Butternut Squash Soup

This is one of those dishes that I have always 

heard of and have sort of feared and yet 

have really wanted to try at the same time.

Confused?  So am I most of the time.

Welcome to my world.

The players this time around are 

a container of "pre-cut" butternut squash*

1 carrot and some change**

1 tablespoon butter

1-1/2 cups turkey stock

half and half

salt

black pepper

olive oil

nutmeg***

*Hey, around here it's almost impossible to find 

un-pre-cut butternut squash, so lay off me. 

And even if I could find it, I wouldn't feel like

risking life and limb for the flesh wherein.

**I only had one measly carrot, 

thanks to some Bugs Bunny wanna be's living with me.

***Do yourself a favor and seek out the whole nutmeg.

It really does make a difference in the flavor.

First I sweated the onions.  

"Where were you on the 18th of October?

Not talking?"

Erm, yeah,  on with the recipe.

Since I am genetically incapable of following a recipe,

I decided to roast the butternut squash and the lonely carrot,

and change,

in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes.  

I had first drizzled these with olive oil and

sprinkled the pieces with salt and pepper.

I then added the squash and carrot to the sauteed onion.

Then I poured in the turkey glop**** er. stock.

****Don't listen to her, turkey glop is just another way of 

saying turkey jelly.  

It is a wondrous thing. 

It means that you have reached culinary nirvana.   

For you normal people, 

you could add chicken stock or

even vegetable broth.*****

*****Remember, there is no such thing as vegetable stock,

as stock is by definition cooked with bones.

I also added another cup and a half of water to the mix.

And then I mashed.

I did the monster mash.

First with the big masher and then with a smaller masher.

The recipe called for dragging out a food processor,

but I really didn't feel like doing that,

and this recipe is not the boss of me.

I really need an immersion blender.

Hint, hint.

Christmas is coming up soon, folks.

Just sayin'

The soup is mostly blended and we are satisfied with the seasonings.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Always, taste, taste, taste.

A grilled cheese sandwich and a glass of wine round out the deal.

Still, we all agreed that more carrots would have

made this better.

As it was, the butternut squash made this

a bit too much on the sweet side for our tastes.

I think that by adding more carrot to the mix, 

we will be able to mitigate those flavors.

Stay tuned.

Luckily, I have about three cups left.

And I have bought more carrots.

Quesadilla for a Quick Lunch

Quite frankly I am tired of eating leftovers

for lunch so I dug around in the fridge

and the pantry looking for something

quick and quirky to eat for lunch

the other day.

I pulled out a few things and made a quesadilla.

2 8-inch flour tortillas

mozzarella

extra sharp cheddar 

1 slice Canadian bacon

diced red onion

F.R.O.G. preserves (fig, raspberries, orange and ginger)

First I thinly spread some F.R.O.G. preserves on one of the 

tortillas. 

Then I grated some cheese on top and tossed on 

the diced onion.

Throw the chopped up slice of Canadian bacon on top...

And grate more cheese over that before topping

with the other tortilla.

Bake in the toaster oven until the cheese melts,

about 8 to 10 minutes.

Lunch is served.

Any leftover meats would work in this as well.

Just dice or shred and add to the mix.

Dinner at Malibu Grill

Monday evening my husband and I

went to dinner with an associate of his.

We were seated in the back by the wood-fired grill.

We were last here for our 25th anniversary and I was

less than impressed then as they had boasted 

"wood-fired roasted vegetables" on the menu, 

however, what came out were previously frozen vegetables

that had been cooked in the wood-fired grill.

No amount of wood-fire is gonna revive those sad puppies.

But I had heard that they had made some menu changes

in the past three and a half years and they have been voted

one of the best restaurants in town,

so we decided to give Malibu Grill another try.

We started with appetizers.

First up was the Greek Feta Dip.

This was warm feta cheese blended with kalamata olives,

sundried tomatoes and basil and served with tri-color chips.

This was very good and I will be attempting this recipe at home

- minus the olives as we are not big olive fans.

I think the only thing that would have made this dish better

would have been if the chips had been freshly made.

After all, it's not that difficult to do.

We also ordered Malibu Crab Cakes.

These were two homemade patties, golden fried and

topped with chipotle crema.  They were served with 

a lemon remoulade and cocktail sauce.

Also very good and good size patties.  

A lot of crab and not much filler.

Please forgive the poor quality of the next pictures,

but the table next to ours was seated and I didn't want to 

bother them with the flash.

Malibu Grill sets out a bowl of freshly made focaccia 

along with warm marinara sauce and a plate of 

extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  

My suggestion is to grind sea salt and black pepper into the 

oil and vinegar and dip the bread into that.

Our companion had the Chinoy Chicken Salad,

which was my favorite dish here,

back when I could still eat chicken,

and my husband had a steak.

I chose the Penne Alla Vodka with 

Shrimp, Scallops and Peppers.

The menu describes this as 

penne pasta tossed with zesty marinara

cream sauce, Romano cheese, Roma tomatoes,

shaved red onions and crushed red pepper.

The scallops were cooked perfectly

and were the best thing on the plate.

The shrimp just a shade over-cooked and 

were lost in the pasta

- and a personal pet peeve of mine -

the tails were left on.

I do not appreciate that when the shrimp

are in a pasta dish, 

especially when it is easy to lose the tail

and one accidentally takes a bite of the tail

- which I did.

Shrimp tails are not good eats.

Also, the pasta wasn't just swimming in the sauce,

it was drowning.

I was tempted to throw in a life preserver.

Sometimes less is more.

I also was not impressed by the littering 

of the parsley around the edge of the plate.

That is so 1990s.

So here are my tips, chef:

• Don't overcook the shrimp (easier said than done)
• Take the tails off the shrimp when in a pasta dish
• Don't drown the pasta in sauce
• Don't litter the rim of the plates

Still, I'd have to say that overall this was a good meal.

It wasn't the best I have had,

but it was decent.

What was even better was the company.

We had a lovely time and that was what really mattered.

Happy Birthday

 

Dearest

Foodie Daughter!

More from the Autumn Garden

As it was a fairly nice day,

I spent some time outside trying to ready the 

garden for the winter.

That meant bringing in containers that would

break if left outside in the cold 

and cleaning up debris in the garden.

Most of my garden is past its prime at this point in the year,

but there are a still a few points of interest

even this late in the season.

The seeds of the Blackberry Lily.

It is easy to see why this plant has been given this name.

I got this plant from the Master Gardener Demo Garden,

and they had gotten the seeds for this plant from Monticello.

This lily was a favorite of Thomas Jefferson.

Interestingly enough, the Blackberry Lily,

which Jefferson called "Chinese Ixia", is actually

a member of the Iris family.

Autumn sedum.

This is a new addition (read volunteer)

to my garden.

It is Late Boneset.

Early herbalists believed that the plant was useful

for helping to set broken bones

and the plant was wrapped in bandages around the 

broken appendage.

Gertrude Jekyll, an English rose, in bloom.

Pokeweed has been an unwelcome, and prolific,

visitor to my garden this year.

Despite the striking form of the plant and the purple berries,

this is a plant I'd rather not have in my garden.

Birds love the berries though and keep "gifting" me with the seeds.

The rhododendrons became confused this fall and tried to rebloom.

We are not sure if it is because of the dry weather or because

we disturbed the roots when we put in the new border.

It is possible it was a combination of the two factors.

A mimosa tree seedling has appeared in the landscaping.

I have already found out that this plant does not like to be disturbed,

so I will wait until it is a bit bigger before attempting to move it

to a new spot.

Update: I had always wanted a mimosa tree,

however it is considered to be a nuisance plant and invasive species.

I will have to consult with my local extension agent before proceeding.

One must be a good steward and good neighbor.

Victoria Blue Salvia.

Rose hip.

Did you know that rose hips are edible?

Just make sure that chemicals were not used on them.

The house and garden as seen from the "back forty".

And thus concludes our mini tour for today.

Happy Sunday.

Autumn on the IU Campus

On Friday I had a meeting at the IMU

and the Foodie Daughter also had some appointments

on campus, so she generously offered to drive my car

and drop me off at my meeting.

That meant that I would have to wait for her to pick

me back up afterwards.

No problem as these meetings usually run long.

Except for this one.

Isn't that how it always works?

I had an hour to kill while I waited for my ride to appear.

No problem.

The IMU is one of the largest student unions in the world

and it was a beautiful day outside.

I was sure I could find something to do in that hour.

The grounds crew changes out the landscaping

to match the season.

In front of the IMU a mass of mums welcome the 

students and visitors.

The IMU also hosts many conferences
and houses a large hotel
 so many 

out-of-state visitors stay here.

The Jordan River flows next to the IMU.

Dunn cemetery sits next to the IMU.
The university does not own this cemetery.

Beck Chapel is situated nearby.

I wandered inside the chapel.

Interesting stained glass.

This reminds me of a musical score.

Please forgive the poor quality of the pictures.

I forgot to bring my camera (bad blogger!) with me

so I was using my old phone to take these pictures.

Looking towards the front of the chapel.

Another stained glass window.

The organ sits at the back of the chapel.

A stained glass window at the front of the chapel.

I wish I had my camera with me so I could have 

gotten a better picture of this lovely window.

The inside of the doors to the chapel.

IU is known for its beautiful campus

and you have just seen only a tiny portion of it.

It truly is beautiful any time of year.

The Garden in October

One of the major disadvantages of gardening 

in Southern Indiana is that in late summer the rains

invariably stop and the hard clay soil turns to concrete,

making it impossible to weed.

One learns to sit back and watch the weeds grow

while ignoring the twitch in the left eyebrow.

Rainbows End, a miniature rose.

This rose is named for the kaleidoscope of colors

that the rose can display all at once.

The early blooms are yellow, then they progress

to pink, then rose then red before fading.

The dogwoods in their fall colors.

The last hurrah of the Rose of Sharon.

The burning bush in all its glory.

I spent an hour out in the garden today pulling weeds

and hacking down overgrown plants, 

most of which were well over my head.

One of my English roses in bloom.

The topsy tower alight with flowers.

The garden from above.

Many of these plants now reach eight to ten feet tall.

I also painted the plinth today.

It will need a second coat 

(or sixth, seventh and eighth if you want to get technical)

of matt silver paint.

What do you think,

perhaps a distressed finish

to finish this off?

The magellanica is next to the water garden on the deck.