Bird Feed: Curried Butternut Squash and Green Apple Soup

Butternut squash & green apples - match made in YUM!

I love soups on a cool, fall day - and love them even more when paired with a fresh pressed panini, but I digress. Admittedly, squash and similar root vegetables (sweet potatotes? blegh!) are not my favorite but, for whatever reason, I think squash soup is divine. Go figure.

This recipe was certainly one of convenience - apples in hand, my mouth already salivating at the thought of anything curry (Dear Wyoming, please expand your restaurant options). And it was also a snap to put together. See for yourself!

Don't you love having an apron that fits the mood?

While I didn't get my recipe from Ina Garten (shocking, I know!) it looks like her version is almost identical to the one in my cookbook at home:


Butternut Squash and Apple Soup


2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons good olive oil
4 cups chopped yellow onions (3 large)
2 tablespoons mild curry powder
5 pounds butternut squash (2 large)
1 1/2 pounds sweet apples, such as McIntosh (4 apples)
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups water
2 cups good apple cider or juice


From Ina's recipe:

Warm the butter, olive oil, onions, and curry powder in a large stockpot uncovered over low heat for 15 to 20 minutes, until the onions are tender. Stir occasionally, scraping the bottom of the pot.

Peel the squash, cut in half, and remove the seeds. Cut the squash into chunks. Peel, quarter, and core the apples. Cut into chunks.

Sidenote from Pie Bird - you can peel a squash with a regular vegetable peeler! Then cut down the middle, scoop out the seeds/associated stringy meat, and chop into 1-2 inch chunks. 

Add the squash, apples, salt, pepper, and 2 cups of water to the pot. Bring to a boil, cover, and cook over low heat for 30 to 40 minutes, until the squash and apples are very soft. Process the soup through a food mill fitted with a large blade, or puree it coarsely in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade.

Pour the soup back into the pot. Add the apple cider or juice and enough water to make the soup the consistency you like; it should be slightly sweet and quite thick. Check the salt and pepper and serve hot.

Open wide!

Almost there...

Delightful. 

Sidenote: This soup was even better the next day 

with leftover brown rice and diced chicken! 

Pie Birds in the News: Country Living

I often meet people at the Farmers Market and at craft shows that have never heard of pie birds - and, hence, do not understand my tagline "vents while baking." However, recently I've noticed a resurgence of pie birds in magazines and online - and I feel to trendy! 


The most recent pie bird spotlight I found is in this month's Country Living magazine - right on the cover! They did a nice spread on pie birds, both as functional kitchen tools and also collectibles. Check out some of the info on their website by CLICKING HERE.


And if you're feeling pie-inspired - or is that piespired? pienspired? - Country Living also has an amazing collection of pie recipes at your disposal. Yum!

Business Beautiful: New Packaging!

I love when supplies orders start coming in - especially the packaging ones! I'll let you in on a little secret... I have been contemplating opening an Etsy shop of packaging supplies for some time now but am hesitant because of the inventory that requires, as in the carrying cost. I think I'm getting closer and closer to that, though. 

What do you think? Do you buy packaging supplies on Etsy? 

New!

Clear plastic take out box for the shower sugar cubes

Clear plastic tab-tuck box for the bath melts

Colorful corrugated cardboard wrap for bars of soap

Brown - Oatmeal Honey

Purple - Sugar Plum

Red - Fall Farmhouse Cider

Orange (although it looks yellow here) - Spiced Orange Clove

I'm thinking of wrapping the soaps around the middle and adhering with glue dots before tying with raffia. I am considering a little added flair - such as attaching dried apple and orange slices to the Cider and Orange Clove bars... we'll see!

If you're a soapy person looking for a little packaging inspiration, make sure to head over to the Soap Packaging Flickr group - there are some AMAZING examples to get your brain churning. 

Moose and Soup and Mondays

Just another day at the office

enjoying a lovely fall day by the river

before I ran into another "coworker" who was rather ornery

and charged me into the river.

Good thing I was wearing the Wyoming version of "business casual" - 

and came home to warm, curried butternut squash & green apple soup.

Recipe this week!

No Pie Zone? The HORROR

A good friend spotted this photo last week and passed it along. Some clever Toronto citizen decided to get a little crafty with a permanent marker at Royal York Station...

From Vandalist: 

"By the simple and genius addition of a single line, this iconic no-smoking sign in a TTC station is transformed into strange anti-pie propaganda. Perhaps someone has had a bit too much of pumpkin pie leftovers."

While I can appreciate the creativity, the sentiment makes me terribly sad. Pie for everyone, any time, wherever you want! 

Holiday Craft Shows: Supplies Frenzy

Hooray! Despite a mild freak out this week, my inventory for the 2010 Holiday Craft Show season is shaping up quite nicely. It's always hard to see money go out the door when making a supplies order, but the potential return on investment is so worth it (and motivating)!


In terms of bath & body products that I'll be whipping up, here's what I have in mind - with the first wave of supplies on the way!

Sugar Plum Goat Milk Soap

Fall Apple Cider Goat Milk Soap

Spiced Orange Clove Goat Milk Soap

White Tea & Ginger Goat Milk Soap with Tea Leaves

Creamy Chai Tea Goat Milk Soap with Tea Leaves

Oatmeal & Honey with an Oatmeal Base Soap

Pumpkin Pie & Gingerbread Mini Soap Sets

Billy's Goat Soaps on a Rope for Men

Fresh Gardenia Buttery Bath Melts

Strawberry Champagne Buttery Bath Melts

White Citrus Buttery Bath Melts

Snowballs - Frosted Snowdrop Bath Bombs

Snowballs - North Pole Sweet & Sinus Bath Bombs

Bath Teas (are you noticing a tea trend?)

Cracked Heel Lotion Bars

French Vanilla Pear Shower Sugar Scrub Cubes

Next orders on the horizon: packaging, labels, shrink wrap, and hang tags... and that doesn't even begin to include the non-bath/body products! What am I getting myself into over here?!  :) 

Sounds for the Weekend: The Weepies

I wasn't sure that the weekend would ever get here - and look at that, it's Friday! Since listening to music usually gets me through the day, I thought I would use this week's Sounds for the Weekend post to share with you my favorite companions today, The Weepies. Check 'em out - and have a great weekend!

5 Weeks Until Crazy: the 2010 Holiday Craft Fair Season Approaches!

Whew - I don't know about you but I'm already sweatin' the holiday season! With 3 craft shows quickly approaching and no plan for my own homemade holiday gift-giving in place, I think I should probably get a move on. 


From soaps and lotions to jewelry and sewing projects, I guess I'll first need to take a close look at the inventory I need and get to making some supplies orders. What about you? Are you doing any shows this year? How far along are you in your preparations?


And if you need a little inspiration, I've got just the thing - Apple Brown Betty Soap from Wholesale Supplies Plus. Grab the recipe and full instructions over on the WSP blog! I'm sure this soap would totally kill at a fall show... 

Apple Brown Betty Soap from WSP

Totally Cute Cookie Tribute: Glee

For all you Glee fans out there - I've got some cookies for you! How awesome are these? To help identify characters - Top row: Finn, Artie, Quinn Second row: Will, Rachel, Sue. Third row: Mercedes, Puck, Tina. Last row: Terri, Kurt, Emma.

See the original post over on EpiCute!

Etsy Episode: Farmhouse Finds - Looking Back

I know, I must have farming on the brain after last week's post on farm schools! I think it has something to do with it being the harvest time of year - when hardworking landowners are reaping the last of the rewards of the season. As I started looking around Etsy for this Farmhouse Finds post, I realized that there are some interesting interpretations of farmhouse style that have emerged - ranging from the collection of authentic vintage/antique pieces and the "upcycling" of these pieces to more modern interpretations of country living.


So, for this Etsy Episode I'm going to focus on the recycled/upcycled or otherwise vintage-inspired Farmhouse Finds and return to the modern stuff in the next Etsy post. Afterall, there are so many wonderful things to choose from!

Upcycled Vintage Candleholder Collection from timelessNchic

Vintage Inspired Retro Apron by TerraceHill

Wall Chandelier Candleholder by baconsquarefarm

Green and White Broken China Bangle Bracelet by Kimagine

Vintage Fabric Squares by TheLittleRagamuffin

Sheep Print on Vintage Book Page by CrowBiz

Set of 2 Vintage Upcycled Canning Jar Solar Lights by yeoldegeneralstore

Rustic Woodland Memo Board by braggingbags

Recycled Farm Metal Sign by TheSteelFork

Vintage Seed Sack Handbag by selinavaughan

Thanksgiving - Round One!

That's right - it's the wonderful time of year again where the weather is cool, the colors are changing, and cooks and bakers have every excuse to live in their kitchens! While I won't be in Canada this year for Thanksgiving, my oven will be celebrating this weekend... now if only I could choose a recipe... or three. The best part is that I get to enjoy Round Two of Thanksgiving in another month. Yum and yum.

I've gathered up some of my likely candidates below - from Sweet to Savory and ideas for leftovers. You can clearly tell where my allegiance is when it comes to bookmarking recipes - how sweet it is :) 

Hope all of my favorite Great White Northerners enjoy the holiday!

Pear Spice Cake with Walnut Praline Topping by Joy the Baker

Sweet

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies

Apple Harvest Pound Cake with Caramel Glaze

Pumpkin Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust

Apple Cider Caramels

Maple Pecan Pie

Pumpkin Carrot Muffins with Vanilla Frosting

Pear Spice Cake with Walnut Praline Topping

Brown Sugar-Apple Cheesecake

Maple Pecan Fudge

Cherry Rhubarb Cobbler

Pumpkin Chai Tarts

Saskatoon Berry Tart

Caramelized Onion, Sage and Cheddar Muffins from Eat Me Delicious

Savory

Caramelized Onion, Sage and Cheddar Muffins

Cornbread Stuffing with Sausage and Apples

Pumpkin and Butternut Squash Soup

Prosciutto Dijon Gruyère Puffs

Crab Salad-Stuffed Potato Skins + Root Vegetable Mash

Turkey, Cranberry and Brie Panini from Baking Bites

Leftover Lovin' 

Leftover Turkey Sandwiches with Cranberry BBQ Sauce

Turkey, Cranberry and Brie Panini

Turkey Vegetable Soup + Stuffing Dumplings

Turkey and Sweet Potato Quesadillas with Chipotle Mayo

Moo Shu Turkey

Couscous Salad with Turkey and Arugula

Turkey Gumbo

As I begin realize that we are well on our way into October, I thought it would be nice to set the mood for autumn (it is my favorite time of year, afterall). In looking for a few good poems and thoughts the other night, I stumbled upon some new favorites to share as we head into the weekend - and you're right, no surprise that I've included Wendell Berry :)

"O hushed October morning mild,

Thy leaves have ripened to the fall;

Tomorrow's wind, if it be wild,

Should waste them all.

The crows above the forest call;

Tomorrow they may form and go.

O hushed October morning mild,

Begin the hours of this day slow.

Make the day seem to us less brief.

Hearts not averse to being beguiled,

Beguile us in the way you know.

Release one leaf at break of day;

At noon release another leaf;

One from our trees, one far away."

Robert Frost, October

"Delicious autumn!   My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns."

George Eliot 

"To enrich the earth I have sowed clover and grass

to grow and die. I have plowed in the seeds

of winter grains and various legumes,

their growth to be plowed in to enrich the earth.

I have stirred into the ground the offal

and the decay of the growth of past seasons

and so mended the earth and made its yield increase.

All this serves the dark. Against the shadow

of veiled possibility my workdays stand

in a most asking light. I am slowly falling

into the fund of things. And yet to serve the earth,

not knowing what I serve, gives a wideness

and a delight to the air, and my days

do not wholly pass. It is the mind's service,

for when the will fails so do the hands

and one lives at the expense of life.

After death, willing or not, the body serves,

entering the earth. And so what was heaviest

and most mute is at last raised up into song."

Wendell Berry  

"Even if something is left undone, 

everyone must take time 

to sit still and watch the leaves turn."

Elizabeth Lawrence

"Lord, it is time.  The summer was very big.  

Lay thy shadow on the sundials, 

and on the meadows let the winds go loose. 

Command the last fruits that they shall be full; 

give them another two more southerly days, 

press them on to fulfillment 

and drive the last sweetiness into the heavenly wine."

Rainer Maria Rilke

Back to [FARM] School

Before all of my recent crazy travels began, I happened upon an interesting article (which, of course, I now can't find!) on farm schools, specifically the Farm Camp at Flying Pig Farms. That's right, schools for the agriculturally- or just plain food-inclined!


Naturally, this is right up my alley (and I'm sure you all remember the post on folk schools not too long ago) and the thought of spending my days with chickens and dirty hands and knees and vegetables sure sounds better than ginning up some reports on the ol' computer :) 


From the Northeast to the Southwest, there are all sorts of educational opportunities for farming fans, and I've searched around the net to find some to share with you all!


The Farm School: http://www.farmschool.org/ 
"The Farm School is a family farm for the coming generations where people experience first hand what it means to be stewards of the earth. We provide multi-day residential school-year and summer programs for the over 1,500 young people and their teachers, a year-long program to train adults in practical sustainable agriculture, and an on-site one-room middle school."


Jewish Farm School: http://www.jewishfarmschool.org/
"The Jewish Farm School is an environmental education organization whose mission is to practice and promote sustainable agriculture and to support food systems rooted in justice and Jewish traditions. Aspirations of the Jewish Farm School are driven by the traditions of using food as a tool for social justice and spiritual mindfulness.  Through our programs, we address the injustices embedded in today’s mainstream food systems and work to create greater access to sustainably grown foods, produced from a consciousness of both ecological and social well being."


A GREAT list of Educational Farms in New England: http://www.newenglandgrown.com/pages/educationalfarms.html


Quillisascut Farm School of the Domestic Arts: http://quillisascut.com/farm-school/
"Quillisascut Farm offers food professionals and culinary students a unique opportunity to experience the farm-to-table connection first hand. During week-long programs, participants will milk goats, make cheese, help care for farm animals, transplant vegetables, and harvest produce from the gardens. Students also visit neighboring organic farms and hear presentations about honeybees, grass-finished meats and composting. Lively group discussions about genetically modified foods and globalization round out the experience."


And it goes without saying that I'll mention the Pie Ranch (the name alone is a selling point!): http://www.pieranch.org
"On our pie-slice shaped piece of land, we grow pie ingredients including wheat for crusts, fruits for filling, raise chickens for eggs, goats and cows for milk and butter, and vegetables for healthy meals. We sell our crops at our farm stand, to local bakeries including Mission Pie, and have a Community Supported Eggriculture egg share program."


Of course, if you're looking for farm-learning opportunities from around the world, you can always consider World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF)!


Or check out this awesome resource - a directory of Sustainable Farming Internships and Apprenticeships!