Sunday, October 22, 2006

a blogging adventure, pumpkin part deux, chippies, and mystery soup!

A mish-mosh sort of post coming up . . .

I met Crystal & Ryan at Kitchen Window yesterday, for some serious browsing and shopping! (Crystal, I had fun hanging out with you again, and Ryan, it was great to finally meet you!) We spent, oh, almost two hours in the store, mostly drooling over high-end kitchen equipment and ingredients. This visit was prompted by Crystal mentioning to me the last time we got together that she needed a new apron . . . I suggested we visit the "apron shrine" at KW for the best selection. She chose a cute pattern -- go over to her blog and pressure her to post a picture of it! :) Also, they brought me a present!
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This decorative gourd was grown by a family member of Ryan's, and is now adding some fall flair to my windowsill. Thanks, guys!

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I realize I never told you what I did with the rest of the pumpkin puree that I had left from the apple orchard pie pumpkin. Well, the chocolate brownie cake molded (booo! You'd think by now I'd learn to put baked goods in the fridge,) and I finished the apple pie, so . . . I forewent a creative option and simply made a crustless pumpkin pie. Mmmmmmmmm.......
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I like the crustless version for a variety of reasons, the two most important ones being major calorie savings per slice, and ease of preparaton (no fussing with pastry!)

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I finally got around to turning the big package of tortillas I had hiding out in the back of my fridge into homemade baked chips!
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The "recipe" will be in the cookbook. (The Readers Digest version: oil, cut, salt, bake 'till crispy, cool, crunch.)

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This meal is not the most appetizing-looking meal I've enjoyed this week, but I had to take a picture of it to remind myself to tell you about Mystery Soup!
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What is Mystery Soup, you ask? Well, it's two (or more) kinds of leftover soup combined to make a new, mysterious, irreplicable, soup fantasy! Why Mystery Soup, you ask? Well, sometimes I find myself with just a few tablespoons or up to half a cup of leftover soup -- not enough to stand alone, but enough when combined with something else to make part of a meal! Waste not, want not. (I do not feed Mystery Soup to others, although Michelle has expressed interest in coming over sometime for Mystery Soup . . . !!)

10 comments:

madeinalaska said...

Lucky you meeting other vegan bloggers! and yea.. I should take notes on your mystery soup idea.. I have some left over sweet potatoes black bean chili and mashed potatoes in the fridgs.. hummmmm intriguing..

funwithyourfood said...

:) glad you let us know how the pumpkin puree turned out!

Is there a recipe for that pie? I have some pumpkin puree right now.

teddy

bazu said...

I agree- it must be so fun to meet fellow bloggers in real life! And that pumpkin that Crystal and Ryan brought you is beautiful. Your pie looks great- I'm going to attempt pumpkin pie for the first time this Thanksgiving.

Crystal said...

We had fun too Catherine - it was nice to go shopping with another food lover too. Can't wait to use my tea thing later today.

The pressure is on for me to post the apron, huh?

Crustless pumpkin pie...great idea. Yum!

-Crystal

Nikk said...

Hah! I've made mystery soup before! :) It can produce some interesting results, which usually can't be reproduced.

Crustless pumpkin pie is my pumpkin pie of choice for one reason...I can eat MORE! :)

Anonymous said...

How funny Crystal just bought an apron. I've been browsing the net looking for one for the past couple of weeks but have yet to find one that really calls my name. I think it's so cool you two got to meet up.

I too like crustless pumpkin pie. My mom used to make pumpkin pies for the holidays and she'd always make me a little mini pie with no crust. It's such a great way to save calories.

Vicki's Vegan Vice said...

georgous gourd! must have been fun to see crystal & meet ryan. i need to remember to wear an apron... your lunch looks soo good -- the altt sammie. i'll email you soon! :o)

Judy said...

I have made crustless pumpkin pie too, and I don't even miss the pastry. I have also made a crust out of oat bran, canola oil, and egg whites, and it worked quite well.
The 'mystery soup' sounds interesting, I have never thought of combining two different kinds.

Jody from VegChic said...

Cool, I love meeting other bloggers. You guys must have had a blast!

What a cute little gourd. The crustless pumpkin pie is a great idea.

Mystery soup, that is so funny. You never know though, you may come up with amazing combo at anytime.

Congrats on the teaching position!

Oh yeah, I totally agree with you about the singles and cooking. Many times I am cooking for one and the only difference is that I need to cut the recipe in half. Why eat PBJ when you can cook something wonderful? ---Though I do love PBJ once in awhile.

Crystal said...

I know, I know...I must post the apron this weekend!!

-Crystal