb of organic grass fed ground beef, 90 percent lean. 

After the beef was nicely browned, I stirred everything together and added in a zucchini, diced small. I wanted all the veggies to be about equal in size. 

I sprinkled some dried thyme leaves over the zucchini - about a half teaspoon or so. I've noticed that zucchini and thyme really work well together and I've been using thyme in all my zucchini recipes. 

At this point, I added in 2 containers of Swanson's Low Sodium Beef Broth. 

Next I popped a tray of cherry tomatoes into the oven at 425 degrees for about a half hour. 

I added a can of crushed tomatoes with basil to the simmering soup. 

I seasoned the soup with some dried basil and my favorite all purpose seasoning, Vermont Country Seasoning. I would guess about a tablespoon or more of basil, and a little less than a teaspoon of the Vermont Seasoning. 

I put the lid on the dutch oven at this point, turned the heat to low, and let it simmer for about a half hour, while the tomatoes roasted in the oven. 

Oooh, it's starting to look really good already - but I'm not done yet!  In went a half package of imported pasta - the shape I used is called Trofie, and it's made by Pirro, one of my favorite pasta companies. Amazon sells it here, but I purchased it in a local Italian specialty market, the same place I buy the Tuttorosso canned tomatoes. 

The cherry tomatoes were absolutely gorgeous when done roasting, and I dumped the whole tray with the juices right into the soup. I used a potato masher to 'pop' the tomatoes in the soup, as I didn't want any tomatoes left whole in the completed soup. 

I also added two cans of Cannellini beans, drained and rinsed. 

The finished soup - oh my gosh, I can't even describe how heavenly this soup was! The roasted tomatoes gave the soup such a fresh taste, far superior to any soup you will ever, ever eat out of a can! 

I have been ruined forever for canned soups - I haven't touched them in years, once I realized how much sodium was in them. I guess that's when I started experimenting with making my own soups - and once I did, there was no return. 

I served the soup with a hearty sprinkle of shredded 6 cheese Italian blend, by Sargento. 

Can you just see all that amazing goodness in there?

We enjoyed the soup with a warm, crusty whole grain baguette. 

Heaven, right there. 

And guess what? 5 quarts for the freezer - you know how happy that makes me! 

This is just one of the three freezers that I have - this is the freezer in the downstairs fridge. Not much room left, that's for sure - and the other two freezers are worse! 

I don't know what I'm going to do with all my produce when I run out of freezer space. I guess I'll have to send home containers with Sweetie - he's got two empty freezers just waiting to be filled!

It's a good problem to have, for sure. And all these amazing meals will be so very welcome in the long winter months, when all our fresh home grown produce is nothing but a memory. 

But we'll be eating well, that's for sure - after all, isn't that what all this hard work right now is all about? Preserving the bounty?

We are so blessed. 

Five Ways To Use All That Zucchini!

I know I'm not the only one who has an abundance of zucchini and yellow squash coming out of the garden right now....after all, 'tis the season!

I've been trying out some new recipes lately for all that zucchini goodness....and so far, each and every recipe has been an overwhelming success!

Healthy Creamy Chicken Orzo Soup - Just the Thing for a Spring Snowstorm

Yesterday I told you all about the 5 inches of snow we woke up to.....in April, none the less. 

Sigh. 

Rainy Day Reading

It's a miserable, cold, windy, rainy, blustery day in the  mountains today. Not a pick of sunshine, just damp, dreary and downright chills you to the bone.

It's the perfect day for two things: making soup and reading a really good book.

I started my day by putting on a big crockpot of broth. It won't be ready until tomorrow afternoon, unfortunately, but when it's done I'm going to make a nice batch of potato soup.

Russet potatoes were on sale at the market this week - buy one bag, get one free. I had potato soup on my mind right away!

I started my broth out with the carcasses of 2 chickens - one I had saved in the freezer and one from Monday night's dinner. 

I added the following to the crockpot for this batch of broth:

1/2 bag baby carrots

4 stalks of celery, leaves included

1 head of garlic, unpeeled, cut in half

1 large sweet onion, unpeeled, cut in half

a handful of mushroom stems and pieces from the freezer

a couple of rinds of hard cheese from the freezer

1/4 cup peppercorns, whole

1/4 cup chopped dried parsley

4 bay leaves

1 tsp of Vermont Country Seasoning

Fill to the top with water, and cook on low for a minimum of 24 hours. I will actually cook this for about 30+ hours, until I come home from work tomorrow evening.

It's the perfect thing to make on such a miserable day.

I also have a perfect book for you to read on a day like this. I just finished this book and I am not lying when I say I could not put it down!

I absolutely love a book that grabs my attention like that! It brings me back to my childhood when I used to get so involved in a book that my mom says she could have a whole conversation with me and I wouldn't hear one word. I could tune everything and anything out!

This is that kind of book. The kind that reminds me how very much I love to read. 

The Forgotten Garden

I'm sure many of you have read it already....if you haven't, please pick up a copy asap! You will not regret it!

This is absolutely not a sponsored post, and no affiliate links. I just adored this book!

The story grabbed my attention from page one and every spare second I had found me going back to pick it up and read more, more, MORE!

One more page....one more chapter....one more hour...!

I've now downloaded samples of 3 of Kate Morton's other books and I can't wait to dig wholeheartedly into the next one.  I have just started The House At Riverton....I'll let you know what I think when I'm all done but I have high hopes for it after The Forgotten Garden. 

Do you have any books that you have read recently that moved you to the point of thinking about them constantly? If so, please share - I'm always on the lookout for a new favorite book!

My Favorite Butternut Squash Soup

Winter has been teasing us thus far this season with a frigid few days followed by unseasonably warm temperatures. 

Well, today we are supposed to get our first "real" snowfall of the season.  Ok, only a few inches, but that's still more than we've gotten at any one time so far. 

Just bizarre. 

Anyway, it's a perfect day for a nice hot bowl of soup! 

I made this amazing soup on Sunday and wanted to share the recipe with you - it's just so incredibly good and I'm glad I had a little extra for the freezer. 

I had a couple of butternut squashes I grew in my veggie garden that were crying out to become soup. In addition, I gathered up some potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, garlic, and the frozen turkey broth I made after Thanksgiving. 

I started as I always do, by heating up my best friend on low-med, with a drizzle of olive oil. 

(Have I told you how much I love, love, LOVE this pot? Worth every penny. Without a doubt.) 

Anyway. I chopped two large onions and cooked them until soft. While they were cooking I was prepping the rest of my veggies, starting with the garlic. 

An entire head of garlic, minced, was next. I made a hole in the onions, dropped in a pat of butter, and cooked the garlic just until golden. 

In went the still very much frozen turkey broth - 2 quarts to start. While the broth was thawing in the pot, I kept on prepping. 

The butternut squash was next, peeled and cut into large cubes, seeds and pith discarded. 

My knife was struggling with the squash! But we got it done. Isn't it gorgeous? 

You could also use frozen butternut squash to make things easier on yourself. 

The squash went into the pot while I got the potatoes peeled and chopped. 

2 sweet potatoes were cut into large chunks and thrown in next. 

After about 10 minutes I put in the 4 white potatoes, simply cut in half as they cook much more quickly than the squash and sweet potatoes. 

Did I mention that while I was doing all this I was also making a pot of rice pudding? 

Yup, I had cooked white rice to use up so what better to do with it than a good homemade rice pudding? 

Yummmmmm!

(By the way, did you notice that my new best friend now has a baby sister? Yup, my other favorite pot. I'm telling you, I'm hooked! Foodie's dream!)

At this point, the lid went on and I simmered on the lowest setting for at least an hour while I worked on other projects.  Like hanging pictures. Which took me a while to get right with all the measuring, I'll tell you!

After about an hour I tested the squash and potatoes and they were soft and ready for the next step. 

A little whirl around with my immersion blender and the addition of a quart of chicken broth (the soup was quite thick) and we were ready to season. 

I added: 

Freshly ground sea salt and pepper to taste - (always more pepper than salt for us)

1/4 tsp Allspice

1/4 tsp Paprika

1/8 tsp Cayenne Pepper

1/4 tsp Cinnamon

1/2 cup shredded cheddar

And the end result?

It was simply amazing! Just enough of a tiny kick from the cayenne (which I have always found this type of soup benefits from.)

The Allspice and Cinnamon really complement the squash and sweet potato. 

The soup is lovely and creamy without adding a drop of cream. 

Heaven in a bowl, right there!

We had a light supper with some soup and an egg salad sandwich on whole grain bread. 

Followed by a little warm rice pudding with a sprinkle of cinnamon. 

The perfect end to the meal. 

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Recipe:

You will need:

2 medium butternut squash, peeled and cut into large cubes

4 large white potatoes, peeled and cut in half

2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into large cubes

2 large onions, chopped

1 head of garlic, minced

3 quarts of stock (I used 2 quarts turkey stock + 1 quart chicken stock)

1/2 cup shredded cheddar

1/4 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

salt & pepper to taste

1 tbs Olive oil 

1 tbs butter

Heat large stockpot on low- medium heat. Add a drizzle of olive oil. 

Saute onions until soft and slightly browned. 

Make a 'hole' in the middle of the onions and drop in the butter. Saute the garlic in the butter just until golden brown. 

Add in 2 quarts of the stock. 

Add the butternut squash and sweet potatoes and bring to a boil. 

Let simmer about 10 minutes and then add in the white potatoes. 

Cover, reduce heat to the lowest setting, and simmer for about an hour. 

When potatoes and squash are all very tender use an immersion blender to puree the soup. 

Add the other quart of broth if needed to create desired consistency. 

Add in spices and whisk to combine. 

Taste and adjust seasonings as needed..and then share it with someone you love!

Enjoy, friends!

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Sharing at

Tweak It Tuesday

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Tuesdays at Our Home

Frosty Mountain Morning

It was a cold one last night with temps dropping down to 22 here on the mountain top! 

There was a heavy frost this morning making the simplest of items sparkle in the sunshine. 

And let me tell you, all this frostiness is not helping me NOT think about Christmas!

And Christmas decor. And Christmas trees. And wrapping gifts. And Christmas dinner. 

I've been trying to hold off....but it's bubbling up inside of me and I am going to break down one of these days soon!

I'm just so excited to decorate my new home for the holidays!!

But for now, let's just browse around at the beautiful frosty mountain morning. 

The front garden is a sea of ice crusted blades of grass this morning - it was a beautiful sight looking down from the upper deck. 

No coffee on the garden swing this morning!

I guess the chairs by the fire pit are a no-go also this morning - Brrrrr!!

Look how thick the frost was on the deck railings - it looked like snow. 

Like Christmas snow. Oops, sorry, there I go again!

My little garden cottage has a heavy frost on the roof. I guess it's time to dump all the pots and stack them in the shed for the winter. 

Summer grass gives way to fall leaves...which give way to winter frosts. 

The horses were up by their little barn - the lower paddock is all frozen over. Must be a bit warmer up on the hill. 

I could see the vapor coming from the horse's breath on this frosty morning. 

No warm glow coming from the solar path lights. 

The Lamb's Ear looks like it was dipped in sugar. 

And the Snow in Summer looks more like Snow in Autumn.

Back up on the deck Strawberry plants look so beautiful even in frost. 

The rubber stair treads I added yesterday are terrific - nothing slippery about my deck stairs now!

Back inside the warm steamy kitchen the bean soup I started in the crockpot yesterday is making the whole house smell like heaven. 

The sun is pouring in through the front windows and the dining room is glowing in the morning light. 

And there's a fire burning in the wood stove, keeping the house warm until I return. 

There's nothing like coming into a nice warm house on a frosty day. 

Welcome home. 

My First Quiche

I can't believe with all the cooking I do that I've never made a quiche before!  I don't know what I was afraid of - it was actually quite easy and came out INCREDIBLE!!!

What prompted the quiche was the influx of fresh eggs we received both from a coworker and also from a neighbor of my sweetie's. So what's a girl to do? 

Our billions of green tomatoes  have been ripening slowly and as they ripen I try to think of ways to incorporate them into our various meals. I decided to make another batch of that amazing Roasted Tomato Soup I made a while back and dinner would be soup and quiche. And some more soup for the freezer. Love that!

I wasn't quite sure how the quiche would turn out since it was my very first kiss I mean quiche. I was a quiche virgin. 

Sorry, I had to. Forgive me. 

I started by dicing up 1 medium onion. 

And a medium red pepper. 

And a handful of shiitake mushrooms, stems removed. Small dice on everything as I wasn't pre-cooking any of the veggies. And I didn't want big chunks of veggies, just evenly dispersed flavors. 

I mixed them all together in a bowl. 

Isn't that pretty? 

And then came the bacon. Because, I mean, come on - hello - BACON!!

Nuf said. 

The bacon was pre-cooked that morning with breakfast - I usually cook up the whole pound of bacon - this way it's only one mess in the kitchen yet multiple meals. I stick the cooked bacon in a freezer bag and pop it into the freezer for bacon emergencies. 

What, you've never had a bacon emergency? Fess up. 

I think this was 4 or 5 slices of pre-cooked reduced sodium bacon. That's the only kind I buy. 

I got out my frozen pie crusts - yup, frozen. These are so good and so easy to use that I haven't made my own pie crusts in years. Centuries even. 

And there was cheese. Not sure why it didn't make the photos ....I may or may not have been too busy slicing off chunks and shoving them into my face. I love cheese even more than I love bacon. 

I used about 3/4 cup of grated Asiago and 1/2 cup of grated Swiss. 

Mixed it with the veggies and the bacon in a bowl and then dumped it into a frozen pie crust. 

Isn't that just gorgeous? 

The oven was already good and hot since I was roasting the tomatoes for the soup. When I took the tomatoes out I raised the oven to 400 to get it ready for the quiche. 

I took 5 of my fresh eggs (they weren't large, if you have large or jumbo 4 may be enough) and whipped them up with a cup of organic half and half and some salt and pepper. 

And poured them right on top of all that gorgeousness. 

Sorry about the shadow - that was my head drooling over the bacon. 

Into the oven on a foil lined baking sheet for 15 minutes at 400, then dropped the temp down to 350 and cooked it another 35 minutes. 

And then we had this. 

And all was well with the world. 

I let it cool for about 15 minutes before serving. The quiche and the roasted tomato soup complemented each other so amazingly well it was frightening. Scary good, even - just right for a Halloween night supper. 

I encourage you to try making a quiche - it was so fantastic we didn't even mind eating it again for breakfast this morning with a little yogurt and berries and my home made cappuccino. And it was super easy!! 

Here's the recipe in case you decide to give it a go:

Bacon - Cheese - Veggie Quiche

5 medium eggs (or 4 large or jumbo)

1 cup half and half

5 strips of bacon, cooked and diced - I use reduced sodium bacon

1 medium onion, small dice

1 medium sweet pepper, small dice

1/2 cup shiitake mushrooms, small dice

1/2 cup grated Swiss cheese

3/4 cup grated Asiago cheese

1 deep dish frozen pie crust

Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

Dice onion, pepper, and mushroom and mix together in a medium bowl. 

Dice the pre-cooked bacon and mix with the veggies in the bowl.

Add both cheeses into the bowl and mix 

Dump the mixture into a frozen pie crust

Whip the eggs and half & half together with salt and pepper to taste. I left out the salt and don't think this dish needs any additional salt - you get enough from the bacon and the cheese. 

Pour the egg mixture right over the ingredients in the pie crust

Bake at 400" for 15 minutes then reduce heat to 350 and bake for an additional 35 minutes. 

Let cool for about 10 minutes prior to serving. 

Enjoy!!


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Sharing at Cozy Little House - Tweak It Tuesday