learning the new cam

I just got a new camera, a Canon EOS 20D, so I've been working on some photography and trying to learn some new techniques. I played around a little with the pups yesterday and I got these two cute shots.

Mason. isn't his hair gorgeous? I'm jealous of those locks.



Charlotte pooped out from an intense game of turtle chase

I am waiting on my lens and new flash to get here, so that will be fun to try some different shots. The flash will help with some of my food pix since I don't have a lot of natural light in my kitchen and most of my cooking is done at night anyway.

reading

I just finished some really great books. This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper and Little Bee by Chris Cleave. I couldn't put Jonathan Tropper's book down, and I am really excited to order his other books on the kindle. It's a family drama about siblings and their relationships as adults when they're all forced to be together and try to relate. He captures human emotion and character depth so well. I can see this book being made into a great movie with the right casting.
love the cover too.

Little Bee was one of those books where you just feel different once you've finished. The back of the book says "Once you have read it, you’ll want to tell your friends about it. When you do, please don’t tell them what happens. The magic is in how the story unfolds." It is a heart-wrenching story about a special relationship between two women who should never have met, but they do, and their worlds are changed for it. Definitely worth picking up.


Two others I'd recommend are "Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet" by Jamie Ford and "Olive Kitteredge" by Elizabeth Strout. Drew's mom loaned me both of these and I really enjoyed them. Hotel had me laughing and crying. It was a look at an elderly Chinese man as he remembered his childhood during WWII and a forbidden friendship with a Japanese girl. It definitely enlightened me to a part of Japanese-American history that I did not previously know much about.

Olive Kitteredge was good too. It was almost like a collection of short stories where Olive is connected to each of them in some way. Olive is a harsh woman and just when you love to hate her, you maybe can understand why she is the way she is. Hard to describe, but an interesting take on human traits and I think I learned a lot about people from her character.

Next up on my list...re-reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows so I'm ready for the movie.

I just started the Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls and my mom gave me
Cutting for Stone, so those will be up soon. The back of Cutting for Stone says "A sweeping, emotionally riveting first novel–an enthralling family saga of Africa and America, doctors and patients, exile and home." I'm hooked so far.

glee update

wow wow wow. What a touching episode. I had tears in my eyes 8 minutes in. Kurt (Chris Colfer) is incredible! His version of I Wanna Hold Your Hand was beautiful and I can't wait to get that on my ipod. Mercedes' Bridge Over Troubled Water really did me in too, and brought me back to some of my most favorite days in Sonlight. I really enjoyed that glee brought faith and religion to the show. I think they tackled the subject gracefully and realistically. go glee for great writing and amazing songs.

great I'm in tears again as I just re-watched it. wow. I love him.

Gleeful Tuesday

I'm not sure if it's possible to beat last week's Glee episode featuring the one and only Britney Spears, but I'm excited for what this week has to offer. I believe it's going to be religion based, so it should be interesting.




These last few weeks have been very sad for the gay youth of America as seven teens have committed suicide due to bullying over sexuality issues. I love Glee for bringing music and singing back into the TV world, but I especially love Glee for addressing stereotypes and being different at an age when being different can be one of the hardest and most painful things to do.

thanks glee

My Favorite Wedding Picture

We just got back some more of our wedding prints and I am in love with this family pic. As my best friend so lovingly wrote on our wedding card, now the puppies have a real mommy and daddy!

Do I feel a chill in the air? Roast up some Squash!

It’s getting cool here finally and I am so in love with it! I can run between the hours of 9am and 9pm and not die from the heat and humidity. I went on my 6 am run this morning with a long sleeve shirt on and felt the goosebumps on my legs, and I thought, fall is here and I’m craving butternut squash. Last night I walked into publix and saw a huge bin full of winter squash, so they’re officially in season, but it's so hard to decide what to make! Soup…risotto…ravioli…roasted…steamed…Did I mention I love butternut squash? I decided tonight I’m making the soup, and I’m raiding that bin this afternoon like it’s my job.

There was this amazing restaurant in St. Louis called Harvest, and they had the best butternut squash soup I’ve ever tasted. I haven’t had it since I lived in St. Louis 5 years ago, so I’m going to try to remember the flavor burst in my mouth to re-create it. It was definitely savory (there was some curry involved I believe) and there were some al dente cauliflower also which was a nice touch of texture.

The inner debate I’m having is do I go sweet or savory? I’m going savory tonight but I might try a version of Ina’s apple and butternut squash soup recipe next.

***I've added a few variations in the recipe to change it up

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

• 3 lbs squash
  
• 1 tbsl butter
  
• 1 tbl olive oil
  
• 1 tbl garam masala or mild curry
  
• 1 tsp each S&P
  
• ½ tsp ground ginger
  
• 1 med sweet onion diced
  
• 2-3 cloves garlic
  
• 5 large whole sage leaves
  
• 1 bay leaf
  
• ***1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  
• ***1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg or cloves
  
• ***1 cup leeks, white part only - rough chopped (optional)
  
• ***1 granny smith apple or 2 pears - peeled, cored and chopped (optional)
  
• ***Cauliflower (optional)
  
• 3-4 cups chicken stock (adjust for a more thick or thin soup)
  
• 1/4 -1/2 cup cream or half-and-half
  

Topping: homemade crouton, crispy sage leaves, crème fraiche, toasted squash seeds, crispy bacon or pancetta, roasted apples, dried apple chips… Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Peel, seed, and chop squash into 2 inch chunks. (if that’s too much trouble, just halve the squash, seed it, and slow roast skin side down at 300 for 2 hrs). Season the squash with S&P, ginger, curry/garam masala. Roast for 1-1 ½ hours until squash is tender all the way through. look at this pretty nutmeg! use a whole nutmeg clove and just grate it right over the squash for fresh nutmeg. When squash is almost done roasting, in my big blue dutch oven over medium heat, I caramelize the onion, garlic, and sage leaves in 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil for about 20 minutes until tender, caramel colored and aromatic. ***The optional part, add apples here and sauté until tender with the onions, garlic. Add the stock and the roasted squash (scoop out of the flesh if you didn’t pre-dice) to the dutch oven and bring to a low boil over medium heat. Turn to medium low and simmer uncovered for 15-20 minutes. Add cauliflower with broth and remove when it achieves al dente texture. Using an immersion blender or transferring to a food processor, puree the soup until smooth. Add back in cauliflower and stir in the cream and season to taste with S&P.
> If you want to go sweet instead of savory, here’s what I do. Before roasting, season the squash with 2 tablespoons of brown sugar and drizzle with real maple syrup. Add nutmeg and a cinnamon stick or teaspoon of cinnamon to the broth while simmering. Apples and/or pears are great additions for the sweeter route. How delicious does this look? oh p.s. Save some of the seeds and roast them for 10 minutes and use them for a topping to add a little crunch. Here I used seeds, a sage leaf and a slice of my rosemary baguette, toasted up really crunchy. I'm thinking roasted turkey with cranberry compote or turkey-apple-brie sandwich on toasted ciabatta would go really well with this, but since it's Tuesday, I'm picking up my favorite Rosemary Boule from our amazing local french bakery and doing a salad with walnuts, roasted pears, feta, cranberries, and balsamic vinaigrette. I'm cheating and using Satchel's Balsamic vinaigrette tonight. It's too good not to. I've tried to replicate this dressing, but notice the first ingredient is love. I whisk that vinegar and oil and add as much of my love as I can, but their love is magical I tell you and my love can't compete. Therefore I cheat. For you winos out there, definitely pair this soup with a white, probably a Pinot Gris or a dry Riesling. sauvignon blanc always works too.

Pumpkin Spice

Drew came home yesterday and said his hygienist's daughter was selling some stuff from one of those fundraiser catalogs so he bought a few things from her. I was secretly hoping it was girl scout cookies, but it's not that time of year yet, so I guessed wrapping paper or a big can of popcorn, but nope! He bought chocolate covered pretzels and pumpkin pie spice. Really, Drew picked out pumpkin pie spice? He said he thought I would like it for some pumpkin pie or pumpkin cheesecake (pumpkin muffins too while I'm at it). What a good hubby!


And then I thought, Pumpkin Spice Latte!!! That crazy indulgence that everyone in America obsesses over in early fall when Starbucks announces "IT IS BACK!" I just can't allow myself to regularly join in the craze...300 calories, 50 grams of sugar and over $4.00?! But now I have my very own pumpkin pie spice, courtesy of one fabulous husband and a pretty-darn-close recipe for my healthier and cheaper at-home-PSL.


Ingredients:

• 2 cups nonfat milk (or 1 cup milk, 1 cup half-n-half)
  
• 2 tablespoons canned pumpkin OR 1 teaspoon of Pumpkin Spice Syrup (try DaVinci Pumpkin Pie Sugar Free Syrup)
  
• 1-2 tablespoons sugar or sugar substitute (if you use syrup, go easy on the sugar or omit completely)
  
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
  
• 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
  
• 2 shots espresso (or 1/2 cup of strong brewed coffee if you don't have an espresso machine.)

Directions:
In a saucepan combine milk, pumpkin and sugar (or pumpkin syrup) and cook on medium heat, stirring/whisking constantly until steaming (don't burn the milk!). Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and spice, use immersion blender to blend until foamy (15-20 seconds).
Pour into large glass and pour expresso/coffee on top. Dust with the delish pumpkin pie spice or nutmeg. And please don't forget the whip cream