Velvety Pumpkin Soup with blue cheese and bacon

It's finally starting to feel like fall in San Diego, and I couldn't be happier as it only encourages my slight obsession with all things pumpkin (especially pumpkin spice lattes, yum!). I found this recipe online and was a little unsure. I've never had a pumpkin soup before but after reading the reviews I thought "why not?!". I followed the recipe almost exactly, except I subbed green onions for shallots and I used brown sugar instead of molasses. Overall we enjoyed the soup very much. I will say it was a little different at first and it took me a couple of spoonfuls before deciding just how much I liked it. We ate it with flaky pillsbury layers biscuits which I'd say is a must! Soo tasty and we ate it again the next night for dinner as well which I'd say makes it safe to say it was good :)

Ingredients

• 2 (15 ounce) cans pumpkin
• 1 quart chicken stock
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 6 slices bacon
• 1 cup crumbled blue cheese

Directions

1. Stir together the pumpkin, chicken stock, half-and-half, shallot, molasses, butter, pumpkin pie spice, salt, and cayenne pepper in a large stockpot over low heat; simmer 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, place bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat, and cook until crispy; remove to paper towels to drain, then cool and crumble.
3. Ladle soup into bowls. Top with bacon and blue cheese.

Amount Per Serving Calories: 420 | Total Fat: 31.9g | Cholesterol: 61mg

49. Bake cookies for dh to take to work 3x

I love baking. There is just something about being in the kitchen that I find so relaxing. And honestly nothing means more to me than making something with love and having people enjoy it and say how yummy it is. I took advantage of Halloween and used it as an excuse to get in the kitchen and make all sorts of yummy treats for my hubby to take to work to share with his co-workers. I admit I cheated a little bit by using two packages of Pillsbury holiday cookies, but the pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and candy corn bark I made myself completely from scratch. It was a fun, yet exhausting time in the kitchen as I baked for about 4.5 hours. Not an easy task when you barely have the energy for two hour outings :)

October's Us Photo

From this past weekend at Oktoberfest. It's a tradition of ours to go every year, eat a brat with all the fixings and walk and check out all the vendors. Such fun!

September's Us Photo

From our date at Birch aquarium :) And looking at this I've realized just how dirty dh's hat is. I think I need to find that guy and stick him in the wash...lol

Birch Aquarium and Squire's Cafe

So earlier this week Rick and I had a much needed date. Lately our dates have consisted on lounging at home, going out to eat at our favorite restaurants or doing a little shopping. Truthfully I haven't had a whole lot of energy or desire for much else. But we finally decided to get our lazy butts out of the house and go on a date that would count for my blog. I honestly hadn't even realized just how long it'd been since we did one of these!

So we decided to head out to the Birch Aquarium and to lunch. Typically when we have tried a new restaurant for this blog I've gone online and done a little research before hand. I just can't help it, it's in my nature. Well this time we decided to just go with the flow. We headed to La Jolla for the aquarium and decided to just find some random little place along the way. Rick noticed Squire's Cafe and we thought we'd give it a try. It was overcast and slightly cool so we decided to skip the little patio and eat inside. The menu consisted of lots of yummy sandwiches, most of them named after local cities in San Diego (I love when places do that!). I ordered up the Del Mar, which was a crabcake sandwich on sourdough (LOVE sourdough), while Rick ordered a turkey veggie wrap. The food was pretty tasty and hit the spot, and the sample of the oatmeal cookie that we snuck was so yummy! All in all it was a nice little lunch. Not necessarily something I'd drive to just to eat because it is a good drive from home, but if I lived in the area I could see myself eating their regularly.


Then we were off to the aquarium. I've been before as a kid, growing up here it's just one of those things you do-- usually on a school field trip. But Rick hadn't been yet. I'd say it's a pretty popular little tourist spot too considering it's in La Jolla and has amazing views of the ocean. And as far as tourist attractions goes the price is more than reasonable. We looked at all of the different tanks, my favorites being the seahorses (so cute) and the jellyfish (the way they look is just amazing). We even took some time to rest our feet and watch everything in the big tank. I don't have much to compare it to, as the only other aquarium type thing I've been to are at Sea World, but we had a fun time and enjoyed it and definitely plan to go back in the future.

Amish White Bread

I've never made bread before, but it's always something I've wanted to do. I found this recipe a while back (on allrecipes.com) and thought it'd be a good one to try for my very first time. It didn't seem very complicated and didn't require a bread machine. I'd been holding on to it for a while, waiting for the perfect moment to make it. Yeah, for whatever reason I thought it'd be a good idea to bake it in the middle of the afternoon on a hot summer day. LOL.

All in all it was a fairly easy recipe and really didn't take a crazy amount of effort. The majority of time was spent waiting for the yeast to foam, and then waiting for the dough to rise. Rick even got in on the fun and helped me to knead the bread. I enjoyed a small piece straight from the oven with a little butter, and made plenty of sandwiches for Rick. The recipe made two loaves and I was able to freeze the second one and give it to my parents a few weeks later. They both really enjoyed it as well :)

Ingredients

• 2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 6 cups bread flour

Directions

1. In a large bowl, dissolve the sugar in warm water, and then stir in yeast. Allow to proof until yeast resembles a creamy foam.
2. Mix salt and oil into the yeast. Mix in flour one cup at a time. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Place in a well oiled bowl, and turn dough to coat. Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
3. Punch dough down. Knead for a few minutes, and divide in half. Shape into loaves, and place into two well oiled 9x5 inch loaf pans. Allow to rise for 30 minutes, or until dough has risen 1 inch above pans.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes.

Nutritional Information

Amount Per Serving Calories: 168 | Total Fat: 2.9g | Cholesterol: 0mg

August's Us Photo