Mosaic Monday ~Blue Skies and Pumpkin Soup

Not much new photo material this week, but there were some beautiful skies (plenty of rain too!) I'm joining in on Mosaic Monday this week. Check out the other entries HERE.




Between my little Halloween squash man and my bi-weekly veggie box, I was kind of pumpkin squashed to the max at my house. I didn't want them to go to waste so I made a pot of soup that I will freeze and save for weekday lunches. This one had a little spicy Thai twist that I really liked.

Thai Pumpkin Soup

From www.mom-mom.com

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 small pumpkin, skinned and chopped into 1-inch chunks
2 1/4 cups water
1 2/3 cups canned coconut cream (I used light and cut back the water to 1 2/3 cups
1 tablespoon hot sweet Thai chili sauce
1 tablespoon lemon grass, finely chopped* (I used lemon rind)
1 tablespoon fish sauce
freshly ground pepper & salt
1/4 cup fresh cilantro (optional)
chopped cilantro leaves, for garnish

In a large pot, heat oil and gently cook onion with brown sugar and
garlic over low heat until softened (8-10 minutes).
Add chopped pumpkin, water, coconut cream, chili, lemongrass or rind
and fish sauce.
Season with freshly ground pepper and salt.
Simmer for about 25 minutes until tender.
Remove and puree until smooth.
Just before serving, adjust seasoning to taste.
Mix in chopped cilantro.

*The same amount of grated lemon peel can be substituted.

Happy Birthday Pumpkin Pie!

Today is my husband Randy's birthday! For his birthday dinner he preferred to stay in and requested BBQ Beef Sandwiches.

I seasoned a large round roast with salt, Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning, garlic salt and onion powder, then placed it in a crockpot. To the crockpot I added enough barbecue sauce ( I used Sweet Baby Ray's) to cover about 1/3-1/2 of the roast. I aded about 1/2 cup of coca cola and a couple of squirts of honey. Cook on high for about 4 hours. Remove meat, slice and chop into small pieces or shred if very tender. Return meat to pot with sauce and turn to low. Cook for another hour or so. I served it on Potato Buns. We think they are the fluffiest and softest.

I don't have pics of the meal..I guess we were hungry!! So you will have to make do with dessert pics.


Randy isn't much of a sweets eater. Birthday cakes are just too over the top for him. His pick was pumpkin pie, probably one of the least sweet of all pies. I came across a great recipe a couple of years ago on a recipe board that I get a newsletter from, Nancy's Kitchen. The recipe is apparently from a Portland restaurant that was famous for their pumpkin pies. It really is good..simple but somehow better than the pie I've always made from the Libby's can.




Hillvilla Pumpkin Pie
2 lg. Eggs
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 16oz. Can of pumpkin
1/4 c. Firmly packed brown sugar - dark or golden
2 1/2 tsp. Special seasoning (recipe follows)
1 c. Evaporated milk
1/2 c. Half and half
1/2 c. Granulated sugar
1 9" unbaked pie shell

Mix together the eggs, vanilla, pumpkin, brown sugar and seasoning mix. In a saucepan, mix the evaporated milk, half and half, and granulated sugar; cook over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Add to the pumpkin mixture. Pour into unbaked pie shell and bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes; lower heat to 350 and cook 25 minutes. Store in the refrigerator.

Hillvilla Special Seasoning Mix
4 T. Ground cinnamon
2 T. Ground allspice
2 T. Black pepper
2 .T. Salt
1 T. Ground nutmeg
1 T. Ground cloves
1 T. Ground ginger

Combine cinnamon, allspice, pepper, salt, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Store in an airtight container for use in other baking. Makes about 3/4 cup.


We made a pretty good dent in it and I have a feeling it won't be around for too many days!

Making Room in the Freezer

I spent an hour or so cleaning out my kitchen freezer last weekend This is always an enlightening passtime. No matter what kind of soup I make, I always make too much and I usually freeze the left overs so that I have something quick to get on the table on a work night. Actually not a bad plan although I never intend to make enough for an army. I forget sometimes it's just the two of us! I found a few of these soups in my clean out process. One of them turned into dinner tonight. I wish I had a real recipe to share, but I don't think I really followed one when I made this. I do recall seeing a recipe by this name that sounded good at the time, but I didn't have all of the ingredients that were called for so I came up with my own. Upon close inspection I think I can at least give you a guess of what's in it! I served it with Deli Rye Bread made from the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day book....mmmmmmmmmmm.





Pumpkin Lentil Soup
a rough guide

pumpkin
beef broth
dry lentils
canned black beans
sliced fresh mushrooms
carrots
barley
red bell peppers
cumin
red pepper
salt
pepper