Blurbin’ from Carefree!

     Good freakin’ night! It’s 11:30pm and I just got back from setting up the booth for the Carefree Fine Arts and Wine festival, so I’m going to walk you through my day with blurbs. Prepare yourself for the onslaught.

Up before the sun!
Goodbye, pumpkin. Thanks for the good times!
HUGE windmills in the desert!
Break time?
COFFEE!!! And unsweetened granola – ah-may-zing!
Hotel decor.
Mas decor. Una puerta bella!
Livin’ it up on Easy Street!
The Carefree town center – also known as the wine tasting section 😀
Dinnertime?
Decisions, decisions…
Grilled vegetable sammich + sweet potato fries = DROOL!
I am SO going back for dessert tomorrey!
Setup time!
FORD OVERDOSE!
Our booth before…
Our booth four hours into it!
(Finishing up tomorrow)
RANDOM TREE!
Giada on the left???
Battle wound from a fight with a cactus.
I lost.
ANY QUESTIONS?

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Filed under Arizona, art festival, battle scars, Carefree, dead pumpkin, Easy Street, Ford, Giada DeLaurentiis, grilled vegetables, hotel, sammich, windmills, wine festival

Weasel Crap Beer?!?

     I woke up this morning, put on my gym clothes and was on the elliptical at the gym before my brain registered what was happening. 45 minutes at level 9 – I was dying! It was awesome.

I refueled with a slice of Great Harvest Whole Grain bread with peanut butter and some of Trader Joe’s Cranberry Apple Butter! This apple butter is ah-may-zing!
     I went to the library to pick up a book for my road trip tomorrey. I finished “The Girl Who Played With Fire” this morning and wanted more! I had a hold on the final book in the trilogy, but it won’t be in for another month, so I splurged and RENTED the next book, “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest” for a whole dollar! I think a buck for a week is worth it, plus it supports my local library, which I would die without.
After all the book renting, I needed a big Kitchen Sink Salad to replenish my energy. This had 1/2 a bag of mixed greens, 1/2 of a chopped bell pepper, 1/2 cup egg white salad, 1/2 cup steamed lentils, 1/2 of a zucchini sauteed with herbes de provence and 1/2 of an avocado with a light balsamic dressing. Many halves make a HUGE salad!
     Since it’s my last night at home for a few days, I went out to a local wine shop to pick up some fancy brews. I found the FANCIEST of fancy beers!
Let me tell you about this beer. Mikkeller Geek Brunch Weasel beer is brewed with the most expensive coffee in the world. This coffee is made by feeding weasels coffee berries. The berries go through their digestive tract and come out the other end, where they’re brewed into coffee: yes, the coffee beans are crapped out by said weasels. This coffee was added into this beer, which was then stamped with a $15.99 price for 15oz. 
Sorry to disappoint you, but I didn’t have the guts to try it…yet. With a 7 hour road trip ahead of me tomorrow, it just didn’t seem like a good risk to take.
Next time!
After the search for beer, MORE refueling was needed! We ordered in thai food, because lunch yesterday just wasn’t enough! We split tom kha gai, pad ke mao, pad thai and pineapple fried brown rice. All the dishes had meat in them, which I avoided. 
Luckily, even though I didn’t get the Weasel Crap Beer, I found plenty to try!
Oh beer, how much I’ve missed you!
First up: The Midas Touch! This one was a sweet pale ale, brewed with honey, muscat grapes and saffron. I’m not a huge fan of sweet beers, but this one had enough hops to keep me happy. I won’t be getting this one again, but I’d definitely recommend it to any wine lovers out there! You’ll love the sweet honey undertones!
     I’d love to write more, but I have to finish packing for the long drive to Scottsdale, Arizona tomorrow for my new job! Woohoo! I’ll repeat for any new readers: I’ll be at the Carefree Fine Arts and Wine Festival from November 5th-7th, working at one of the artist’s booths! 
Anyone in the Scottsdale/Carefree area want to meet up??

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Filed under beer, cranberry apple butter, Dogfish Head, Great Harvest, gym, kitchen sink salad, Midas Touch, Mikkeller Geek Brunch Weasel, thai food, Trader Joe's, Weasel Crap Beer

Pancakes and German Presents!

     I stocked up on canned pumpkin today! I’ve tried Trader Joe’s brand and I’ve tried Libby’s, and I’ve come to the conclusion that Libby’s trumps all! It smells and tastes the most fresh, and made my Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Pancakes incredible!

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Pancakes
Dry Ingredients
1/3 cup whole rolled oats
1/3 cup oat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp pumpkin spice
Pinch of salt
Handful of chocolate chips
Wet Ingredients
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup unsweetened soymilk
     1. In one bowl, combine the dry ingredients and mix well.
     2. In another bowl, combine the wet ingredients and mix well.
     3. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry.
     4. Pour a heaping tablespoon of batter onto a greased skillet and cook over medium-low heat for about 3 minutes, or until the edges look dry and bubbles on top have popped.
     5. Flip the pancakes and cook on the other side for another two minutes.
     6. Plate the pancakes and top with honey and extra chocolate chips. There’s no such thing as too much chocolate!
Adoration. Yum!
     I had to head to the airport on Halloween around 6pm to pick up the roommates and visited the creepiest haunt of them all: LAX! I’ve never seen so much traffic! It took about an hour to find and pick up the roommates from the international terminal. Luckily, I got lots of presents when they returned, so the trip was worth it ;-)!
Wasabi chocolate, kashmir-chilli chocolate, indische chocolate, lavender chocolate, wild garlic and a candle from Munchen (aka Munich, Germany)!
     Yesterday we celebrated with a trip to the local Indian buffet:
Chicken tikka masala, ridiculously spicy vegetables, daal and chana masala. I had a few pieces of chicken and massively regretted it later. After two weeks of no meat, I had a stomachache for the rest of the day!
     Back to hiking!
Ahhh, I love the trails! I’m itching to go camping again!
     Today the roommates were finally starting to feel a little more conscious after recovering from jet lag, so we went out to rediscover the town.
I had a lunch special of pad thai. I didn’t eat any of the chicken after yesterday’s pain! Thai tea helped as well!
I went to the grocery store to pick up my latest freebie: I got a coupon for a free Cottonelle sample in the mail yesterday and picked it up today. I love free stuff!!!
     I went over to the local plaza and read a little of “The Girl Who Played with Fire” before discovering that there was a new bakery!
OH MY GEEZ, CUPCAKES!
This was my first time visiting Crumbs, and definitely not my last!
I’ve tried Sprinkles which tastes exactly like Bisquik with frosting,vand these trump those by far! I had the Boston Cream Pie cupcake that tasted like heaven in a wrapper. No regrets!
Have I ever mentioned that I LOVE where I live?
Red wine at sunset…
…and cumin-scented German chocolate.
It’s a rough life.

I’ll be going to Carefree, Arizona for the Carefree Fine Art and Wine Festival on Thursday! If there are any Arizon-ites who would like to meet up, meet me on the corner of Easy Street and Ho Hum Street (no joke, those are the actual names of the streets) from Friday, November 5th through Sunday, November 7th!

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Filed under chocolate chip pumpkin pancakes, Cottonelle, Crumbs, cupcakes, free sample, Germany, hike, hiking, Indian Food, Munich, pad thai, presents, red wine, thai food

Spicy-Sweet Roasted Pumpkin Seeds!

Exercise of the day: 45 minutes on the elliptical at level 8, and heart rate between 163-174. I did 30 woodchopper core weights, a crapload of sit-ups on an exercise ball and rolled out my IT bands again whilst trying not to tear up. Will the pain EVER stop? Stupid IT bands.

I went to the pumpkin patch today to pick up a big ole gourd to butcher.

So many pumpkins!
There was a petting zoo at one end…
with a fluffy chicken-y thing. I thought this was a dog at first before I saw its head.
     Turns out the pumpkins at the patch were ridiculously overpriced, and there was no haggling, so I headed home and made a fancy Kitchen Sink Salad.
Special ingredient – half of a deliciously ripe avocado! Yum, fat!
     I headed to Albertson’s to pick up a reasonably priced pumpkin.
At the patch, a pumpkin this size cost $14. I got it for $5.13. Oh yeah!
GUTS!
I don’t need newspaper – I’m a pro!
I started to carve “welcome home” for my roommates who are both returning from their trips tomorrow, but got tired after “welcome.” Now I just seem accommodating and friendly to everyone.
Don’t be fooled.
I also picked up some decor gourds. See how festive I am?
     I didn’t let those seeds go to waste though, don’t worry!

[gmc_recipe 5567]

I like mine really crispy!
Store them in a tupperware and snack away! These have MAJOR bite to them, so carry a bottle of water and Kleenex!
One of my free samples! I’m on a roll!

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Filed under elliptical, gourd, gym, kitchen sink salad, Kleenex, pumpkin carving, pumpkin patch, pumpkin seeds, recipe

My WHAT has MSG???

     Exercise of the day: 45 minutes on the elliptical at level 8. My heart rate was between 170-177 the entire way and I was drenched. It was awesome. I also did 30 tricep dips and 30 pullups, followed by insanely painful rolling of my IT bands. It hurt, but hurt less than last time!

     Now are you ready for something gross? I did a pantry/fridge clean. In the vein of The French Don’t Diet, I decided to compile everything from my fridge and pantry that contained any chemicals, high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, added vitamins (we should get enough from our daily food sources) or food dyes. You ready for the outcome?

Holy. Crap.
     Let’s go through what we have here – ketchup (high fructose corn syrup), pickles (Yellow #5), powdered gravy mix and taco seasonings (corn syrup solids), bread crumbs (partially hydrogenated vegetable oil), oatmeal pancake mix (corn syrup solids), protein pasta (thiamine mononitrate added to replace what’s lost in processing), vegetable broth (monosodium glutamate aka MSG!). GAG. Excuse me, I just threw up in my mouth a little bit.
Now for the fridge. Ugh.
     Parmesan cheese (cellulose powder), pickles (yellow #5 again), ketchup and barbecue sauce (high fructose corn syrup), whipped cream (hydrogenated vegetable oil AND high fructose corn syrup), and so on and so forth. This shelf was jam packed with stuff to get rid of. The rest of my fridge? Pretty much empty. All that’s left is spinach, mixed greens, lentils, all natural peanut butter, tahini, celery, bell peppers, homemade hummus, hot sauce and whole grain mustard – I can live with that!
     After the pantry and fridge cleanse, I threw together a body and soul cleansing salad with what remained.
A Kitchen Sink Salad to trump all salads! This had half a bag of mixed greens, 2 organic zucchinis sauteed with herbes de provence, egg white salad, a yellow bell pepper, lentils and a dressing of whole grain mustard, balsamic vinegar and olive oil.
Hey! I can pronounce every ingredient above!
     After all this, I feel good! I can’t wait to see how I feel after a week of eating clean, with no added chemicals, dyes or unnecessary added vitamins. I’ll get my vitamins straight from the source, thank you very much! From now on I’m sticking to foods that contain ingredients that I know, can pronounce, and don’t shudder when I think of putting it into my body. 
The best news? Gelato is all natural, baby!

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Filed under added chemicals, fridge cleanse, gelato, ketchup, kitchen sink salad, monosodium glutamate, MSG, The French Don't Diet, Yellow 6

Homemade-ish Thai Green Curry

I had my last training session before my new job begins! I drove a gigantic van, learned a little about texturing and the process that the artist goes through to come up with her magnificent paintings and came home ready to FEAST.

Homemade-ish Thai Green Curry – Printable version HERE
1 can coconut milk (Don’t get the lame, watery light stuff, please)
1 tablespoon thai green curry paste
1 tbsp fish sauce (Ew, I know, but it makes the dish!)
2 bell peppers, red and yellow
1 russet potato
2 carrots
1/2 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup frozen peas
3 tbsp slivered almonds (optional)
Ingredients assembled! I even had the pliers out (check out the last picture) in preparation for opening the can of coconut milk.
     1. In a saucepan combine the coconut milk, green curry paste and fish sauce over medium heat.
The can opened! Maybe it’s just Trader Joe’s brand cans that have issues?
Pre-stir.
Blended!
     2. While the coconut milk is warming, peel and chop the potato and carrots and slice the bell peppers.
     3. Stir the vegetables into the sauce and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
Pretty colors!
     4. Cook for twenty minutes over low heat until thickened.
     5. If yours doesn’t thicken, as mine refused to, take 3 tablespoons of raw almond slivers (no skins), place them in a food processor and process into a fine paste – about 2 minutes.
     6. Add the almond paste to the curry and watch it magically come together!
Magic!
     7. Serve over a delicious, nutty brown rice and absorb! Try to remember to chew, not just inhale.
This makes about 6 servings. I have SO much leftover!
     This curry is delicious! I didn’t add any salt, which may have added a little extra flavor, but I loved it on its own. Everything I used in this recipe had 2 ingredients on the label or fewer! How’s that for real food?
     I got a last minute audition for tomorrey at noon fifteen! I’m off to study sides!

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Vegetarian Spaghetti Squash Lasagna

I’m on a squash binge. I’ve had some type of squash every day for the past week. It’s kind of an issue… To go along with my squash epidemic, today I cracked open a spaghetti squash and decided to try something besides plain ole squash ‘n marinara. I said squash five times in two sentences. Squash.

Vegetarian Spaghetti Squash LasagnaPrintable version HERE
 
1 spaghetti squash, cut in half lengthwise, seeded
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup white wine
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
1 tsp salt
2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
7 leaves fresh basil, julienned
4 small zucchinis
1 tbsp Herbes de Provence
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups spinach, rinsed and dried
1/2 cup grated mozzarella (Place the soft mozzarella in the freezer for 15 minutes before grating)
2 tbsp grated parmesan
     1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
     2. Place the halves of the spaghetti squash with the cut sides face-down on a greased piece of foil on a baking sheet.
     3. Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until a knife easily pierces the skin of the squash.
     4. While the squash bakes, slice up the zucchinis.
Since I’m eating the skins, I got organic. The fewer pesticides I consume, the happier I’ll be!
     5. Throw the zucchini slices and Herbes de Provence into a pan with a spray of olive oil, saute until tender and brown, then set aside.
     6. In another large pan, cook the onions and garlic over medium heat until tender.
     7. Add the white wine to deglaze (read: get all the yummy burned pieces off of the bottom) the pan and stir well.
     8. Add the diced tomatoes, salt, pepper and basil. Bring the pan to a boil, then reduce to medium heat until the sauce has thickened, about 15 minutes.
Before – tomato soup
After – Marinara!
     9. When the squash is tender, CAREFULLY scrape out the flesh into a bowl. This will be HOT! Or you can act like a smart person and let the squash cool before you scrape it. Or that.
Putting it into a metal bowl did not help the burning of my fingers…
     10. In a baking dish sprayed with olive oil (I used a small square dish, but I’d recommend a 9×13 to avoid overflowing) layer marinara, spaghetti squash, zucchini, black beans, spinach, grated mozarella, ending with a final layer of squash and marinara.
Top with freshly grated parmesan.
3 ingredients! I had to check out five different brands before I found one that didn’t contain any unnatural chemicals.
     11. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 45 minutes.
     12. Remove foil and bake for another 10 minutes until the cheese has melted and the lasagna is bubbling.
     13. Remove the lasagna and let it rest for five minutes.
     14. Serve and devour.
Happiness!
     I only had one problem with this recipe:
I thought yesterday was a fluke, but I now realize that it’s probably time for a new can opener…
Now time for MORE bread pudding!
I have a problem, I know.

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I Eat REAL Food!

     Exercise of the day: I woke up with a headache and sat around for a while sipping tea before I decided that if I was going to feel like crap anyway, I might as well feel like crap at the gym and get a workout out of the way and I’m really good at writing run-on sentences. I fueled up with some carbs:

1 slice of 9 Grain from Great Harvest with some peanut butter and mashed banana. I have no idea how those chocolate chunks found their way there!
     I got onto the elliptical and did the random cycle at level 7 for 40 minutes, then did 30 assisted pullups and 30 tricep dips. I used the evil/wonderful foam roller and tried not to cry as I rolled out my IT bands, then went out and did a few “woodchopper” core weights. Halfway through the workout my headache was GONE! 
     I had an icy Monsta when I got back with 6 cups of spinach, 1/2 cup of soymilk, 1/2 a frozen banana, 1 lemon and 1/4 cup of frozen blueberries. Soymilk has protein in it… Probably not enough for a post-workout refuel though. I also had some reheated butternut squash apple soup with a dollop of goat cheese – yum!
     I spent the day cleaning the house, doing laundry, CLEANING OUT MY CAR (something I haven’t done in over six months) and making hummus!
The can of garbanzo beans gave me some trouble, but I sorted it out.
And the hummus is chillin’ in the fridge, waiting to have fresh bell pepper slices dipped into it.
     I made baked sweet potato fries for dinner.
Half of a huge sweet potato sliced, sprayed with olive oil and sprinkled with garlic salt, then roasted at 450 degrees for 15 minutes.
     At work I got a lovely gift from a lovely friend.
Chocolate covered strawberries from Godiva! Thanks, Jose!
I also started this book: The French Don’t Diet Plan. I really, really, REALLY recommend reading this! I’m only a few chapters in, but this is so interesting! The author, Dr. Will Clower, talks about how the French can seemingly eat everything in sight: bread, cheese, wine, chocolates, and not gain weight, and how their diet differs from the typical American diet.
“They eat real foods, we eat food products.” – Dr. Will Clower.
     If you read the ingredient lists on different foodstuffs, it’s shocking to see how many unpronounceable ingredients, chemicals, dyes and preservatives actually inhabit the products that we put into our body. For instance, let’s look at the ingredients on a simple loaf of Wonder Bread:
I don’t want to put exthoxylated mono and diglycerides in my body – I researched them and STILL don’t know what they are!
Lucky for me, I have a Great Harvest down the street. The ingredients in this loaf? Fresh-ground whole wheat flour, water, yeast, salt, honey and oatmeal. That’s more like it!
     I’ll be going through this book and sharing on my blog as I go along! I’m making a conscious decision to only eat food with real, whole ingredients – starting with making my own ketchup tomorrey! Stay tuned!
How many things in your fridge contain crazy chemicals or dyes? 
My count – seven out of twelve on the middle shelf alone. Yikes.

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Filed under butternut squash apple soup, elliptical, Godiva, Great Harvest, gym, headache, hummus, sweet potato fries, The French Don't Diet

Welcome to 1958!

     Happy Sunday! I love Sundays: they always mean a morning at church followed by a day of rest and relaxation, family time and lots of reading. Oh wait, that’s not true for me. Normally I’m sucked into the vortex of retail every single Sunday, but today was a nice change: I got to go to set and get paid to do something I love! What a concept!

It’s nice to wake up before the sun once in a while. This picture made the exhaustion even more worth it!
     
     I pulled out the Vitamix and threw together a Monsta with 5 cups of spinach, 1/2 cup of soymilk, 1 frozen banana, 1 lemon and 1/2 cup of frozen blueberries. I pulled on some fuzzy socks, arm warmers and a baggy sweatshirt and headed to location with a hot mug of tea.
     When I arrived at set, I got into wardrobe for the first scene. This shoot is b-roll for a commercial that takes place in 1958. My first outfit was high-waisted capris with a button-down frilly sleeveless top and pink converse-style shoes that laced around the ankles. It was pretty hideous – I’ll spare you the picture because I’m awful and forgot to take one!
So. Much. Wool!
Getting my hair styled involved lots of hairspray, headbands, teasing and shellacking. Also pretty awful.
I got off easy with makeup. I only had to get base, blush and mascara. Two of the girls were filming a prom scene and had to get the works! The last time I saw so much blue eyeshadow was on Mimi from The Drew Carey Show.
     The first scene I filmed took place at a piano. I was assigned a boyfriend (Hi, Tom!) and we basically sat at the piano playing a duet and kissing “1958” style, which basically means long, soft pecks. Too much? Sorry. The next scene was a party scene. The director started the turntable and we had some painfully awkward slow dancing (“Stop laughing! Look like you love each other! And kiss!”). 
     Next came my favorite part: LUNCH!
Chicken tacos from Baja Fresh! No, I didn’t partake – I asked for vegetarian and vegetarian is what I got!
(I think I might be able to keep up this vegetarian thing full-time!)
Here we have a horribly plated vegetarian burrito that had black beans, lettuce, grilled bell peppers and cheese inside, with a side of salad, guacamole and a few chips.
     You know what works really well after eating a big lunch? SWIMSUITS! Um, yeah, not. We donned some 50’s bathing wardrobe and spent an hour freezing our asses off outside by the pool, hula hooping, attempting to dance “The Twist” and playing volleyball with a beach ball. These were the only pictures I got of me in wardrobe: Prepare yourselves.
Haha, love Rye-Bread posing in the background.
Please, no snide comments – I blame the shellacked hair. This was like wearing a corset but who needed to breathe in 1958 anyway?
Vintage!
     The final scene took place at a school. All ten of us spent the time prancing around in the most tight “casual” clothes I’ve ever worn. I had to cram my feet into size 6 shoes (my feet are size 7.5-8 normally) and I got some gnarly cuts on my ankles from the backs slicing into them. I’m a trouper :-D. 
     We wrapped after seven and a half hours, far less than the twelve that they predicted, and we still got paid for the full time! Hooray! I drove home through the mist, rinsed the shellack out of my hair and the mascara out of my eyelashes and made a big Kitchen Sink Salad.
Yeah, that should balance out the cheesy goodness from the burrito.
OoOoH! I’m gonna go make more bread pudding!

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Filed under 1958, Baja Fresh, bathing suit, Bikini, bread pudding makes me happy, commercial, filming, The Twist, vegetarian

Butternut Squash Apple Soup!

I did a lot of cooking yesterday, but decided not to bombard you with every recipe in one post. I felt that the bread pudding needed to be shared first because it was so epic, but here’s another dish that is a saga in itself. Bonus: it’s vegan!



Butternut Squash Apple Soup with a bite! – Printable version HERE
(adapted from Martha Stewart to be vegan/vegetarian)
1 tbsp Nucoa
1 onion, chopped
1 butternut squash
3 apples
1 tsp kosher salt
1 1/2 tsp cumin seed
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
A pinch of ground cinnamon
A pinch of ground nutmeg
2 cups vegetable broth
2 cups water
1/3 cup soy creamer
     1. Assemble your ingredients. (I didn’t have all the ingredients that Martha’s recipe calls for so I just grabbed whatever I could find in my kitchen.)
Everyone ready?
     2. Combine all your seasonings into a small dish.
Mise en place, baby!
     3. Slice your butternut squash into rounds, trim off the skin and scoop out the seeds.
M-m-m-macro!
     4. Chop the squash rounds into inch-long squares.
     5. Peel, core and chop the apples into the same size squares as the squash.
     6. Heat the Nucoa (or olive/vegetable oil) over medium heat in a large pot, then add onions and sautee until transparent (about four minutes).
     7. Add the chopped squash and sautee for another fifteen minutes.
     8. Throw in the chopped apples, spices and vegetable stock, then top with water until all the vegetables are just barely covered in liquid.
     9. Bring the pot to a boil, then set it to low, uncovered for 40 minutes.
     10. Using an immersion blender, puree the soup.
If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can transfer the soup into a blender and blend it in batches until smooth.
I left some texture in mine so it didn’t feel like I was eating baby food.
     11. Stir in the soy creamer and add some freshly ground black pepper.
PRETTY!!!
     12. Ladle into a bowl and top with any garnish you like: sliced jalapenos for extra bite, caramelized pecans or, if you’re not vegan, a small scoop of goat cheese for a little extra tang.
D-Lish!
     This soup is delicately sweet and comforting with a hidden spicy bite that warms your stomach and makes you want to stay on the couch, wrapped up in a blanket all day, reading a book or watching the Food Network.
I LOVE AUTUMN!

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Filed under apples, butternut squash, butternut squash apple soup, Martha Stewart, vegan, vegan soup, vegetarian