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Sunday, September 21, 2014

Home Again, Jet Lag and Fall Soup

After a great visit and work day, I left Lauren and Sean's home in Florissant Friday morning about 8:30 and drove until about 4:30.  I finally pulled into a Days Inn in Wausau, Wisconsin.  I walked to a restaurant next door, had dinner, and got back to my room at 6:00 pm.  I didn't realize just how tired I was but when I changed into my jammies, I laid down to watch a little TV, and fell asleep straight away.  I woke up at 11:30 and by midnight was not back to sleep.  By 12:30 a.m., I was WIDE awake so I decided to drive the last three hours home to Houghton.  As I drove across the U.P., I saw only 12 vehicles.  Because of that, I made very good time.  I felt badly that I had to wake Mark up to get in the house.  I had a key to the back door but not to the inside kitchen door from the mud room. 

After sleeping another three hours and having breakfast, we decided to drive to Marquette, MI (1.5 hours south east).  We needed to pick up 9 storm windows and our new front screen door.  SO, after being in a car for 10 full hours, I spent another three hours in one - but thank God Mark drove.  

Today I still feel like I have jet lag even though it's been more than 24 hours and I drove and didn't fly.  While Mark has been working on installing storm windows all day, I spent the day working on my sewing room/office.  The weather here was in the high 40s today, but full sunshine made it very pleasant.  We took our usual 2 mile walk tonight after dinner so maybe I'll sleep well and feel like myself tomorrow.

Keva's posting did make me smile - I also made a fall soup tonight for dinner.  I made up the recipe as I went along as I often do. Each time I make this soup, I try or add something new. Mark and I both liked it - if you're interested, the recipe is below (but I didn't take photos - sorry):

Susan's Fall Creamy Squash & Sweet Potato Soup

1 large sweet potato
1 med butternut squash
1 med acorn squash
1 large carrot
1 small onion
1 large stalk of celery
1 4-cup container of broth (I used vegetable)
1/2 cup of half & half
no-salt herb blend (to taste - see below) - or season how you like
salt and pepper (optional - to taste)

I cut off the ends of the squashes and then split them down the middle, scooped out the seeds, and roasted them with the sweet potato (in skin) and peeled carrot at 350 degrees until fork tender (about 40-50 min).  I let them get a little crusty around the edges to add more flavor.  As they cooled enough to work with, I cut up the celery and onion and cooked them in a little olive oil for about 8 minutes.  I added the broth and let it cook while I scooped out the other veggies.  I then added the sweet potato, squash, and carrot pulp to the soup pot and let it simmer for another 15 - 20 minutes to merge all the flavors.  The last thing I added was the half & half and the spices.  Once you add the h&h, make sure to keep it at a simmer and not boil it.  I used an immersion blender to blend the soup but you can use a full blender as Keva did.  The last time I made this soup I even threw in an apple too.  Yum!!!  This makes enough to serve 5-6, unless you have very hearty eaters.

My no-salt herb blend includes - oregano, onion power, marjoram, basil, savory, garlic powder, thyme rosemary, sage, and pepper.




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