This soup is perfect for all the cold days and nights ahead, and it cooks up beautifully in a crock pot. If you throw together all the ingredients in the morning, the house will smell heavenly all day, and the soup will be ready to eat come dinnertime. If, on the other hand, evening works better for prepping the ingredients, the house will smell heavenly through the night and when you awaken, and the soup will be ready at lunchtime. For the record, it will also keep ’til dinnertime. Continue reading
Tag Archives: autumn
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: ButterNutmeg Squash Soup
A long time ago, Chef Ira (my dad) came to visit and brought with him a large bag of ginger. This wonderful recipe is what I decided to make with that ginger. The color of autumn, this recipe is made with butternut squash and nutmeg, which is why I call it “butternutmeg” squash soup. Continue reading
Fall at its Finest
This is the time of year when the pomegranates ripen and come to market. While I was growing up, my mom always put pomegranates on the grocery list at this time of year, and we children eagerly volunteered to unpack them when she arrived home. That night, after the dinner dishes were cleared, we would each take a seat at the circular kitchen table. My mom made a ceremony of opening a single perfect pomegranate to reveal its layers of shiny, shimmering red rubies. She separated the pomegranate into sections, saved one for herself, and then distributed the rest among the children. Together, we shared the pomegranate, appreciating the fruits of our table, eating up all the seeds, and counting our blessings. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: A Taste of Fall — Sweet Potatoes, Sage, & Rice
More than any other time of year, I have always loved the summer’s end and early fall most of all. I love the chill in the air on late August and early September evenings, the feel of cozy scarves for the first time in months, the smells and sounds of soups and stews bubbling away on the stove. I never get tired of sweet potatoes, and I continue to love experimenting with new recipes for all kinds of squash, like butternut, delicata, acorn, and hubbard, not to mention pumpkins and spaghetti squash. The ingredients in this recipe hit all the right aromatic flavor spots, and I hope you get a chance to try it soon. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Wintertime Oatmeal with Apples & Walnuts
In view of the fact that I’ve been asked once again to repost this recipe, and since it’s autumn (the most glorious autumn I can remember in years), I am reposting this recipe for Apple-Walnut Oatmeal. I’ve adjusted the proportions to make enough for two.
Looking out the dining room window as I write this, all I can see are dozens of cool, grey-brown branches against a pale blue, sun-lit sky. It’s beautifully stark, and riveting, calling me to the outdoors while the sun is still low in the eastern sky. But before I venture out into this beautiful day, I’m going to make this oatmeal recipe to warm me from the inside out. This recipe has a lot of flavor, with all the right kinds of yummy. You will probably smile while you’re eating it. I know I do. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Delicata Squash in Santa Cruz
The delicata is a small, lovely squash that looks gorgeous and tastes a little bit sweet. One of my favorite features of the delicata is that, unlike most other squash, the skin of the delicata is edible (and delicious)!
The first time I ate this particular dish was while celebrating the wedding of dear friends who live in Santa Cruz. In keeping with an old family custom, and in order to easily identify the affiliation of each guest, the guests of one partner were invited to wear gold while those of the other partner wore cream. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Liquid Sunshine Soup in November
Please enjoy this recipe, an earlier version of which I posted in November 2011:
This past week I found myself the proud possessor of a lovely hubbard squash. Add to that the butternut squash that came in a CSA box last month, and the bags of carrots that continue to come every week, and which are piling up in the refrigerator, and, as my dad used to say: “It’s time to get choppin’!” Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Wedding Delicata Squash
I was introduced to delicata squash some years ago while celebrating the wedding of friends in Santa Cruz. Delicata is a small, lovely squash that looks gorgeous and tastes the same. It’s a little bit sweet, and a little bit not. Plus, unlike most other squashes, you can eat the skin of the delicata!
This was a wedding to remember. In keeping with an old family custom, and so that we could easily identify the affiliation of each of the guests, those invited by one partner were instructed to wear gold while those invited by the other were instructed to wear white. We were members of team white, and I was thrilled to have an opportunity to wear a knitted cream dress that had been hanging in my closet for a long time. Once we arrived at the outdoor venue, we all joined together in a sea of yellow, gold, beige, cream, and white to form a new, beautiful, extended family. It was very moving, and most memorable. The simple beauty of this recipe will always remind me of the love and joy we helped to create on that beautiful October day. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: October Soup
I was looking back through old posts, and discovered this one from 2011, eleven years and almost 1000 posts ago. Though I do not remember who gave me this recipe, I do know that it came from someone I was working with at the time.*
I arrived home from work one particular evening to find my daughter frying onions, and I asked her what’s for dinner. “I don’t know,” she said, “this is as far as I’ve gotten.” Her amusing reply put me in mind of a guy named Jeff whom I had met many years prior. He became famous in our family, and remains there to this day, because of something he used to say: “First I fry the onions and garlic, and then I decide what to make for dinner.” And that is what my daughter was doing. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Pumpkin Harvest Rice
Take all your favorite fall flavors, mix them up together, and serve in a big beautiful bowl! This is a wonderful dish for company, but the leftovers the next day — if there are any, that is — are even better. Continue reading