EatingWell's Roasted Pear-Butternut Soup

I have been a big fan of Butternut Squash soup for years, so this evening I decided to make it for myself for the first time.

The recipe is from EatingWell In Season, EatingWell's recently-published cookbook based seasonal eating. The recipe is accessible on their website: http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/roasted_pear_butternut_soup_with_crumbled_stilton.html

It seems that everyone who makes butternut squash soup has their own spin on it. This recipe is actually "Roasted Pear-Butternut Soup with Crumbled Stilton". In addition to the requisite squash, they throw in pears and a few other vegetables, then garnish with blue cheese.

The takeaways:

• Butternut squash soup = delicious. This recipe = really good.
• The recipe is extremely easy. Even though it does take over an hour total, most of that time is the vegetables roasting in the oven. The most difficult part is the chopping. I can definitely see myself throwing this soup together on a Sunday afternoon, then eating it all week, or perhaps freezing it for later (I also don't see a reason why this recipe couldn't be easily doubled so there's more to freeze).
• Blue cheese - I didn't use the Stilton called for in the recipe (wasn't in the grocery store), so I used a softer, sweeter blue, similar to a Gorgonzola. I'm not convinced I like the blue cheese on this because it was a bit overpowering. However, having the cheese did add a bit of variation and a nice contrast to spoonfuls without cheese. Add blue cheese to taste.
• I might roast at a higher temperature next time to see if I could get the vegetables more caramelized. Not that it wasn't delicious as is - it's more curiosity. I wonder if the flavors of the different vegetables could be brought out more.
• In the end, while I really enjoyed the soup and I will make it again, I felt like it was missing something. A bit of lemon juice or vinegar. Bacon. Maybe it just needed more salt.

Picture to come as soon as I find the cord to attach my camera to my computer . . .

Ladies' Tea

My church has an annual tea for the ladies, and I was put in charge of the food. A lot of good lessons were learned . . .

1. When doing a tea, do "tea" food. Little sandwiches. Scones. This is what people expect. This is what people want. Give them what they want.

2. Doing test-runs of everything is a GREAT idea! All of the sandwiches turned out really well because I had tested everything beforehand. The cupcakes, however, while delicious, didn't quite work out. I had counted on my buttercream icing being able to whip up beautifully the morning of, when I had made it the day before. Alas, I was wrong, and one was too loose, and one too firm. Should have done a real trial-run.

3. Making all the sandwiches the night before = another great idea. All the sandwiches were stacked in 2s, wrapped in waxed paper, then stored in big plastic bins lined with damp paper towels (except for the roll-ups, which were just wrapped in plastic wrap, like a burrito). The only sandwich we did not make the night before was the tomato-basil-ricotta, because I was afraid that the ricotta would make the bread soggy. But we did cut the bread into the necessary rounds the night before, which made life easier the morning of. Having a menu where most of the food is prepared the night before is absolutely brilliant.

4. A good scone is highly appreciated.

5. Make sure you have an assistant, especially the day of. Mine was my mom. She loved it. I loved having her there. And I wasn't a nervous wreck or a puddle of tears.

6. Having it a plated event worked wonderfully. And equally as wonderful was having all of the desserts out on the table before the event started (cupcakes and small desserts were arranged on cake plates as the centerpiece of each table). This

way, you can plate everything and have all the food ready to go out before the ladies even sit down, so you're ready to deal with the unexpected that come up. Also, you can start cleaning while everyone is eating, instead of manning a buffet table.

7. Remembering that the first time you do something will always be the most difficult is extremely helpful.

8. Document everything. Now I have a set of recipes all ready in case I have to do this again, as well as quantities.

The finished plate: (clockwise from top) green salad with champagne vinaigrette; sliced cantaloupe, pineapple, and strawberries; turkey-Swiss pinwheels; curried chicken curry sandwiches on cinnamon raisin bread; cucumber sandwiches; tomato-basil-ricotta sandwiches; ham-and-cheese sandwiches with red onion confit.

Quebec Vintage Cheddar Wheat Bread, Take 2

or rather, Quebec Vintage Cheddar-Scented Wheat Bread

1/2 cup lukewarm water

1 package active dry yeast

1 cup milk

1/2 cup boiling water

1/4 cup sugar

2 tsp kosher salt

3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading

3 cups whole-wheat flour

4 ounces Quebec Vintage Cheddar, cut into 1/4 inch cubes

Combine lukewarm water and yeast in a mixing bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer). Let stand 5 minutes.

In a separate bowl, combine milk, boiling water, sugar, and salt. Add milk mixture to yeast mixture (making sure milk mixture is no warmer than lukewarm). Stir in 3 cups all-purpose flour. Add whole-wheat flour, mix until combined.  Stir in cheese.

Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead until dough is smooth, about 10 minutes by hand.

Place the dough in an oiled bowl, turning the dough once to coat the dough with oil. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

"Punch dough down" by gently folding it over itself a few times to release some of the gas within the dough. Divide dough in two and shape each piece into a loaf. Place each loaf in a greased loaf pan. Let dough rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375º F. Bake loaves for about 45 minutes, or until the top is brown, the sides and bottom of the loaves are brown when they are turned out of the pans, and when tapped, the loaves sound hollow. Remove loaves from pans and cool loaves on wire racks.

Today's lessons:

-Bread is still delicious

-Not enough cheese, cut too small (thus the "Cheddar-Scented" bread)

-Check flour amounts - might be too much

-Cheese might want to be added with whole wheat flour instead of after - might combine more easily that way

-Took a while to rise. Check next time.

Cheddar Wheat Bread, Take 1

The goal: a delicious bread using Quebec Vintage Cheddar (a lovely, lovely cheese).

The beginning: I chose a wheat bread recipe because I happened to have wheat flour on hand, and it is always my inclination to go "whole grain" when I can. Also, the initial goal of this test was to determine if Quebec Vintage Cheddar was even suitable for bread, so the make-up of the bread itself wasn't as important. Although I did want a recipe I could potentially jump from.

The process: I had about 2/3 of a cup of diced Quebec Vintage, and about 1/3 of a cup of Vlaskaas (a gouda). I decided to test both cheeses, and since my recipe yielded two loaves, I couldn't just mix the cheeses into the dough. So I followed the wheat dough recipe as written through the first rise. Then, before panning the dough, I rolled the two dough portions out flat, sprinkled cheese on each, then rolled them, cinnamon-roll style. Each roll went into a pan, and the recipe was finished as written.

The result: Quebec Vintage Cheddar in wheat bread is magically delicious. Vlaskaas doesn't quite hold up to the wheat flavor, but look for future tests with other recipes. The Vlaskaas loaf also did not have enough cheese. I'm not convinced that the rolled-dough method is best, especially as the finished product tended to break where it had been rolled. But both cheeses melted beautifully, and reviews by the fortunate few were excellent.

More (and recipe) to come . . .

Lemon-filled Lemon Cupcakes

With my citrus-laden refrigerator, lemon cupcakes seemed an excellent way to use up some of my supply. I used a lemon layer cake recipe and converted it to cupcakes (the two-layer cake yielded 30 cupcakes). Using a paring knife, I cut small holes into each cupcake and filled each cupcake with lemon curd (I don't have tips for my pastry bag, so in cutting holes in each cupcake, it's easy to squeeze lemon curd through a hole in a corner of a lemon-curd-filled-Ziploc into each cupcake). Topped with lemon buttercream frosting and garnished with candied lemon peel. Definitely good reviews.

Book Review: it's fishy, but in a good way . . .

The Zen of Fish (recently retitled The Story of Sushi)

by Trevor Corson

I received Corson's sushi book last year as a gift. And since I hate the thought of an unread book on my shelf, I finally decided to start reading. The subject matter is not one that particularly draws me. But I gave it a try, anyway.

Corson explains sushi through the story of a semester at the California Sushi Academy. As the students progress through different kinds of fish, the reader does, as well, combining story and information. It may sound like a bad attempt at creating an "interesting" textbook ("Dick and Jane go to the park. They love the park. [insert long-winded analysis of parks, including grass types, different varieties of swing sets, and the composition of sand here] Dick and Jane hope to go to the park again tomorrow.") But Corson actually succeeds in creating an enjoyable, informative book.

The success is in no small way due to Corson's ability to create the world of the Sushi Academy. He introduces characters so vividly you can picture them, from student Kate making heart designs in her displays to sushi chef Toshi creating sushi like a warrior-monk. Sushi school is a land of endless fish cutting and rice washing. You see the chefs fighting to entertain the customers while putting out amazing dishes. And having made it through culinary school, I can say that the descriptions of the anxiety before an exam is exactly on point - the thoughts of "If I don't cut this right, I might just die!" are very, very real, as ridiculous as it may seem to someone who has not been through it.

I must confess that I was not enthralled with the entirety of the book. There are parts devoted to fish evolution which would have best been left out. Evolution explanations just added unnecessary text that I wanted to jump over to get to more interesting and pertenent (and factual) information. Some fish lessons felt long, and there were some parts where language and description were a bit baser than I care to read.

That said, I actually found myself "reading just one more chapter" quite often. I also feel more educated about sushi in general. Then there were the numerous times while reading the book that I just wanted to go get sushi.

Basically, Corson managed to take me from my initial "I don't really want to read this, but I should," to "Hey, that was a pretty good book! I'd definitely recommend it!". Which is quite an impressive leap.

Am I glad I read it? Yes

Would I recommend it? Yes

To whom would I recommend it? Sushi lovers. Also anyone who likes both food and a good read; even if they are not interested specifically in sushi or fish, if the person is willing to start the book, they probably won't have trouble finishing it. Even that random person in your life who just likes to learn about stuff would probably enjoy it.

Anyone to whom I would not recommend it? Anyone under 18 - some language and a couple of crude passages make me hesitate recommending it universally.