Overstock

I plan on doing a bunch of my Christmas shopping on this site - Overstock!! It's like a Winners/Ross/TJ Maxx, but online (therefore MUCH easier to find what you want) and with cheap shipping. I've bought from them before and have always been happy... but then again, I'm usually happy if I get a good deal! :)

Butternut Squash Soup

There is something so comforting about a nice hot bowl of soup on a cold and windy fall day. This fall, my favorite recipe is one of the simplest - Butternut squash soup.

Here is my most recent batch, all ready to go into the freezer.

Recipe:

Dice an onion and saute it in 1 Tbs of butter. In the meantime, peel (I find a paring knife works best) and chop the squash into 1 inch cubes.

Once the onions are translucent, add 6 cups of chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add the squash and cook for approximately 20 minutes until cooked (should be about the consistency of cooked potatoes).

The next step has two options. The easiest is to use a hand mixer and blend the squash into the broth. If you don't have one, use a slotted spoon to scoop out the squash and blend it in a blender, then add it back to the broth.

Add salt and pepper and nutmeg. Don't got stingy with the nutmeg - it' the key part!!!

I usually divide it up into small ziplock containers and toss it in the freezer for easy lunches to bring to work.

Salt

I think that I might be losing it. Slowly, but surely, losing it.

I ran out of salt. Me, the girl who has been mocked for how stocked my pantry is. Me, who actually likes grocery shopping. I ran out of salt.

It all started when I didn't get a chance to grocery shop for 6 weeks! Embarrassing, I know. I sent Phil to costco one time in those six weeks (the poor boy went at noon on a Saturday and learnt to NEVER do that again), and I slipped in one time for a few essentials. But other than that, not grocery shopping. Needless to say, we were short of fresh fruits and vegetables.

Thankfully, I'm a stock-piler and our pantry and freezer were loaded. My friend Heidi once said that if there was ever a natural disaster or nuclear attack, she planned to hop the border and get to my place because I have enough food to feed people for six months. She's exaggerating of course... I could probably only stretch it out for 3 months.

Anyways, in the midst of my long dry spell with no shopping, I ran out of salt. Seriously, who runs out of salt???? When I finally made it to the store last week, I bought some sea salt from Trader Joes. It's not what I normally buy, but hey - it saved me from having to go into another store. Of course I got home and it's coarser than what I'm used to.

So when I ran into Haggen to get two things (which inevitably turned into a whole basket) I bought some more regular Mortons salt.

And when I got home, I went to put it away in my now dwindling pantry... right next to.... the box of Mortons salt.

Somehow I had missed it.

So I'm loosing it on two fronts: first, i'm running out of an essential, salt (except not really). Second, I'm not seeing things that are right in front of my face!

Christmas music and assignments

Everyone has their own thoughts on when it's acceptable to start listening to Christmas music. For many Americans, it's at Thanksgiving, for some it's December 1, others it's as soon as Halloween is over. My sister starts after her birthday - September 17!

Since graduating high school, all but 4 years I have been in school for fall semester. Usually in November I start getting swamped with term papers and assignments, and that is when I start playing Christmas music. It gives me hope that soon the craziness of school will be over and I will be able to start really enjoying the Christmas season.

This year is no different. I've been working on an assignment this week and busted open the Christmas play list on iTunes. Sounds so good!

Easycropper

Found a very hand website Easycropper. It's a super simple way to downsize your photos. For example, when blogger says that your profile pic can only be a certain size, you go to this site, upload your photo, pick what you want in the photo, enter the new dimensions, and it's done!

Salmon Chowder

On Friday night we had a delightful BBQ at a friends house where we enjoyed the yummy salmon that Phil caught a few weeks ago on a boys fishing trip. The fillet was so ridiculously big that we actually had some leftover salmon!

So I decided to try and make salmon chowder. I did my usual routine of looking up some recipes, not particularly liking any one of them, so I combined several recipes, along with my own ideas, and came up with my own recipe. Turned out pretty good!

Here's what I did:

2 cups cut potatoes (I used baby red potatoes and kept the skin on for extra color)

3 Tbs butter

1 onion, diced

1 small zucchini, sliced

2 stalks celery, diced

1/2 cup chopped carrots

3 Tbs flour

4 cups milk

1 cup chicken broth

Leftover salmon

Dill, tarragon, salt and pepper

Boil potatoes.

In a separate pot, melt 1 Tbs butter and saute onions, and celery. When they are about half done, add zucchini and carrots. When cooked, place them aside.

Melt 2 Tbs butter, and sprinkle 3 Tbs flour over. Mix with a whisk. Add two cups milk and whisk. When it starts to thicken, add 2 more cups of milk. Then add 1 cup chicken broth. Season to taste.

Add cooked potatoes. I used a hand mixer to blend them into the soup. Add cooked vegetables and salmon. Serve.

Fun Fall Idea

Although I am not good at coming up with my own crafty and decorating ideas, I am very good at spotting ideas that I like. These bouquets of peppers were being sold at the Portland Farmers Market - very fun idea!