Brrrr. It’s been so chilly here in Idaho. It seems we went straight from summer into winter with not much of my favorite fall season in between.
With the cooler temperatures, not much sounds better to me for dinner than a bowl of warm homey soup. I’m kind of a soup fanatic and because of that we do “Souper Sunday” each weekend in our household. I created this recipe for Pumpkin Soup a couple of years back and it’s become a favorite stand-by especially around this time of year. It’s simple, low-fat and high fiber. Plus it just tastes really good!
If you want to be really creative and Marthaesque, hollow out a big pumpkin and serve up your soup in it. The croutons are obviously not low-fat but they are delish and if you can keep yourself from shoving them in your mouth by the handful (I personally struggle with this), you won’t have to run too far to justify adding them to this healthy soup.
Daphne’s Easy Pumpkin Soup
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp dried sage
29 oz. can of pumpkin puree (or fresh pumpkin if you so desire)
8 cups low sodium chicken broth/stock
½ cup heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste
croutons (homemade or store bought)
Heat olive oil and sage in large pot over medium-high heat. Add pumpkin, stir and heat for 1 minute. Add broth and bring to a simmer, stirring frequently for 10 minutes. Add cream, stir and add salt and pepper to taste. You may need a lot of salt but I prefer to use the low sodium broth and then add my own salt back in so I can control the amount that goes in.
Keep over low heat until served. Ladle into mugs and top with crunchy croutons. Keeps in the fridge for up to 1 week. Makes 8 servings.
Daphne’s Croutons
Baguette (french, sourdough, seeded – any will work)
1/4 lb unsalted butter, melted (8 Tbsp.)
1/4 cup olive oil (garlic olive oil works wonderfully too)
sea salt
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut the baguette into 1-inch cubes. Toss the bread cubes with the melted butter and olive oil. Toss well so that each piece is completely coated. Place the bread cubes on a baking sheet, lightly salt and bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.
Use on soups and salads. These will keep for several days in a ziploc bag or airtight container. If they last that long! You can also experiment and add fresh herbs, parmesan cheese to make “Caesar” croutons, etc. You would just mix in whatever you want to add when you are tossing the bread with the butter/oil mixture.
Best Ever Chocolate Cream Cheese Cupcakes
October 28, 2009
Chocolate-Cream Cheese Cupcakes (adapted from Nordstrom Friends and Family Cookbook)
Filling
Oh honey…
October 20, 2009
I will admit that before I moved to Idaho (for the most part) I was not very open-minded regarding any type of “homeopathic” treatments or remedies. I don’t really know what my rational behind my disregard for natural remedies was but since I’ve been here in Spudsville I’ve changed. Not drastically (see my green is good post – I still use toilet paper, etc.) but if there is some common sense, good reasoning behind it I’m kind of feeling these days that the more simple and natural, the better. Getting closer to eating and using foods/products that more closely resemble the way nature intended them to be seems to be a worthy and attainable goal to aspire to.
A great non-food example of this happened recently during my training for my 1st half-marathon. Everything was going swimmingly (can you say that with regards to running?) when the wheels started falling off my 39-year old never been a serious runner before now, bod. I ended up with a hip injury and some very painful jacked up runners toes. If you don’t know what runners toes are, lucky you. I had some black toenails and 4 nails that were almost completely lifted up and off of my toes. Very painful and very gross. Let’s just say they ooze. It’s nasty and I guess somewhat unavoidable if you run for 10 plus miles.
My homeopathic lovin’ friend Heidi (yep, brussel sprouts Heidi – what would I do without her?) recommended I soak my feet nightly in epsom salts and then follow by rubbing tea tree oil into the injured toenails. I simultaneously made an appointment with a podiatrist and began to take Homeopathic Heidi’s advice. I was desperate! And wouldn’t you know it, I wasted $120 visiting the Dr. After he looked at my toes, he told me to “soak your feet in epsom salts, apply tea-tree oil and get new running shoes.” He also clipped the injured toenails which I couldn’t bring myself to do but at $120 for 15 minutes I probably could have convinced the nice ladies at Rosy Nails in Eagle to do it for a hell of a lot cheaper. My point being, while sometimes the natural route may be the path less travelled it might actually be the path worth taking.
From a food perspective, there are all kinds of foods out there that have homeopathic healing as well as nourishing properties. One of the most versatile and multi-purpose ingredients you can (and should) keep on hand, is pure and natural honey. I just read in Better Homes & Gardens that warm water mixed with a tablespoon of honey and vinegar can help relieve a sore throat. The vinegar discourages bacteria growth and honey is anti-inflammatory. And it sure tastes a lot better than just straight vinegar! Good to know during this cold and flu season.
In the same article, a remedy for nasal congestion recommends mixing the juice of one clove of garlic, 1/2 tsp of honey and some aloe vera. Soak two cotton balls in the mixture and insert them loosely in your nostrils for about 5 minutes. You might not look very attractive but you’ll probably be able to breathe a little easier after the garlic clears your sinuses, the honey works as an astringent and antibacterial and the aloe moisturizes your sore nasal tissue.
There’s also was also a recent study done that found using honey as a cough suppressant for children over the age of 12 months was as effective (and probably easier to get down) than over-the-counter medications. You can read this article and find lots of great information and recipes using honey on http://www.honey.com
I have my own home remedy using honey. Instead of buying those expensive sugar scrubs which I love because they make your skin smell so good and feel so soft, I make my own. I take a plastic lotion jar (I go through tubs of cetaphil – it’s pretty dry here) and add brown sugar, coarse sea salt and lots of honey. Mix together until it’s the consistency you like and use to scrub-a-dub-dub in the shower.
My little aspiring chef, middle daughter “L” wanted me to include one of her favorite recipes using honey from her own kids cookbook.

Green is good
October 18, 2009
No, I’m not getting political,environmental or granola on you. Unlike that “No Impact Man” Colin Beavan in New York, I do not have any immediate plans to give up using toilet paper or stop shaving my armpits. No toilet paper for a whole year?! Really? I can absolutely promise I will never, ever go there by choice. Me likes me my quilted Northern way too much to do that. I can’t even do the Kirkland brand. Ooops, maybe that’s tmi…
The green I’m talking about are the green veggies in my three favorite vegetable recipes. At least one of these is on the menu every week in our household. They are each a great way to get those veggies in and actually enjoy them in the process. When my kids ask “What’s for dinner mom?” and one of these recipes is part of my response they actually have been heard to cheer “yes! I love brussel sprouts!” Crazy, I know…but I promise, completely true.
Roasty Toasty Broccoli
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Wash and trim broccoli removing all stalks. My kids like to have some really tiny pieces mixed in with the larger ones because they get very crispy and crunchy, in otherwords, even more yummy! Pat dry trimmed broccoli and put in a large heap on a baking sheet. Pour the olive oil over the broccoli and toss with tongs or a fork and spoon to evenly coat all pieces. (You could also do this is a bowl but why dirty another dish that you’re going to have to wash?) Spread broccoli pieces out over baking sheet and salt.
Put on top rack of oven and roast for 15 minutes. Serve immediately. For a variation, you can also offer fresh grated parmesan at the table. Serves 4-5 people.
I have to give credit to my good friend Heidi for this next recipe. She invited us over for dinner one night sometime back and I asked what I could bring. She said, “Well, I’m making brussel sprouts, we’ll have some grilled steak and blah, blah, blah…” Basically she lost me at brussel sprouts because they were the one vegetable that both hubby and I detested. I brought a BIG salad to that dinner since I knew we would not be eating those sprouts. Heidi proved us wrong and turned our whole family into huge brussel sprout lovers. It’s all in the preparation. I think I had only previously tasted them boiled — ugghhh. No wonder I didn’t like them. Thanks Heidi!
Maple-Glazed Brussel Sprouts
Saute over med heat, stirring frequently until the sprouts start to get brown and a little crispy on the edges. Just before serving, drizzle maple syrup (only real will do) over entire pan and stir. Serve immediately.
*Allow at least 15-20 minutes for them to cook thoroughly. Serves 4-5 people.
Green Beans With Hazelnuts (adapted from Everyday Food – Sept 2009)
A fish memorial, crotch splitters and a blue moose
October 16, 2009
We started off today on a sad note. Super Dorothy the super-long living beta fish passed on to the great ocean in the sky this week. Super Dorothy was my 7 -year old middle daughter’s pet who managed to live a very long (2 years) life despite being for the most part completely ignored and rarely fed. I highly recommend beta fish as a family pet. They must have the market cornered on low-maintenance. You might not be able to cuddle with them but you also don’t have to spend $50 a bag on premium dog food, make overnight doggie “spa” arrangements when you go out of town or end up with chewed up shoes, toys and underwear all over your house. Don’t even get me started on the amount of poop a dog adds to your life. Too much. I promise (kind of) that I’m not bitter about our dog Rocky. He is however very high maintenance!
So I scooped Super “D” up in a cup (she was getting pretty rank after two days a’floating in her bowl) and we sadly trudged to the canal near the bus stop so we could quickly eulogize our beloved fish. L said some sweet words. “Dorothy you were a great fish. I hope you are happy swimming in heaven. Good-bye. Amen.” We added the obligatory “Father, Son, Holy Spirit (we are catholic after all)” and tossed her in. The current carried her away to a bigger and better fish bowl somewhere up there we hope. Within a minute, the kids had forgotten all about Dead Dorothy and were running for the bus. Amazing resilence those kids!
Ok, on to what you are all (all three of you at this point) dying to hear about (come on, admit it!), the crotch splitters. Any guesses? I won’t keep you in suspense any longer. I went to meet with my trainer, the slave driver Crystal, who you will be hearing a lot about. Actually she is awesome and even though she pushes me very hard — I love her. And I guess I am paying her to push me hard so that’s a good thing. She seems to be under the assumption that I am some kind of studdette who can endure a constant barrage of high intensity push-ups, pull-ups, dips and yes, crazy exercises called crotch splitters. I just couldn’t even do those without laughing although really they hurt too badly to laugh.
Try to visualize. You stand on this really tall step (I am somewhat vertically challenged so anything that comes up past my belly button seems really tall to me) with a big exercise ball to the side of the step. You put your right leg extended out onto the top of the ball and you squat down as you push the ball out with your extended leg, thus putting you in a position akin to (yes, I’m going to say it) “splitting your crotch.” Are you doing it right now? Ok, now you know my pain. And then she made me curl a medicine ball to boot. Yikes! All this for a tight tushy? Hmmm…
For those of you local to da’ho (Idaho, that is), The Blue Moose in Eagle, just happens to be one of my favorite places to eat. Hubby asked me to meet him for a late lunch date (sweet) after the torturous workout. I was nervous that I might not be able to lift my fork to my mouth but accepted his kind offer anyway. We’ve been together so long (almost 20 years) I figured he’d still love me even if I had to lick my salad off my plate.
Marcy, proprietor and chef extraordinaire at The Moose, has added a charming, rustic wine bar complete with bar stools to the main entry area of the cafe. Last night kicked off the Cafe’s first official “wine” night. Wine was flowing as was conversation with a cozy lit fireplace warming up the room. This is going to be a regular happening going on both Thursday and Friday nights at Blue Moose, so line up your sitter for the kids (if you have them) and high-tail it over there. She’s going to have some great comfort food specials going on as well. Think Yankee pot roast, beef stew in a bread bowl, chicken pot-pie and the like. And then of course all her regular to-die-for salads (big, big fan of the Maytag and the Orange Grove) and ginormous sandwiches. Finish it off with one of her famous frosted brownies and someone can just roll you out the door back to your car. Later you can find Crystal and do some crotch splitters.
Happy Weekend!!