Roasted Butternut Squash, Sweet Potato, and Garlic with Caramelized Onion Soup

First, I really need to come up with a shorter name for this soup. Second, as an introductory note, I don't measure most things when cooking, so what I'm about to share is mostly estimates. Cooking, to me, is an art, while baking is a science (and thus needs accurate measurements).

Anyway, I mentioned on facebook sometime in the recent past that I had made delicious soup. Well, I'm finally getting around to blogging about said soup. More accurately, I'm going to share the "recipe." I put recipe in quotes because I made it up, and per the note above, did not measure most ingredients. So, here goes...

Ingredients:

2-3 pounds butternut squash, "peeled" and chopped

2 medium-sized sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 bulb garlic (yes, I really like garlic)

3 cups stock (I used homemade veggie stock that Corinne made, but other stocks, or even water, would probably work)

2 medium sweet onions, chopped

Olive Oil

Seasoning:

Salt (I used fresh ground sea salt)

Pepper

Cumin

Coriander

Cinnamon

Nutmeg

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2) Peel off the outer papery layers from the bulb of garlic. Chop a small bit off of the pointy end, and stick, chopped side down, into some olive oil. Set aside.

3) Hack the skin off of the butternut squash, as there really isn't a good way to peel one. Cut it in half, scoop out the seeds and "guts," and then chop the rest into smallish pieces. Smaller pieces will roast faster and more evenly, but you really do not need to cut it too small.

4) Peel and chop (around the same size as the squash) the sweet potato.

5) Put the sweet potato and butternut squash into glass baking dishes, trying to keep it to a thin layer (I had to use two in the end)

6) Drizzle (liberally--I tend to use lots of olive oil, but I think that's the Italian in me) the sweet potato and squash with olive oil. Season with salt, pepper, cumin, and coriander. Toss to coat.

7) Take the garlic out of the dish, and thoroughly coat with olive oil (I just rolled it around in the dish, but I've used a pastry brush to apply olive oil in the past). Wrap the garlic in foil.

8) Put the baking dish(es) and the wrapped garlic in the oven. Roast for about 45 minutes, making sure the pieces are nice and tender. You can stir it once or twice during this time to ensure even roasting.

9) In the mean time, heat some oil in whatever pot you will eventually use for the soup. When the oil is warm, add the onions. Cook over medium to medium high heat. The goal here is to caramelize the onions. While I've never run in to any issues, apparently this is harder than it looks. So, here are some tips: use a decent amount of olive oil (butter works too), stir immediately to coat the onions, you do not want to saute the onions so gradually lower the heat as the onions cook, finally, the more the onions cook the more you will need to stir to avoid over cooking/burning/sauteing. The onions should gradually turn translucent and then, after some time, start to turn a caramel. If they don't change color, don't worry. You'll know by the smell (sweet and smokey) that they are caramelizing.

10) When the squash, sweet potatoes, and garlic are done, remove from oven. Let the garlic cool (or, work quickly with reckless disregard for your fingers...not that I would ever do that *looksinnocent*), if possible, let the garlic cool unwrapped. Once the garlic cools, remove the cloves from the peel/covering (at this point they should come out with very little effort).

11) Add the squash, sweet potato, and garlic to the onions in the pot. Season with a little more salt and pepper, as well as cinnamon and nutmeg. Cook over medium heat for a few minutes to let the flavors blend.

12) Add the stock and simmer for 25 minutes.

13) Remove from heat. Let cool. Blend (I left it slightly chunky as I liked having a few pieces of squash and sweet potato, thoroughly roasted, left in the soup) to desired texture. If you have an immersion blender, this is pretty easy. If not, let cool longer and blend, in batches if necessary, in a blender.

14) Return to pot (if you used a blender), warm it up to taste, and serve. This soup is really good with bread.

Thoughts: I had considered adding a splash of white wine when I add everything to the pot, prestock, but didn't. I still think it would work well with the soup. A possible alteration would be to use some cream or milk, added after the soup is blended. However, because of Alex's dairy intolerance, I didn't try this. The soup was rich, with well-blended roasted flavors. Moreover, the cumin and coriander worked amazingly well with the cinnamon and nutmeg. It seems that adding these seasonings at different times allowed the flavors to seep in and ultimate layer well together.

~Dan

An Unexpected Argument for Baby-Wearing, OR, How I Almost Got Run Over

So I had mentioned on facebook the other day that I had almost gotten run over by a car while walking with Alex. It is finally time to tell that harrowing tale.

Alex was being fussy and was not napping well, and the weather was nice out, so I decided that he and I should go for a walk. I strap him in to the Beco carrier and he and I head out. We do a lap around the apartment complex and just as we are getting towards the apartment, he falls asleep. I decide, “hey, why not walk more and give the kid a bit of a nap.” But ,instead of doing another lap, I head down the street for a change of scenery. After walking for a bit I loop around by the Target near our place and start heading back. At this point I reach here:
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Like any thinking person, I push the button for the walk signal and wait for the go ahead. I also stand near the crosswalk, safely away BUT CLEARLY VISIBLE TO ANYONE PAYING ATTENTION. The lights change, the walk signal activates (which includes beeping loudly, mind you), I pause to make sure no one does anything stupid, and then I start to cross…

Once I get about to about the middle of a minivan driven by someone who looks like this person —who was sitting there at the light, looking my direction earlier—she decides to gun it and try to make a right on red. Through the cross walk. Through the walk signal. Through me and the baby strapped to my chest.

Fortunately I was paying attention and my cat-like reflexes and survival instincts kick in, leading to a series of events.

1. I take a fast, large step to get past the car

2. Mid-step, I turn to get Alex out of the way of a direct hit

3. I put my left hand on the death-van that’s trying to run me over

4. I propel, with one arm, Alex and myself off of the van, flipping through the air like Eddy Gordo from Tekken ...you know, except white and with a baby (and less with the flipping and more with the turning).

5. I land safely on my feet, in a crouch, facing the opposite direction from where I started

6. I’m greeted by two things: (a) the look of pure horror on the face of the driver in the car behind death-van and (b) the sight of the van that nearly killed my son and myself finishing its turn, pausing briefly, and then speeding off.

7. I stand, give the van the finger, and finish crossing—all still with the walk signal.

8. Alex wakes up and gives me a look of, “did something just happen?”

9. I call Corinne as I continue to walk home to complain about the crazy driver.

And that, my friends, is the fun story of how I almost got run over while walking with Alex. Had I not been wearing him, I’m not so sure I would have been able to get both, or even one of us, out of the way. Take note, my story is an unexpected argument for baby wearing. Of course, if my kid slept like a “normal” baby, we might not have been there. Either way, we’re safe, and words cannot express how much I despise Connecticut drivers.

~Dan

The Saga of the Overtired Baby

Alex has some sleep issues.  He has never been a huge fan of sleeping, but because it's pretty important to healthy brain development, we've spent much of his first 4 months of life trying to get him to sleep.  He was finally starting to settle into a bit of a schedule, going to sleep around 7:30pm, waking up around 6:30am (for good, he still wakes up several times a night to eat) and then taking a nap around 7:30 or 8am.  That first nap seems to be key.  If he doesn't get a good first nap of the day, he won't nap well the rest of the day, and then he will be a living terror by the evening.  That is what happened today. 

And lo, the infant was tired, so the parents set forth on a journey to lull the child to slumber. 
The child slept but fitfully, and so, when they had returned, they made fit for bed.
The infant was outfitted in the most absorbent of diapers and the cutest, fluffiest of wool covers,
Tonics were given, and then the infant was nursed to sleep.
This was the ritual on most nights, but on this night, this very night, there was a disturbance.

The child would not eat, but would not sleep. 
When wrapped in swaddling cloths, he fussed, but when unswaddled he batted at himself.
He would not consent to be rocked, but screamed when held still. 
The baby cried when nursing and cried when removed from the breast.
It was as if the world was ending. 
Eventually, he gave way to exhaustion, but the battle was hard fought.
And so goes the saga of the overtired baby.

Normally bedtime takes about 30-40 minutes, instead it took about 90 minutes. 

I hear there are babies that sleep.  All the books talk about how much babies sleep.  At that point I just laugh and laugh until people start talking about soothing drinks.

It's a good thing he's so darn cute. 

No Dairy, No Cry

I love cheese.  If you know me, you know this fact about me.   I basically lived on cheese (specifically cream cheese) during my pregnancy.  Unfortunately, Alex does not love cheese, and really does not love it when I eat cheese. 

 What a stinker!

Alex has an intolerance to dairy that makes him very fussy and uncomfortable and have stinky green mucousy poop (becoming a parent means you have to spent at least 20% of your time talking about baby poop - they make you sign a contract before you leave the hospital).  I cut dairy out of my diet and things got a bit better, and then they got worse again, so then I cut soy out of my diet, which is the next big offender.  Cutting dairy out was sad, it meant I had to read labels and couldn't have some of my favorite foods, but mostly just meant I had to find different brands of food.  Cutting out soy meant that I basically can't eat processed food anymore.

Read a label sometime - soy is in everything.  I screwed up on that one so many times because I would make the mistake of assuming something didn't have soy in it.  Cooking spray, olive oil cooking spray, has soy in it. 

I also can't really eat at restaurants either.  If we go out, I get the salad bar at Ruby Tuesdays, because they have an extensive allergen menu (which says that I can have the salad bar and oil and vinegar for dressing), or we get sushi and I get the most basic sushi that is just rice and fish (no dipping in soy sauce, obviously). 

Surprisingly, this isn't as bad as it sounds.  We eat out a lot less, which saves us money.  We also make almost all of our own food now, including bread (YUM!), which is both healthier and cheaper.  I eat a lot of rice and beans and quinoa and tons of fresh veggies.  Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything: Vegetarian" has been an amazing resource.  I've stopped just using recipes and started really cooking - making things up as I go along. 

Last night I made a vegan risotto with acorn squash, red pepper, onion, and kale.  I cooked the onion with some garlic first in some olive oil, then added the red pepper, then added the squash, cut into small cubes and a little bit of stock and just let that cooked covered for about 15 minutes (I took this opportunity to nurse the baby).  I added the kale and let that cook for about a minute, then added the rice and some white wine (technically some white zin left over in the fridge).  Cooked that for a few minutes, then started added thing stock, about a half ladle at a time.  I use Bittman's recipe for making our own stock and make a double or triple batch so that we can freeze some, or use it throughout the week.  I made the stock while I was chopping vegetables, and then just ladled directly out of the stock pot into the risotto.  Multitasking!  The risotto took about 30 minutes to cook after I added the rice with pretty continuous stirring (Dan played with Alex).  Season with salt and pepper and then I added a splash of lemon juice for a little acidity.  The squash basically became a puree and added the creaminess that would have been added by butter and cheese.  The fresh stock added a lot of flavor to the rice.  It was delicious!!  I never would have tried risotto without cheese, risotto was basically a fancy delivery method for as much cheese as possible, but this was amazing and super healthy. 

 Pictured here with homemade bread - so good!

We still don't seem to be out of the woods though - Alex is still having symptoms, which suggests that he has another food intolerance.  I thought it might be eggs, because it got really bad after his 4 month shots, but cutting out eggs hasn't seemed to make a difference yet.  I think we need to call in an allergist (and possibly a registered dietician for me).

At least I'm no longer tempted by fried food - it's just not an option anymore.  (Most fried food is fried in vegetable oil which frequently includes soybean oil). 

Caffeine and Duct Tape

Today is the culmination of a very long and difficult week.  Alex, our adorable little 4 and a half month old has not been sleeping well.  This week wasn't significantly worse than usual, because except for 10 glorious days about a month ago, he has never slept well, and 4.5 months of sleep deprivation is starting to catch up with us.

                                       Why would I sleep, Mommy?  There is so much to do!
So we slept in a bit, and I made us vegan banana pancakes for breakfast.  We've already cut out dairy and soy from my diet because Alex has a protein intolerance, and now we're trying to eliminate eggs also, which we think might be causing him some problems.  

The pancakes were amazing.  Unfortunately, the day went downhill from there.  After being happily awake for a little over an hour, Alex indicated he was sleepy.  So we tried to put him down for a nap - this is a fairly normal schedule for him.  He did not nap.  He then got overtired.  So I took him grocery shopping with me and wore him in the Beco.  He eventually fell asleep.  After we got home, I fed him and then Dan was treating us to Sushi buffet for lunch.  After it takes 10 minutes to get a mile and a half, we discover that they're apparently not actually open until 3:30.  So we drive back home (also 10 minutes).  So we've now spent 20 minutes in the car with a screaming baby and no sushi. :( 

When I make us lunch, I find that my daiya "cheese" (dairy and soy free cheese substitute) has gone moldy.

It takes us almost 2 hours to get Alex down for his second nap of the day, because he is still extremely overtired.  

We ended up ordering take out sushi because neither of us could get up the will power to cook, and that took almost an hour and a half to be delivered.

It's 10:30 at night and I'm ready to call this week over.  Here's hoping that tomorrow will be the start of a better week.

Let's start on a positive note!
I did do:
- I found my music for church tomorrow!
- I boxed up my maternity clothes for Chrissy!
- I went to the grocery store and cvs! (should I make that two separate list items?  nah)
- I ordered two new cute (and cheap!) diapers from babyhalfoff.com!
- I finished sending out the job postings for our new organist and choir director!
- I clipped the nails on one of the baby's hands! (He's squirmy, it's hard)
- I did not die from allergies!
(notice shower did not make this list - I'll try harder tomorrow)

Tires are not my friends

So I just had my third flat of the summer. 

Yes, that is correct - three of my four tires have gone flat on me this summer. 

You will all recall my earlier post about my tire going disastrously flat on the 84/384 split and trying to kill me.  That was one.

Then, as Dan and I drove to Torrington earlier in August to visit the UConn Torrington campus where I am teaching, another tire went flat.  This time, I could tell early.  I am not a paranoid crazy person for being suspicious of every time my car starts shaking, it was indeed a flat tire.  HA!  Except oh, we still never got me a tire iron.  So we still couldn't change the tire.  :(  And also we were about 40 minutes away from home and 40 minutes away from Torrington, and we would still have to drive back to Torrington, so really, I needed to get a new tire anyway. 

We called AAA (That's why we pay for it, right?)  The very nice tow truck driver took us to a Sears and they replaced the tire (my front driver's side), and then rotated the tires so that the two Kelly's were on the front (the old tires) and the two replacement tires (mismatched because Sears didn't have the brand we had bought at Town Fair Tire) were on the back.  We eventually made it to Torrington.

So today, I taught my first class in Hartford (which went really well, yay!).  On my way home, on Buckland Street as I'm coming off of the exit, what do I feel.  Of course, it's my tire going flat.  I am totally an expert in what it feels like to have a tire going flat now, by the way.  I knew, I KNEW! 

So of course there is no where to pull off to the side of the road so I pull into the Home Depot parking lot and call Dan.  Because of course, I still don't have a tire iron.  Dan was supposed to purchase a tire iron for me when he went to Auto Zone to get a bunch of car stuff so he could replace his brake pads.  So yeah, he was like 3 minutes away obviously - and luckily had not started taking the wheels off of his car.  So he drove over and brought out my new tire iron and his new hydraulic lift (which I have totally claimed to live in my trunk when not in use) and changed my tire. 

We're going to replace the other Kelly tire at the same time.  Clearly something is wrong with my tires.  Once - well, I was probably due, I'd never had a flat before.  Twice - well, that's just unlucky, an unfortunate coincidence.  Three tires in less than 2 months, that means something is wrong and the 4th one is just biding time. 

So yes, tires are not my friends, they do not like me, and they enjoy costing me lots of money, because of course, I can't get one of the buy three get the fourth tire free deals now, even though the result has been to replace all four tires.  ::sigh::

Back in the Nutmeg State

We just spent over two weeks in Ohio, if anyone missed that.  I think we saw just about everyone that we still talk to while we were there, so yay!  My summer class was cancelled due to low enrollment, so we decided to take a trip back before the school year started.  I started our trip back by going to Chrissy's bachelorette party, which was super fun!  Dan got to end the trip by going to Luke's bachelor party and we arrived home to find the invitation to Chrissy and Luke's wedding in the mail!  Yay!  (The wedding isn't until October, but Chrissy's a teacher and therefore has way more time for parties in the summer). 

Dan's sister Ally is moving to Houston, TX for grad school in Psychology.  She even has classes during the summer so she will be living in Texas for 5 years and only back about twice a year for visits.  We're all extremely proud of her however, and were so glad to get to see her a bit more before she left. 

We also got to spend time with my family for my birthday, which was very fun!  Dad took us to Olive Garden where he had the most amazing potato-encrusted tilapia.  He let me take home the leftovers!  It was so much better than food from the OG should be!  (Not that I don't love Olive Garden, but it's pretty standard middle of the road chain restaurant Italian food.  This fish was amazing - like something you would order at a pricy seafood place).  It was wonderful to get to see everyone!

We got to see Shannon and Dan, who took us out for Sushi and Mini Golf for my birthday (which was totally awesome, thanks guys!!!!).  There is now a sushi restaurant in Grove City!  What is the world coming to?!?  It was pretty good and I enjoyed the "Grove City Roll" that the sushi chef created!  We also got to see several of Dan's friends from high school.  Noah and Heather hosted a barbecue that a bunch of people came to, and then we went to the Feast of the Assumption in Little Italy with Noah and Heather and Ken and Kari!  I had gnocchi and Dan got ravioli and then we had gelato (because it was in the 90s).  Then we got eggplant parm and cassata cake to go since it was super hot outside.  YUM!  One of my favorite August in Parma activities! 

I got to hang out some extra time with my family.  Mom took us to the Dublin Irish Festival, which was awesome!  Free admission if you come before 11am on Sunday.  We went to the Episcopal U2charist which was interesting (not a huge fan of using U2 music in place of liturgical music) but at least we could take communion!  I'm thinking about buying an Irish Flute and got the websites of a couple vendors.  Grandma and Rachel got tired, so Grandma and I went over to Aunt Carol's to take a nap, and Mom took Rachel and her friend Marissa home.  Then mom came back and she and I went to watch the Columbus Police and Fire Pipes and Drums, Irish Step Dancing, and my favorite Irish band - Vinegar Hill!  Totally awesome day!  It was nice to get to spend extra time with Grandma and Rachel during the day, and even though Emily is working full time now, we got to hang out a little bit and we got to go to the gym together! 

We also got to visit with Mandy and Curtis, two of our friends from BG.  We wanted to try to actually make it up to BG but most of the people we would visit were busy or out of town that week, so no dice.  Maybe in January.

As wonderful as it was to see everyone, our schedule was jam packed!  It's nice to be home in our own space with a little more time to take it easy.  Except now we are busy trying to plan our classes for the Fall!  We just got back yesterday and we've been pretty busy running around picking up our held mail, going to the bank and the grocery store and doing laundry and unpacking.  And August is the lean month for us.  We took out all our money for the trip in cash, which helped because we still have a little left.  And we were able to stay under budget at the grocery store!  My goal was to get enough food to feed us until the end of August for under $100 and with sales and coupons we succeeded!  Yay coupons! 

I think it's probably bed time now.  I just took the last of the pumpkin muffins out of the oven (we're visiting Sarah and baby Anna tomorrow and pumpkin muffins are Sarah's favorite) so time to wash up and go to bed. 

Corinne