couple kinds of soup for my (wonderful) in-laws

As Martha might say, "soup is a good thing to have on hand with guests." It fills the house with an inviting aroma, and it's easy to warm-up upon desire. My in-laws were in town to help celebrate a certain someone turning 5 years old! Hard to believe.

This is 'Split Pea and Parsnip Soup' from Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker.




Here are the ingredients for the soup ready to go minus some chopping. This was my favorite of the two soups for a couple reasons. Foremost, I enjoyed the flavors, though I think the parsnips may have turned some off. Parsnips have a strong, earthy flavor that may be unfamiliar. For me, however, after carefully choosing, peeling, and cutting them into half moons, I was already fond of them.



Secondly, I enjoy the ease of my Crock Pot. Simply prepare the ingredients, and press a button. Fresh From The Vegetarian Slow Cooker is a wonderful cookbook, and may as well have the word "vegan" in the title, as I've never run across a recipe using dairy.

And, if possible, this recipe is even easier if you have a helper to pick over and rinse the split peas.



Here is the making for my in-law's favorite soup, 'Roasted Butternut Squash Soup' from Vegan with a Vengeance. I make it for them each time they come to town, and they keep on coming!

The hardest part of this soup is peeling the 5 pounds worth of squash. Maybe I'm a wimp, but my arm was sore afterwards!





Here it is after the fun part - pureeing everything in the food processor. The kids gather around, and I always have an audience for that part!

Each bowl served had a drizzle of maple syrup on top, which put the flavor factor over the top.

Soup. It's a good thing.

FALL . . . lots of sewing & soup

It's Fall. My favorite time of year. We've been immersing ourselves in bicycle rides, pumpkin patches, and piles of leaves.











Squirrels have been busily harvesting our two walnut trees. Hustling here and there stowing away for leaner times. As I read my newspaper recently, I mused how much smarter they are than we. Water has run out in Orme, Tennessee, and they say the crisis could serve as a warning to other communities to conserve water before it's too late. Any one's home town could be next, with long-term droughts and dwindling water supplies.



Here's two of our best jack-o-lanterns. Nothing fancy here, folks, but it was fun to light them and turn off the lights for dinner.











'The Best Pumpkin Muffins' from Vegan with a Vengeance. Yes, these are good, and we thought even better with a cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips. But, really, there isn't much that those won't improve! :)








'Winter Squash and Sweet Potato Soup' from "Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker" is such a delicious soup, and this cookbook is the reason why I LOVE my crockpot. Here's it is before cooking. Six delightfully aromatic hours later, I pureed it, topped with toasted pumpkin seeds from the weekend carving, and served with crusty bread.





I was thinking about Amy's Mexican Casseroles, and wanted to see how close I could get on a homemade vegan version. Here's the ingredients minus some El Paso enchilada sauce.








Here it is out of the oven. The verdict? It was pretty good, and has lots of potential. Next time I'll cut the polenta in thicker slices instead of making a shell and add lots more sauce. It could be better.








'Roasted Carrot Coconut Soup' from La Dolce Vegan! I omitted ginger, lemongrass, corriander seeds, and cilantro and still this soup was plenty flavorful for me. I really like that the recipe yields 2 large or 4 small servings - just enough for me to finish myself during the week. The soup coincided with a giant bag of baby bell peppers from Costco.





I've had the sewing bug lately. I made four Halloween pillow cases using these helpful directions. Next time, I'll make the hem shorter because the case isn't quite long enough to cover the pillows.

I also sewed two baby blankets and 6 matching burp cloths for gifts that I forgot to take photos of. Congratulations to Esther & Elaine!!




I got the idea for these "Giving Thanks" or "Thanks Giving" banners from a Pottery Barn for Kids catalog. It is made from felt and sewing scraps. It was fun to sew, and the girls had fun helping me arrange the letters.








I also finished the anniversary quilt that I began in August. It's a full-sized and the back is completely denim.

Next on the sewing front, I want to refashion some clothes -- make a skirt out of old pants, or make a quilt from worn clothing. I vow to abstain from buying new material. I will use what I have, reuse items as fabric, and get it from a thrift store.


What's the latest on the vegan cookbook scene? These two much-anticipated gems, of course. Veganomicon is the size of a college textbook, and flipped through each page the night it arrived.









'A Hummus Recipe' from Veganomicon made into a pita "sammich" as those brilliant cookbook girls would call it. The hummus is thick, and there are beets and organic baby lettuce to add some crunch. I ate these for about a week. I opted for cumin, and discovered a love match.






'Sweet Potato Lentil Chili' from eat, drink, & be vegan. What a hearty and delicious chili! I love Dreena's flavor combinations. She gives some choices: I opted for coconut oil, green lentils, and black beans. I love the sweet contrast to the spices. I want to make everything in both these cookbooks!


Olivia and I received some exciting news recently....


We entered PeTA's first ever "Cooking with Kids Contest" and we actually won!! I feel so honored.
Fellow bloggers may remember that I posted about this recipe about a year ago, and decided to bring it back for the contest.

We're heading to southern California to spend Thanksgiving with family and we hope to check out some new places to eat... Any suggestions?

It's Cherry Season!

The G'parents were visiting from California over the Father's Day weekend, and we decided to go pick cherries. This was the first time picking fruit from trees (other than the backyard variety) for my city in-laws, but this brought back fond childhood memories for me. I would hang-out at the top of the ladder, picking & eating all my tummy could hold as a youth in my uncle's orchards. My mother would fill the bathtub with our bounty waiting to be canned, frozen, or dried.



I was only able to get two lame photos before my battery died, which I'll include just because they remind me of the experience. This is when we first arrived, eventually Cliff grabbed a bucket and filled it up, as did Art and myself. Some of the trees were so heavy with fruit the branches hung low enough for the girls to pick, which produced some red faces, hands, and shirts. None of us could resist snacking on the cherries! As one of the few fruits with true seasonality, the cherry's fleeting presence makes it all the more sweet to eat. So don't let cherry season pass you by.

I had to run to Williams-Sonoma to get a cherry pitter to help with the task. It's a handy (& necessary) tool that cost $12 -- well worth it, and it also works on olives. One by one I extracted the pit from 20 pounds of cherries! (they only cost $22)

I froze 10 bags with 3 cups of cherries each, and still had some fresh cherries to use in recipes and just eat plain.



For breakfast, I made 'Mocha Chip Muffins' from Vegan with a Vengeance (p. 51) and simply added about a half cup chopped cherries.

I raised the "chocolate bar" by using Zen Soy chocolate pudding and chocolate Silk.

These muffins were enjoyed by all, and I really love the combo of sweet juicy cherries and semi-sweet chocolate.



I wish you could smell this aroma, which was even more fragrant than the orchard from which they came. I wanted to make something that featured cherries, used few ingredients, and was easy to make. This is the beginning of my
'Cherry Pie Filling'
4 c. fresh pitted Cherries
1/2 C. Water
1/2 C. Sugar
2 Tbsp. Arrowroot Powder

In a saucepan, bring the cherries and water to boil. In a separate bowl, mix the sugar and arrowroot powder, add that to boiling cherries until thickened. Cool in the fridge.

I put one tablespoon of the cherry filling in puff pastry squares, folded them over, sealed with water and a fork pinch, & then baked for about 12 minutes.

G'pa enjoyed his Father's Day dessert with a scoop of So Delicious vanilla.






The girls painted t-shirts for dad & g'pa, who wore them to the antique car show downtown.

This weekend, Art's CA band, The Scumbagz, will be in town playing a fundraiser for Boise Community Radio and the ACLU of Idaho. Several other local bands will also be performing and Art will be DJing as well. I plan to prepare some food for the band (one is vegetarian and the others are open minded) and I hope they like it. I'd love to hear your "band munchies" suggestions! and, I have some left-over, frozen cherry filling -- Any ideas? I hope you have a fabulous weekend, and I think I'll have some time to blog hop to your place while the band records in Art's home studio. Until then, keep cooking & sharing vegan food! Happy Summer Solstice! (The first day of summer & longest day of the year)

Soup, Salad, & Bread

This 'Banana Carob Almond Coconut Loaf' from ExtraVeganZa (pg. 125) was delicious! I used equal amounts of whole wheat pasty flour and spelt flour, and the recipe is actually for muffins, but I decided to just dump the mix in a loaf pan and it baked through nicely. The recipe also calls for chopped almonds inside the batter, but I knew the girls wouldn't go for it that way, so I put sliced almonds on top, which is easy to remove. Art and I ate several slices, and this is a yummy recipe with several flavors that compliment each other perfectly.


Here is a bread bowl of 'Potato-Asparagus Soup' from Vegan with a Vengeance (p. 99) I had an abundance of potatoes and asparagus to use up, and like magic, I found this recipe. Isa admits to not spicing up this recipe much because asparagus is her favorite vegetable and she wanted its flavor to shine through. It shined a little too much for us, and we added several shakes of chili powder and sea salt, which kicked it up a notch. I'm a huge fan of this cookbook, but this recipe turned out just OK. Look at the fresh lacy dill from my herb barrel!

For Memorial Day we went to a barbecue at Fred & Wendy's house. She asked me to bring a salad, and my standby is 'Quinoa Spring Salad' from Vive le Vegan! (pg. 71) Art took this photo right before leaving, and the wind blew off, and took away the fresh cilantro garnish! I LOVE this salad, and this is a double recipe. Fred thoughtfully grilled some portobello mushrooms for us on the grill knowing we are veggie. Thanks for a fun party!



There was left-over salad from the party, so Art and I ate cups of salad the next day. Nasturtiums are growing like weeds in my herb barrel, so I dressed them up Hawaiian style!









More cups of salad! This time, I made a 'Simple Slaw' which had shredded cabbage, carrots, and green onion. It's tossed with Brianna's Real French Vinaigrette, which is a light dressing. I also added some sunflower seeds to mine after the photo - I like crunchy food!

Stay cool this summer! Looks like another hot one - we are already breaking records here in Idaho (yesterday was 20 degrees higher than the record!), and our power bill went up 20% because of the lack of moisture over the winter. Is it 2008 yet?

Soup & News of the Homefront

'Curried Split Pea Soup' from VwaV. This soup was easy and quick to make because you don't have to soak dried split peas. It took a little over an hour to get it to the bowl, and it was served with 'Easy Biscuits' from ExtraVeganZa, which was another quick and easy recipe.

My daughter's shark party was a success. The kids jumped in the bouncy house, played pin-the-fin on the shark, ate with shark chopsticks, and made shark puppets. I didn't take any photos on my digital so the poster under the split pea soup is my only evidence.

We took a nature hike last weekend. Art took a shovel and trash bag to collect dog poop and litter left behind. Sadly, the bag was almost too heavy to carry toward the end of the walk. It pisses me off that people squander nature.

Did I mention that we joined the YMCA? The girls have been taking swim lessons, and I've been doing yoga. It feels so good to be working out again regularly -- connecting body & mind.



and, I've been reading during every spare moment from "Healthy at 100" -- I really like John Robbins' style and wisdom.

Something to file under "major bummer" is that my newspaper has dropped the cartoon Bizarro. So I'm calling and writing letters to the editor. Wish me (and some others) luck on bringing it back. I really miss Dan's satirical wit. Idaho is the same color as my counter tops. *hangs head low*

As you can see, I have serious competition on computer time. Olivia's favorite sites are: Peep and the Big Wide World, and Sesame Street. She has mastered the mouse and all the games on each site.

Warming Soups & Global Warming

We were hanging out with a most excellent friend when he presents the question. Can you name the beans for 15 Bean Soup? He then pulls out his partial list and checks it as we rattle off bean varieties that come to mind. We never completed the list, but it did prompt Art to buy a bag of 15 Bean Soup. We agreed on all the ingredients, and I prepared the soup as planned. The night before, I soaked the beans. I remember my mom doing that, so the tradition lives on and I also enjoy the anticipation of soup the next day. How many beans can you name?



ART & VICKI'S 15 BEAN SOUP
10 med. carrots
1 bunch kale
1 bunch Italian parsley
4 small leeks
2 medium onions
3 Serrano peppers
5 small garlic cloves
3 tablespoons olive oil
6 cups water
3 vegan bouillon cubes
1 pound 15 (or more!) varieties of beans

METHOD
Place beans in a large pot, cover with water, and soak overnight. After soaking, drain water, add 6 cups water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 3 hours. While this is happening, prep your vegetables. Then, heat the olive oil in a large skillet, add the garlic, onion, and pepper and saute until almost translucent. Add the leaks and carrots saute more. At this point & in this order, I put the beans, sauteed vegetables, bouillon cubes, kale & parsley in the Slow Cooker on low for 8 hours. I seasoned mine with sea salt, and needed nothing more. Art discovered that for him adding ketchup and mustard was the perfect taste sensation!



Art's Mom gave me this silicone loaf pan for Christmas, so I tried it out on 'Pumpkin Raisin Loaf' from TEV (pg. 169). Instead of kamut flour I used white along with vanilla soy milk and golden raisins. Delicious! The pan is refrigerator, freezer, microwave, and oven safe. Has a quick-release, non-stick surface that cooks quickly. It's also dishwasher and metal utensil safe. Love it, thanks Char!






This is 'Chickpea Broccoli Casserole' from VwaV (pg. 96). It was really good. I ate it all myself over a 3 day period. Nope, I didn't get any help at all eating this one. But, I think my family would enjoy it with a crafty disguise -- like phyllo, samosas, tacos, pita bread, sandwiches, pizza, or something along those lines. Or, I could just continue to keep it to myself!





This soup was inspired and modeled from 'Curried Lentil, Potato, and Cauliflower Soup' from Vegetarian Soups for all Seasons Bountiful Vegan (pg. 73) Though Nava may not recognize it because there are several changes:
I used red lentils instead of brown/green
I used 2 lg. leeks, leaving out the celery
I used kale, omitting the spinach
I also skipped the tomatoes

I ate many bowls of this soup! Art liked it too.



Here is just one of Dan Piraro's brilliant cartoons concerning the state of our planet. I share his and many of your reactions & sentiments toward Al Gore's movie, "An Inconvenient Truth." So you can imagine my overwhelming emotions holding the ticket below in my hands.....








January 22, I will hear Al Gore speak at 7 pm. "Global Warming --- Beyond The Inconvenient Truth" I CAN NOT wait. After seeing the movie & reading book, I'm anxious for the "Beyond" part. Beyond the facts and shocking truth, and on to solutions and some encouraging words for this fragile planet of ours. It is true, Gore would make his point more effectively if he was a vegetarian, but I can certainly overlook it because he seems to be the only powerful person in the US who gives a damn about this issue. That said, do you think he will mention the "V" word? Will he mention that possibly the most powerful step we can take as individuals to avert global warming is to stop consuming animal products? We'll see... And regardless, I'd like to say to Al (if he's lurking!) "Welcome to my home town, Former Vice President & World Leader on Global Warming!"

Carrot Bisque & Contemplating Thanksgiving

I made more soup. This is 'Carrot Bisque' from VwaV, pg. 56. I couldn't help myself making more soup. We had a house guest who wasn't feeling well. Poor guy. That calls for soup, don't cha think? This was the first recipe I found which I had all the ingredients on hand. Lots of carots and coconut milk are signature flavors here, which is a win-win in my book. It was creamy delicious, and I'd serve this one to company. If you're still meal planning, this would be a classy first course at your Thanksgiving table. So easy, too -- just make it the night before.



I was so excited (and surprised!) to see my newspaper run this story last Friday, 'Meatless Thanksgiving - It isn't easy, but it's doable and tasty." They included 9 vegan recipes, websites with more info, and even some tips on ingredients needed.

Our current Thanksgiving Meal plan:
Old Fashioned Bread Stuffing (FVSC)
Idaho Mashed Potatoes
Mi-So Good Gravy (TEV)
Best Brussels Sprouts (VLB)
Curly Kale w/Caramelized Onions (VegTimes)
Cut-out Spelt Biscuits (VLB)
Tofurky Roast
Cliff's Cranberry Sauce
Art's Sweet Potatoes
Art's Green Bean Casserole
Viennese Apple Strudel
Pumpkin Tofu Pie (newspaper article)

Pumpkin Puree & Cookies

I used our longest knife to cut my two pie pumpkins. Then, scraped out the seeds & guts with an ice cream scoop into a colander -- where I could later wash the seeds for roasting.

Preheat the oven to 350* & place the pumpkin, cut side down, on a lightly oiled pan with an inch of water. Tent with foil and cook for about an hour - until very tender.






Let the pumpkin cool a bit before scooping out the flesh into the food processor. Puree the pumpkin with just enough water to keep it moving.


This was the first time I've roasted a pumpkin, and was inspired to do so by Melissa because of this post at Cooking Delights. It was much easier than I thought -- the toughest part was cracking the pumpkin. Next time, I may just drop it on the sidewalk & wash him up before cooking....









I'm so glad I did this because you just can't beat the taste of fresh pumpkin in recipes. Sure, a can of pumpkin is fine in a pinch -- but why not make it fresh and freeze it so that you can have it all year long?

My 2 small pumpkins yielded: a half jar pumpkin seeds, two 1 cup baggies of puree in the freezer, plus enough puree to make a batch of 'Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies' from VwaV, pg. 198.



For these, I skipped the walnuts & flaxseeds, and added extra oatmeal to compensate. They were really good, and I'm planning to make them again for our next road trip because they don't fall apart & are chewy, aren't too sweet, and compared to other cookies - are healthful.

We are looking forward to Art's parents visiting us this week, and I'll have my camera and cookbooks out, but I'll be away from my computer until Saturday. Have a great week, and I look forward to checking in with you!