Butternut Squash Pumpkin Soup Yummo

 

I got a little talkin' to from my sister last week on how she thinks I should blog more.

 

I don't know if I've ever shared how much I look up to my sister with you before but if I haven't, I should have.

 

Here's the most recent photo I have of Dee, me and Noah.  I'll have to get some pictures of me and Dee when she's up for Thanksgiving in just a few short days (I can't wait).  For the record, we're not always all fancied up when we see each other.

 

We're usually all scummed out in our sweatpants lounging around, which is why we never let anyone take our pictures.

 

In this picture, we were going to a wedding.

 

 

 

 

 

My sister Dee (some say Deej but no one who knows her well calls her by her birth-given name, Diane) is four years older than me; she is my only sibling.

 

My whole life she's been right about just about everything.

 

From the boys I used to date whom she said were dorks (they were)

 to the black lacquer furniture I used to decorate my first apartment that she told me had to go

to how my fashion follows hers five years later . . .

 

So when Dee tells me to do something, I listen.

 

So last week she said I should blog more - even if it's about something small, like a recipe.

 

I could get into all of the excuses on why I don't blog more frequently

 

like how I have two kids who suck up a lot of my time

 

or how I have a stay at home husband who needs a break from all of the home-related stuff

 

or how my company went through a round of job cuts last week and I was stressed out (I kept my job)

 

or how my computer is ancient and makes blogging a giant pain in the tush.

 

 

 

But the truth is, I LOVE to write

 

I love to blog

 

and I love to share my life with all of you

 

(and I hate when my sister proves me wrong).

 

Oh and this little blog was just featured on HGTV's website! 

 

Yup, you read that right.  My winter mantel was featured last week.  If you head over to HGTV (But don't leave this web page until you see what I've got for you)  and click on their winter mantels, my mantel was on slide 16. 

 

Imani wants to know if that means I'm famous . . .

 

 

Anyway, I decided to ease back into this blog thing by giving you a little recipe for Thanksgiving.

 

But first, I need to let you know we didn't dress up this year for Halloween!!  Can you believe it?  It's the first year we haven't dressed up in a long time.

 

Imani choose to be Darth Vader this year simply so that she could dress her little brother as Yoda. I think it was the first time EVER that I purchased costumes and didn't make them myself.

 

Although I was a little sad about these costumes, I gotta say, those moms who drive to Tarjay and swipe their credit cards to get their kid's costumes are onto something good.  This was the easiest Halloween 'evah! 

 

 

Imani had fun as Darth Vader and Noah did make a cute little Yoda.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And now onto that recipe.  This weekend, I made one of my favorite things to make, SOUP.

 

I love soup so much - I could live on it.  My family . . . not so much.  They all like to have more of a "main course" so I usually end up serving it before dinner.

 

I love soup so much that my sister Dee bought me and Jason a Cuisinart Soup maker for Christmas last year.

 

I'm not really into kitchen gadgets but that soup cooker is one of the best things going.

 

It heats up so you can sautee in it before adding other ingredients. Once all of the ingredients are added, you can turn on the blender portion of the machine and blend everything together to make soup.  Then you just set the timer for how long you want it to cook.

 

It's a little piece of amazing.

 

Here it is if you want to get it for some soup lover like me for Christmas. 

 

 

 

 

It's a bit pricey though - listed as $270 online. I found one on Amazon for $122.36 if you are interested click here.

(I am not receiving anything for this post - this is truly just a gadget I love!)

 

 

 

I only wish it were bigger because I like to make BIG pots of soup.

 

 

Anyway - on to the recipe.

 

Since it's Fall, I've been trying to eat as much squash as possible. I love it and both of my children hate it.  While most moms might be upset that their kids don't like a vegetable, I'm secretly happy because that means more squash for me.

 

shhh. . . don't tell them because I'm forever ACTING like I want them to eat it.

 

Naturally, since I love squash and I love soup, I figured I'd experiment with a butternut squash soup recipe.

 

This one's a keeper. 

 

First off, it's super healthy because there isn't any cream in this soup.

 

It has a rich Fall flavor of butternut squash with a hint of pumpkin.

 

 

 

Butternut Squash Pumpkin Yummo

 

 

 

1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into one inch cubes (I started with a 2-3 pound squash)

 

2 tablespoons of butter

 

1 medium onion, chopped

 

1 clove of garlic - chopped

 

4 cups of chicken stock

 

1/4 cup pumpkin puree

 

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

 

salt and pepper to taste

 

Directions:

 

1. Heat butter in a large pot

2.  Sautee onions until translucent

3. Add the chopped garlic and sautee for a minute more

4. Add the squash cubes and chicken stock

5. Bring to a boil

6. When squash becomes soft, dump into a blender

7. Add pumpkin puree, nutmeg and salt and pepper

8. Puree soup

 

9. Serve with a large salad and warm bread (the bread in the picture is homemade . . . I am OBSESSED with this recipe for homemade bread. It's super EASY and delicious.   I discovered it a few weeks ago.  No need to knead this bread - you make the dough on the weekends, throw it in the fridge and make fresh bread in less than five minutes whenever you want it over the course of the next TWO weeks. )

 

I told you it was easy.

 

Apparently, there are additional books out on different versions of this bread.  You can bet those books are going on my Christmas list.

 

If you try the soup, let me know what you think.  I was thinking it might be good to put applesauce in it too!

 

Enjoy!

 

 

Yikes! My House is Spooked

Last week, I pulled in the driveway when I came home from work and was totally freaked out by what hung in my doorway.

Jason finished spooking up the house for our favorite season.

These guys have been up for about a week but they still scare me when I'm cooking in the kitchen and I look out the window or when I'm pulling in the driveway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Noah is fascinated by them.

 

 

 

This year, J didn't go crazy with the cobwebs like last year.

Instead, he kept it fairly simple. I think my favorite Halloween decoration is this skeleton that Jason placed on a candle holder. It's so simple and I love it.

 

 

 

 

He also strategically placed these Halloween masks on our bookshelves and again, I had to do a double-take a couple of times!

 

 

 

 

 

If you're opposed to gore,  you wouldn't like Jason's decorating.  I generally keep things pretty mild, but Jason really gets into the season and he doesn't hold back on the spook factor.

 

 

 

 

 

If Martha Stewart can pull it off, why can't we?

 

 

Of course our whole house isn't gruesome. 

We still have our spooky tree with adorable Halloween decorations we found a few years ago at Pier One Imports.

 

 

 

 

The werewolf stayed in the same spot as last year, peeking out from behind a ladder.

 

 

 

 

 

Our bay window is spooked with oversized spiders, tombstones, and a knife stabbed into a plant.

 

 

.

The house is all set for Halloween.  Now we just need to get our costumes!

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

Halloween mantel

 

 

It's that time of year again! Our favorite holiday season is in full swing -

 

Halloween!

 

Aisles at stores are packed with all kinds of creepy Halloween decorations and costumes (and candy, of course)!

 

We're gearing up for the season by doing our annual decorating.  I always love when I pull out the Halloween bins and discover new decorations because I always shop at the end of the season, when everything is 75% off. 

 

I usually forget about what I purchased until I start to decorate the following year, like these little spider candle votives that we got at Big Lots last year for 90% off.

 

 

 

 

It's a good thing because I've been trying to scale back on making purchases of any kind of "stuff" lately.  I'm telling you that reading that Garbology book really impacted me as a consumer.
 

Anyway, I decided this year I was going to create a black and white mantel.  It all started because I pulled out the witch silhouette Jason made a few years ago.  I used to frame her above the mantel with a black picture frame, but you might remember that we spray-painted that frame an off-white when we created Noah's nursery?

 

Well Noah moved upstairs to our room and we took his nursery downstairs (did I even post about that bedroom switcheroo move? I can't remember).

 

So the off-white frame hasn't really been in use.  So I pulled it out and put the witch in the center and a black and white themed Halloween mantel was born.

 

 

 

 

I searched around our house for anything I could find that was black, white or cream and started pulling a spooky mantel together.

 

 

I moved our bird cage filled with cream candles and placed that on the mantel.  I might need to add some plastic spiders on the candles or something to spook it up a bit.

 

 

 

 

 

I also had this old, beat up ironstone plate, so I printed out a spider web using my Silhouette machine and created a little Halloween plate.

 

 

 

 

 

I tossed some plastic skulls in an apothecary jar and added them to the display.

 

 

 

 

 

We had this black and white sign that my mom bought for us a few years ago for a Halloween party we had for Imani and it fit perfectly with the theme this year.

 

 

 

 

 

I added one of my Halloween trees, along with an oversized bat.

 

 

 

 

And of course I kept my homemade chalk board, but changed it to read "Trick or Treat."

 

 

 

 

 

I also had some black candlesticks and a black cheese-plate pedestal so I added a white skull (that lights up at night) and some cream colored candles.

 

 

 

 

 

I really want a white pumpkin with an "A" monogram to sit on the pedestal instead of the skull, but I have to get Mr. Coupon Cowboy to sit down and paint one for me. I think I've told you that I am not an artist

 

nor am I neat
 

so I stay away from paint and paint brushes.

 

I just come up with the ideas and my husband makes them a reality.  I feel bad he gets suckered into crafts when his degree is in fine arts.
 

I haven't had the time to convince him I need a white monogrammed pumpkin yet.   He's healing up from his dental implant surgery, which actually went very well in case you were wondering.

 

 

But he did create an awesome pumpkin for me as a surprise when I came home from work a few weeks ago.  It's the only item in my display that isn't black or white.

 

I had shown Jason a picture in a magazine of a pumpkin painted with a super cool "31" on it.  The next thing I knew, this baby was sitting on my table when I came home.

 

 

 

Those grave stones were also purchased at Big Lots last year for 90% off.  I"m loving them placed around the bottom of the mantel.

 

 

 

And there you have it.  Here's the mantel all pulled together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here you can see the whole fireplace, with Jason's masterpiece pumpkin to add a touch of orange.

 

 

 

 

Happy Halloween! 

 

We'll be bringing you more Halloween decorating ideas soon, but if you just can't wait, you can check out some of our past ideas here, here and here.

 

And if you want to see some of our crazy costumes, click here.

 

 

 

Welcome Fall

I can't believe today is the first day of Fall.  The older I get, the faster time goes by!

 

Fall is one of my favorite seasons - especially here in the Fingerlakes of Upstate New York.

 

What's not to love?

 

Beautiful Fall colors
 

 

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Walks in the cool air with leaves crunching beneath your feet

Source: thecolorsofmymind.tumblr.com via Stephenie on Pinterest

Picking Apples

 

 

 

Hot Apple Cider
 

 

Source: bravoalphaevents.com via Stephenie on Pinterest

 

 

Carmel apples

 

 

Source: prettyorganizedpalace.blogspot.com via Teresa on Pinterest

Apple Pie



 

Source: joannagoddard.blogspot.com via Stephenie on Pinterest

 

 

 

Picking Pumpkins

 

 

 

 

 

All things Halloween - dressing up, decorating, and candy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can see some of other costumes here . . . and some of our other Halloween decorating ideas here, here and here..

 

 

 

Thanksgiving


 

Source: via Loretta on Pinterest

 

Knitting



 

Source: tricksyknitter.com via Donna on Pinterest

 

 

Football

 

Source: google.com via Kim on Pinterest

 

 

Crockpot meals

 

 

Source: eatingwell.com via Andrea on Pinterest

What's your favorite thing about Fall?  To bring in the season, this week I'll be sharing my Fall tablescape (no orange or yellow!), my Fall mantel and hopefully my Halloween mantel!  Be sure to stop back and see how we celebrate our favorite season.

Living in Dracula's Dungeon

Another advantage of Jason staying at home is that he was able to take over the Halloween decorating this year.

He did a great job. Imani told me numerous times that she thought he was a "really, really good decorator."

He definitely goes a little more for the gory in his decorating than I usually do and he sure knows how to spook up a house.   Imagine eating dinner with this on your cake plate.

We still had some of the whimsical decorations out too - like my favorite little tree with these fun characters we bought at Pier1 Imports last year.

Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures at night, but he changed out nearly EVERY light bulb in our house with an orange, red or black bulb.  It is pretty creepy. I've felt like I live in a dungeon.


We still had the mice up the stairs, like last year.  This is one of my favorite decorations and Jason traced and cut each and every one.  I think we found the template on Marthastewart.com  If you're feeling like splurging, you can buy them at Michael's too, but they will cost you far more than if you take the time to make them yourself.

Every day, I would come home and more of my house had been spun into a web.

See those creepy guys peering out from behind my curtains?  I almost freaked one night when I first noticed them.

Everywhere you turn, there is a monster peeking out from a corner.  I'm surprised Imani doesn't have nightmares.

This year, our mantel remained decorated as it has been, except Jason spun it up in his web and added some gourds and a tombstone that we bought at Rite Aid (our favorite store).  There are eerie lights that run behind the window to spook up the mantel at night.

Of course we put out our frames with spooky text too. 

I think Jason was extra inspired because he just finished reading Dracula. This, coupled with my love of the Twilight series, dictated our costumes this year.

We really get into Halloween every year. If you missed my post highlighting all of our costumes over the years, you can check it out here.

Nope, no fuzzy bear costume for Noah. He was a little vampire too.

Even Maggie has a costume and I must say, it's quite appropriate.

Happy Halloween, from our dungeon to yours!