catching you up

new england had a blizzard! we were prepared with candles, flashlights, extra food and blankets... all the stuff we might need in case we lost power.  we even fought our way through the grocery store and waited in a long line for gas.  it was the real deal.  luckily we didn’t lose power or go too crazy stuck inside.  we stayed cozy and kept busy.

we had a picnic and pretended it was summer. we took long naps and ate lots of good food like homemade chicken tikka masala and butternut squash soup. we bundled up and tried to dig out of the 2 feet of snow. luckily the plow came along and helped us out a bit, we’d still be out there i think.  we layered our layers upon layers only to spend about 5 minutes outside before there was lost a mitten and a mouthful of snow.  (seriously, 5 minutes until the tears came!)  so the little one and i opted to stay inside and drink hot chocolate out of teeny tiny cups while we watched the sledders out the window. 

we made playdoh and granola. we snuggled up and settled in.  it was all fun and games until there was an unfortunate poop in the tub incident. if you are a parent of a small child you most likely did not bat an eye at that sentence, but if you are not the parent of a small child then you probably just swore that you’d never read this blog again.  sorry, just keepin’ it real over here. yep, things kinda went downhill after that, and not the fun, let’s slide down the hill kind of downhill...  *sigh*  luckily there was a 2 hour Downton to watch and delicious soup to eat to help me recover. and since there’s no real easy segway from the tub incident to a delicious soup recipe i’d like to share... well, sorry, just pretend that you didn’t read about the tub situation and get ready to copy down the following recipe.  you won’t be sorry. 
this soup is SO good.  it has changed our winter lives and made even the worst of days (see above) MUCH better. it’s best eaten in pajamas during a blizzard.

butternut squash soup with apples and curry from Dinner: A Love Story

simple recipe below 

chop up onions and cook in a dutch oven till soft, add the curry powder and a small pinch of cayenne (1/8th teaspoon) and stir, add chopped up butternut squash and the peeled/ cored/chopped apples.  cover with chicken broth (i use the boxes from trader joe’s) and bring to a boil. turn down the heat, sprinkle in a pinch of dried thyme and salt and pepper and let it simmer for 30 minutes or so.  then “blenderize”it (my husband’s term) so it’s nice and smooth. we have handheld immersion blender and it does the trick nicely, no blender/hot soup explosions.  been there, done that. 

spoon it up right away and top with a generous dollop of sour cream.  i first made this soup this fall to go with some fancy pumpkin seed and cinnamon flatbreads i had picked up at a farm stand. that was a tasty pairing.  but these days some deliciously crusty bakery bread toasted with butter is just right.  you could also add some chopped and toasted walnuts if you so desired.  

so that’s how i make my new favorite soup!  the official recipe is from the book Dinner: A Love Story, my new favorite cookbook that, along with those chalkboards, has changed our dinnertime/witching hour lives. i hope you’ll get the book if you don’t have it already, it’s a wonderful read.  yes, that’s the best part- you read cover to cover and then there are recipes scattered about... love that style.  you can also check out the blog of the same name here.

OH, and as for the each and every day thing?  to me, that means i’ll post about my each and every day stuff as i explained in this post.  it came to my attention that to my sister, it meant that i would be blogging each and every day.  hmmm...  well, i took that on as a challenge to myself, so i’ve come up with blog posts for each and every day for the next few weeks and i’m going to do my best to stick to it.  and by each and every day i mean monday - friday, and by doing my best i mean it may not happen, but i am certainly going to try!  sometimes things like blizzards, traveling, and 2-year-olds with sniffy noses get in my way.  just sayin’.