I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order.
John Burroughs

Wednesday, October 21, 2020

From soup to horseradish to Chickadees....

Today is a miserable, wet, gusty day. A perfect day to make a big pot of soup! 

Last week, I roasted a couple of pumpkins, and froze the puree in packages of two cups each, but had an extra cup left over, so made a dozen plus, lovely moist pumpkin muffins with it

Today, for Curried Pumpkin Lentil soup, (recipe posted last Tuesday by Susan at e-i-e-i-omg) I sauteed the aromatics on the kitchen stove, then added the remaining ingredients and put the pot to simmer on some short trivets on the wood stove, so the bottom wouldn't scorch.


I used chicken broth and red lentils, instead of the vegetable stock and brown lentils the recipe calls for, as that is what I had on hand. (I love my very versatile, enameled cast iron dutch oven.)
By lunch time the soup was thick and delicious, and we cleaned our bowls with pieces of naan bread. Its time to roast off a few more pumpkins!

This afternoon, we decided to dig up some horseradish root. It can be pretty 'fumy', so we did the peeling and grinding over on top of the freezer in the Battery House.


Because the roots were freshly dug, and cold, they didn't really start to off-gas until we started to grind them, and then the fumes made our eyes water.

Each time we go outside, our resident flock of Chickadees fly and flutter around us. Now that fall is truly upon us, they've suddenly remembered where seeds may be had!



4 comments:

  1. Oh I love seeing the chickadee on your hand!!! That's so neat. I never knew that horseradish could make a person cry lol...that sounds funny. I'm not a big fan of the taste though. I love pumpkin muffins. I froze some cooked pumpkin too, I'm saving that for muffins as well! They really do turn out moist! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The chickadees bombard us whenever we step out! Its the first time we've ground horseradish root. Your timing with the vinegar has to be right to get the heat.

      Delete
  2. This post has my mouth watering, all so delicious and that last photo is adorable!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 'tis the season for comfort food! As winter progresses and food is more scarce, the 'dees will land on our heads, shoulders...and I've had up to 3 at once on my hand. They are fun!

      Delete