Wednesday, October 7, 2020

Wellness Soup and Pumpkin Pie

Let's start with a picture of my pumpkin pie. A couple things to note: I do not use crust. I haven't in years. I'm not a fan of crust UNLESS it's one of Peggy Ann's (local bakery) pies. Now, those crusts are worth eating and then some. But for me, pumpkin pie does not need crust. I use the old-fashioned Libby's recipe but I spice it a bit differently than the recipe suggests. I'm a nutmeg and ginger girl, so that's what this pie gets, and it's truly nice. It lets you really taste the pumpkin flavor with just a minor added layer of distinction. As mentioned in my earlier blog, I do add cinnamon to pumpkin pie as it gets closer to Christmas, but for Autumn, it's ginger and nutmeg all the way. And if it looks like the pie is more cool whip than pie, you're right. Remember, I'm a child of the 70s. We LOVE cool whip!


Remember that time things got crazy and we all had to start wearing masks and the government sent us extra money and we half-worked from home and half-worked from the office and the media went nuts and I found out that Crocktober is a THING?!

I digress. Here's my first Crocktober recipe (we are a week into this month, already, I'm over here just about dying because it's going way too fast for me). I was going to do a Hungarian goulash, but I opted for a wellness soup instead. ALL fresh veggies in a tomato-Hungarian paprika/veggie broth base, cooked on high for four hours, then on low for a remaining two hours. The fresh veggies consisted of carrots, bell peppers, onions, potatoes, garlic and celery. The veggie broth was organic, as was the can of diced tomatoes. Spices included Hungarian paprika, smoked paprika, one large bay leaf, salt and pepper to taste. Served with Parmesan garlic knots and chased down by a large slice of pumpkin pie, it truly was an Autumnal meal and extremely healthy. Isn't it pretty?? It was a lovely, rich, deep red color from the spices and tomatoes. 

Okay, so for all you Oscar fans (you know who you are, you can hardly handle the adorable level of that face, I'm in that same boat with you; it's why he's so spoiled, he gets whatever he wants), here he is. He was my home office helper yesterday. He did a very good job keeping an eye on things outside so that birds and squirrels and such stayed away from the window while Gammy worked. I may or may not have picked him up several times and smooched on him. He forgave me each time and settled back down to work, keeping an eye on things. Such a very, very good boy. I think he's just yummy.

Speaking of working from home, I find that I tend to over-work myself even more since I've started working partially from home. It's really easy - if you're not careful - to pretty much be constantly tuned in to your job and never really separate yourself from it once you start working from home. I go in to the office every day for about six hours, then the remainder of my time I do at home. I'm a type-A personality about my job. If there's something that needs doing, I find that I'm driven to do it, no matter what. A big silver lining to Bunny and babies is that they force me to separate myself in the late afternoon hours in order to care for them and spend time with them outside. But then, I'm often right back to the work thing. I'm trying to work on a better balance because I know it's going to be this way for a while. You'd think I'd have that balance down by now, but I don't!

We are starting to see touches of color, but it's slow going. That's okay, just means that things will be prettier farther along in the year. I'm looking forward to Halloween and cannot believe it's only three-and-a-half weeks away. How lucky for all of us that it's on a Saturday with a full moon!! Here's hoping for clear skies and good ghost stories. I'm still listening to creepy podcasts every day while I isolate at my office and work away, a solo soul wrestling with data and software systems! You should hear me screech sometimes when someone comes up on my floor and knocks on my door. I lose myself in my work and those podcasts, so getting startled is a given. It's hilarious at times!

I haven't watched Halloween yet. I'm saving that for the week before October 31st. It'll really help crank up the mood. It's my all-time favorite scary movie, and I have quite a few. The franchise itself is fun; I've watched all of the Halloween movies several times, but that first one! Nothing like it. The 2018 sequel to Halloween was excellent, too. I've only seen it once, so we have plans to watch that on Friday, October 30th. 

There's still so much left to do this Autumn. I don't know if we'll fit it all in, but I'll certainly be trying. I have to say, if nothing else, the weather has been a gift. This is the first time in ages that I can remember that we've had seasonal temps below our normal Autumn average, and it has been just wonderful. Looks like we do have rain rolling in on Saturday and Sunday, but since we are heading into our dry season with wildfire hazards, I'm not complaining. We've had to watch parts of our region burn terribly before. It's heartbreaking. The rain coming in will certainly help out with keeping our dry season much safer.

 Today feels like a hot dog topped with chili kind of day. (Vegan hot dogs can be very good if you know what brand to buy, as can canned, vegan chili!). I like mine with a giant squirt of mustard on top of the chili, too. Gives it that extra tang. Paired with a cold Dr. Enuf, that's some good eating. We have pumpkin donuts and pumpkin ice cream, as well, so I'm all set! Blessed day to you. I hope that wherever you are, the weather is beautiful and your food is excellent!

1 comment:

Dinahsoar said...

Oscar looks mad, LOL. This Miss Marple "By the Pricking of My Thumbs" is good for now, and it does have a witch in it, a mystery almost gingerbread like cottage, and a child that went missing decades prior:

https://youtu.be/tCaPWWMr0xQ

A little spooky, with a little humor, and an almost Disney like vibe...good balance of scary fun.