Give Thanks + Curried Pumpkin Soup

Is there anything more perfect at this time of year than a bowl of fresh, rich soup? I think not. Yesterday as the rain was coming down and there was a chill in the air I sent a message to my aunt: "Quick!  I need your pumpkin soup recipe!"  She quickly obliged and my rainy day was turned into perfection. 

This is one of those soups that tastes like it takes forever but in reality is quite quick. Perfect for when you have someone coming over that you need to impress and you don't have all day... or when you are by yourself and you just want to impress yourself. Why shouldn't we want to impress ourselves sometimes? I think I am going to prioritize impressing myself a little more and trying to impress others a little less... and then I am going to enjoy my soup with slippers on my feet and my hair in an uncombed ponytail. That, too, sounds like perfection.

And now time to give thanks...

You know a village raises a child, right? A village also makes a wedding...

Thank you to my friends who took over the music side of it (and ROCKED IT!), the two ladies who made sure the church was decorated (and did much more, too!), my mother-in-law who made all of the table cloths (and gave me the best person to marry ), our friend in Brazil who made the bridesmaid dresses, family friends who came early from afar to set of the reception, students' mothers for helping me to get food for cheap through the Catholic convent (hehehe) and putting together the fruit kabobs, another students' mom for doing my hair, my former landlord for doing all of the flowers, my friends from work who worked hard to help in all ways, another student's mom for being a fabulous coordinator, and to all of our attendants for being the best support! A super special thank you to Pastor Sam, who made everybody laugh and cry, and set the standard in wedding homilies (everyone still talks about it!), and another huge thank you to Dan and Gina who gifted us with a beautiful reception.

I am grateful for all these people above (and I am sure there are more!) for helping us have the best day ever. Because of you, we ALL pulled off an amazing wedding that was far beyond what we could have imagined. Thank you, thank you!

CURRIED PUMPKIN SOUP

SERVES 6 •  PREP TIME: 15 MINUTES  •  TOTAL TIME: 35 MINUTES

ingredients:

• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/2 lb. of cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• pepper, to taste
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups canned pumpkin (or cooked and mashed pumpkin)
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 cup evaporated milk

directions

1. Saute mushrooms and onion in butter until onion is soft. Sprinkle with flour. Add salt, pepper and curry powder. Stir in chicken broth, pumpkin and honey. Simmer 15 minutes. Add milk and heat thoroughly. Serve sprinkled with croutons. (Note: can take part out and blend for smoother texture.)

(Tastes best served the next day.  But really tastes great whenever.)

COST: $7.72        COST PER SERVING (6): $1.29

Give Thanks + A Maple Brown Sugar Pumpkin Roll

Can you believe I lived my entire life -- all 30 years -- without ever once having a slice of pumpkin roll? Yeah. But I fixed that this weekend.

Oh. My. Goodness.

How did I not know about this? Well, whatever the reason, that will never happen again.

This recipe is from my friend Carrie over at Bakeaholic Mama.  If you like pumpkin you will LOVE her blog. She did "30 Days of Pumpkin" during the month of October, and if this is an indicator of the taste for the other recipes, then you can't go wrong...

And now, let's give a little thanks :)

Day 6: I am grateful for all of the parents who entrust their children to me each day. For without these kids my life would be missing a whole lot of laughter, hugs, and growth (both in them and in me).

Day 7: I am thankful for my mom, whose great life lessons have stuck with me throughout the years: don't put socks in the microwave to dry quickly, for they will catch on fire; you need not feel ashamed when you eat an entire box of Girl Scout cookies in one sitting, it is only natural; and you have no room for hate in your heart when Jesus lives there, so LET IT GO.

Day 8: Personal, but nonetheless, I am thankful for this person!

Day 9: I am thankful for my friends.  I have the best support system on Earth, and I am beyond grateful for each person who supports me, celebrates with me, and encourages me.  

Day 10: I am grateful for my friends and 'family' from Palau and Ebeye. People in both places opened their arms to me and brought me in, loved on me, and still put forth an effort to stay connected from afar. It is a wonderful thing to know I at any point I can go back and be at home. Mesulang and Kommol Tata!

MAPLE BROWN SUGAR PUMPKIN ROLL

Recipe by Bakeaholic Mama

SERVES 10 •  PREP TIME: 20 MINUTES  •  TOTAL TIME: 1 ½ HOUR + CHILLING

ingredients:

• ¾ cup flour
• ½ tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 2/3 cup pumpkin puree
• 3 eggs
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar

for the filling

• 8 oz. cream cheesed, softened
• ¼ cup light brown sugar, packed
• ½ tsp. vanilla extract
• pinch of salt
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 2-4 T. (only if needed)

for the topping

• 3 T. pure maple syrup
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• pinch of salt

directions

Visit Bakeaholic Mama HERE                                                     

COST: $7.32        COST PER SERVING (10): $0.73

Stolen Recipes: Pumpkin Bread & Crock Pot Chicken

I've been a bad blogger.  Not with my amount of posting, not with my quality of posting.  Actually, it has nothing to do with what I have going on here.

It has everything to do with what is going on out there.

Being a part of the blog community is something you can only understand if you are a blogger or a heavily-invested reader.  This little community (or rather, this large community, as it spans the globe) is like any other community: you make friends, you find people who annoy you, and you learn to balance that all with kindness and respect.  Or, at least most people do... but there are some people. Hmph.  Those people. 

Like I said, it is like any other community.

And like any other community, you are expected to give and receive.  Isn't that what relationships are all about?  Sometimes it is your turn, sometimes it is the other person's turn.  And we are expected to respect that, support that.

This is where I have been a bad blogger.  In the midst of running to and fro, from the West Coast to the East Coast and back, in the midst of having a house FULL this summer, in the midst of a new school year starting, and then trying to balance many different tasks at the same time, I have neglected my friends in this community.  I still wrote on my blog (albeit, rarely), but I just didn't get around to reading other blogs. It's not that I didn't want to, it's that I just didn't have the time to, and then I got out of the habit.

And that is where I went wrong.  I got out of the habit of supporting, listening, receiving.  This is something that may have been justified for awhile, but one can only make excuses for so long.  So I have made a point this past week to read, listen, and receive from others bloggers.  And I realized miss them -- I missed the posts, I missed the writers behind the posts.  And I missed the incredibly great ideas that you all have coming out of your kitchens!

Right now, as I am typing this, I have the amazing smells of a whole chicken, cooking in the crock pot (don't you love the crock pot and its simplicity, yet hate the fact that you are tormented by amazing smells for hours at a time?!), recipe compliments of Amy at Fearless Homemaker.  Oh my word.  I cannot wait for tonight so I can enjoy this... *wiping drool from my chin*

(expect to see more of this later...)

Along with those smells showing me what is to come, I have delicious pumpkin bread waiting for dessert, straight from Val over at Val SoCal.  I made half the muffiins her recipe called for and turned the rest of the batter into a loaf of pumpkin bread, simply by increasing the baking time to 30 minutes.  The muffins were killer... 12 of them were gone in 24 hours.  I am pretty sure the bread, with a simple swipe of butter on it, will be devoured just as quickly.

Though this, I have realized something.  By me not reading other blogs, it wasn't those bloggers that were missing out; it was I who lost something.  I am happy to be back.  I've missed you guys, and I can't wait to catch up on what's been going on, both in your kitchens and in your lives.

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To get these fabulous recipes for yourself, click on the links below to be taken there.  

PUMPKIN BREAD RECIPE, by Val SoCal

SLOW COOKER ROAST CHICKEN, by Fearless Homemaker

Vegan Pumpkin Walnut Bread

Apparently, I am a bad neighbor.

I mean, I try really really hard to be a good one.  Tip-toe through the apartment at night to not disturb the people downstairs, offer to help the old lady next door to carry up her groceries... see?  Proof that I TRY to be a good neighbor.  And I would have said that I was ACTUALLY a good neighbor, until the other day showed me otherwise.

My neighbor was walking toward her apartment, laundry basket in front of her large, pregnant belly.

"Baby is almost here, right?" I asked.  "Probably just a few more days?"

She looked at me with an odd expression for a few seconds and then said, "She is already here.  She was born three weeks ago."

WHA...?  I walk past their door how many times a day?  How on earth did I miss that?!

See, not as good of a neighbor as I thought.

But this weeks 'Sundays with Joy' recipe totally made up for that.  I mean, who could think I am a bad neighbor when I bring them a nice, fresh loaf of vegan pumpkin walnut bread?  And on Pumpkin Day no less?  Yeah, that's what I thought.  I pulled it out of the oven and let it cool, and then wrapped it up (with what I had on hand, which is why that is yarn), and headed over, being all good-neighborly.

So maybe I am not so much of a bad neighbor as an unaware one...

Wanna be a good neighbor?  Joy's recipe makes two perfect pumpkin loaves, great for sharing.  Or great for keeping all to yourself.  It's OK, I won't tell anyone ;)

.For this week's recipe, visit Joy's blog HERE or go buy a book HERE.  You will be happy you did.

PS -- Yes, I am sharing my usual Sunday post today, on a Friday.  That's because today is National Pumpkin Day and, more importantly, I have very special thing to share with you on Sunday.  So come back and check it out!  See you then :)

COST: $6.30   COST PER LOAF (2): $3.15