Sunday, August 05, 2007

More Food And Cooking

I promise there will be new fiber posts soon. Next weekend, I will be in Taos New Mexico so I plan on going to any fiber / yarn stores around. Any recommendations anyone? The one I am most looking forward to visiting (that I know of ) is Lalana Wools, of course!! We have thought of contacting them many times about carrying their stuff at One Planet but I am not sure it is a good idea since they sell online already. Their patterns and yarns are absolutely exquisite! And expensive! I will have to buy something for myself, of course. I am not sure they even sell wholesale. They had an ad recently that said "almost wholesale" and I am not sure what that means. Since they naturally dye all their own yarn in small batches, I can understand why it is hard for them to move to all wholesale, because of the cut and all. It is hard for all indie artists... I am going to ask though when I am there............

I still have not been knitting or spinning. I admit I am in a funk. Maybe it is the icky hot and humid weather. 100 in Arizona and humid is just gross. I have knit a few rows a day of this or that but nothing too intense..... I don't feel motivated to do a lot of things now. I even broke my great organic diet after not losing any weight. I got very frustrated and really I am just going to have to join a gym which will happen soon, after my weekend away......

I did get another great organic boxed from Boxed Greens this week. I really enjoyed the fresh organic red leaf lettuce and spinach in salads and the tomatoes were yummy as well. I got a mango and some seedless black grapes that were unusual and amazing. They were really as sweet as candy..... I also got a few things that I didn't know what I would do with, so I ended up making a great soup. The first item was a Delicata Squash and I had to look it up. If I would have known how amazing it tasted by itself, I would have eaten it plain. It has a peanutty sweet type taste and it is fantastic. It is an heirloom variety of squash. Here is a photo and that link has some great info about the variety. I am going to buy this again and I think just bake it and add a bit of olive oil and cinnamon. I know that sounds weird but it is a great combo. Or make a sweeter soup with delicata, sweet potatoes, and orange...... This would be great.



I also received two large pure white onions and a head of this rosy red garlic. I have to say these aren't the onions I usually buy. I grew up I guess buying either the yellow type or eating sweet vidalia or red onions. In culinary school, we never used these pure white onions either. I discovered that they are actually sweeter than the yellow variety but they do make your eyes still water...... I looked up these onions and they are just called white sweet onions and they come from an organic farm in the midwest



I decided to make some soup using only ingredients I already had in the house. I have a huge sage plant outside in my herb garden so I wanted to use some of that. I don't have a photo of the final result but it turned out amazing so here is a recipe for you. I usually only add in a little of this and a little of that, but I wrote it down this time.... This is very low fat by the way. For the vegan version, leave out the butter (substitute olive oil) and use veggie broth instead of chicken broth. And of course, I used 100% organic ingredients...

Creamy Delicata Squash Soup

2 large white sweet onions
1 head of garlic
1 tablespoon sweet cream butter
1 tablespoon virgin olive oil
1 medium-large delicata squash
4-5 small gold potatoes
1 large garnet yam
3 cups organic chicken broth
2 cups spring water
1 teaspoon powdered ginger (you could use fresh too)
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1-2 tablespoons fresh chopped sage (or substitute 1 teaspoon dry)
sea salt - to taste
fresh ground black pepper to taste

First, chop the garlic and place in a large soup pot with the butter and olive oil. Put the heat on low and let the garlic cook for 15-20 minutes. The heat should be very low so the garlic doesn't brown. Add the onions and continue to cook on low until the onions are very wilted. You might have to add some of the chicken broth so that this doesn't burn.

While this is cooking, preheat the overn to 350. Cut the squash in half lengthwise and remove the seeds. Place in a roasting pan with the sweet potatoes and the gold potatoes and let these all roast for about an hour until cooked through.

The onions and garlic can simmer this entire hour. Just keep the heat on low and add broth if necessary. When the vegetables are done, let them cool and then chop the gold potatoes and add to the soup (don't peel). Peel off the skin of the garnet yam and coarsely chop and add to the soup. Also scoop out the flesh of the delicata squash and add to the pot. Add the chicken broth and water, bring to a boil and then turn the heat down and simmer for about an hour. It is just soup so have fun, no rules here, you could add other veggies if you wanted too.

Let it cool slightly, then puree in a blender and put it back in the pot. Add the herbs and spices and taste and adjust the seasoning. It is pretty yummy. It has an interesting tang from the spice combo......

You could make it look pretty by serving it with some sage chopped on top and a add a dollop of fresh yogurt, light sour cream or creme fraiche depending on your taste..........




That is it for now. I never thought my knitting blog would get into cooking but life changes. This used to be my love in life-cooking and food, but the constant struggle with my weight just made me turn away from the interest. Plus it is weird but working as a chef diminished my interests too...... I don't want that to ever happen with yarn!

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3 Comments:

At 9:50 PM, Blogger Connie said...

Lalana wools always looked so luscious to me, but it is too expensive. I can only dream from afar! ;)

Thanks for the recipe. I'll have to try it out. Love soups.

 
At 10:34 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Don't join a Gym--WALK A HALF HOUR 5 DAYS A WEEK--you just have to put those walking shoes on and open the door...So much better than a gym.
Thanks for the nice note on my blog. I actually have 3 Designs submitted to One Planet and am waiting to see if one is chosen...If you would like to chat My e-mail is on my submissions.
Have a Great Trip...Edna

 
At 8:44 AM, Blogger YarnB said...

Oh gosh I should walk, right Edna? But it is 115 or so every day now here. TOO HOT to go outside even at 5 am!!! But it will cool down soon......... Also I am stuck inside all the time and I thought a gym would give me yoga classes and other things

 

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