Because we will be celebrating all hallow's eve this weekend, I was hoping to share with you our newest versions of butterbeer and caramel corn. We make them every year, but we have need to alter them without dairy. However, the three batches we have tried were under par and therefore, we have more recipe searching and testing, and caramel corn making and eating to do before I make any permanent decisions. But don't let that keep you from making the original recipes, we may end up doing just that. With dairy free equivalents of the called for ingredients, of course.

butterbeer
caramel corn

not the butterbeer and caramel corn type? maybe another pumpkin recipe is more akin to your palette? this is the last of my pumpkin series posts over at the zupas blog. the pumpkin in the caramel is delicate and the freshly grated nutmeg makes it sing. even my pumpkin snubbing neighbor would like it. well, I like to think she would. Read on for a recipe for pumpkin caramels.

wishing you a horribly haunted and ghoulishly ghastly holiday, and weekend!

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Sunday evening we had an incredible dinner with some of the most inspiring people. Amongst the chatter of introductions, family updates, offers of help, and talk of tapping local maples, I overheard someone say they had foregone sleep on account of a discussion about squash. winter squash. It made me smile, knowing I was surrounded by kindred spirits. I thought about the numberless conversations I've had about my favorite foods and was glad we were spending the evening with fellow foodies. There's comfort in being surrounded by people with like minds, you become instant friends, find inspiration in similar places, and share like obsessions.

I have created this small guide for you on the subject of the culprit, winter squash. It is incomplete because it doesn't cover every possible variety (there are hundreds). However the ones highlighted may be found at your local market, or maybe in your own garden these days. However with the snow that has frosted the tips of our neighboring ranges, there are likely fewer and fewer edibles available in local garden.

These particular squash are grown at Jacob's Cove Heritage Farm. They let me pick one of each so I could share this guide with you, recipes included. There are so many lovely things to do with squash, I will be adding to this guide periodically, especially as I share new recipes with you and slowly but surely make my way through eating these beautiful vegetables.

So let me introduce you, in no particular order.

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Looking for a simple pumpkin recipe that requires little labor and is quintessentially fall? check out my post over at zupas today (recipe is also below) for a recipe to make pumpkin butter this weekend.

now i'm off on a hot date.

happy weekend.

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A few weeks ago, I met Lindsey at the raspberry patch in west mountain. It's a small patch of raspberry bushes where you can pick to your hearts content, for a small price. We spent the early morning hours filling our small baskets and buckets with the most beautiful red raspberries. Of course we tasted a few, and the babe had to have eaten at least a pound herself, which we were sure to pay for. I'm pretty sure she wasn't eating only berries either; regardless, she was in heaven. We returned a week or so later, just our little family. It has now become a tradition, bundling up in our sweaters and boots, heading out before anyone else on the block has stirred, and returning with basketfuls of plump juicy berries. I am pretty sure a sound nap on the ride home will be a favorite part of this newfound tradition.

For a few days we ate the berries with our morning oatmeal, in fresh lemonade, mixed with frozen strawberries and blueberries under a drizzle of coconut milk, and of course by hand. With the rest I made some jam. I was going to use the same recipe I used for the apricot jam I made earlier this summer, but because the raspberries were much sweeter, I used less sugar.

I am incredibly excited that this will be a tradition for our family because this is the best raspberry jam I have ever had. We may have to return within the next few weeks so I can make more; seeing as we only have a few smears left. It's a good thing I made apple butter this weekend.

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Americans love pumpkins; we're obsessed, really.

It's almost to the point of worship.

Who else plans weekends entirely devoted to traveling long distances just to pick out perfectly shaped gourds, carve them with the utmost preparation and care, and then set them alight for the world to see? And all on a designated day no less! There are mountains of the orange orbs displayed along the face of every market, as if the height and beauty of their peaks are proportionately equal to the quality of the establishment. The streets are even littered with them, especially if your neighborhood has a high number of reckless teenagers running about. It is the reason people plan week long festivals, make their living growing and selling the fruit (yes, fruit), and even bake 2,000+ pound pies that will feed at least 3000 people. They are also the reason I will be writing a three week series over at zupas; because pumpkins are the bomb.

check out today's zupas posts where I introduce you to the pumpkin, and then tell you how to make it into a buttery pumpkin biscuit.

and of course, happy weekend.

We have been preserving these past few days; canning (and eating) raspberry jam, baking pumpkin puree, drying tomatoes, freezing squash, etc. none of the food was from our own small garden.

I attended art weekend, my mind is finally coping with the amount of information I accumulated from nicole's photo 101 and tabletop class. I haven't touched my camera all weekend.

The groundbreaking for the Allred's new farm in Midway was fantastic, I loved meeting so many wonderful people and seeing old friends. And I think they liked the cookies I brought.

I feel as though I've been so busy these last few days, I am grateful for the moments I can sit and breathe, especially if I have a small mug of hot apple cider to warm my chilly fingers.

I am looking forward to sharing the delicious food we've been eating, and some that I can't wait to make; but for now I think I will just enjoy another quiet evening.

Sometimes you need to take a long weekend, even if no one else is.

What a wonderful week this has been, my favorite thus far. It's quite possible that we had soup every night this week. One was smooth, another was noodle-y, there were some that tasted like leftovers (because they were), and yesterday's was thick and chunky, and I think husband's favorite. I laughed at husband's comment before leaving for work one morning, he said the babe and I were so lucky to be able to stay home and play with such magical weather outside. We both stayed in our pj's until late afternoon, there was a lot of snuggling and out-the-window watching going on. It has infected everyone, autumn does this to people.

So far this weekend I have baked a lot of goodies, some for a book club gathering (my first ever) and others for the groundbreaking for Jacob's Cove's new farmland in Midway, Utah. If you are in the area this morning, come join us. There will be delicious food (some apple molasses cookies included), and so much to learn and see as they celebrate this exciting new step in utah's real food movement.

I will also probably make the eggplant and summer squash gratin pictured above, because I picked up a number of beautiful squash from my parent's home the other day, and it's one of our favorite meals. Do you still have summer squash after this magical (and chilly) week?

have a wonderful weekend, what's left of it.

I love finding money in pockets of pants and coats I haven't worn for ages. When I was younger it's possible that I may have put things in pockets of coats I put away for spring, just to surprise myself the next freak snowstorm in May. Of course I only did such silly childish things like that long ago, a few months at least.

I was sifting through all the starred posts in my reader, and found a few lovely things I had forgotten about. It was like finding money in my pocket. And even if these won't buy me anything delicious, they did inspire me and maybe they even made me drool a little, which is why I kept them in the first place. I even caught myself trying to star them again. Hopefully it won't be months before I actually refer to them once more, but I'm not making any promises.

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I love soup. seriously. love it. And it has nothing to do with the fact that during my favorite time of year it's all I want to eat. Or maybe it has everything to with it. I am always surprised at how full I feel after eating a seemingly small amount of soup. It has a way of making me feel so content, so at ease, so comfortable.

Of course there are as many types of soups as there are types of mullets (completely random. but hey, they're on my mind). My favorite kinds (of soups, not mullets) are thick, creamy, and smooth, a little sweet and a lot of savory, topped with a drizzle of thinned sour cream and toasted nuts, and paired with right-out-of-the-oven bread. When sopped, it has the perfect soak to cling ratio. The amount of soup soaked into the bread never exceeds the amount clinging to the crumb outside and the very center of the bread is dry so you can enjoy every aspect of the meal in one bite. I especially like the soup that clings because it has the potential of making your bites just a bit messy, moreso if you aren't paying close attention. When I am distracted I almost always get a little on my chin.

It's all part of the experience, slurping a little as you take a bite of dipped bread, changing it up by throwing in tears and eating it by spoon, scraping your spoon along the bottom of the mostly empty bowl, and the ripple of the soup as you serve yourself seconds that slowly level out by the time you tear a morsel from another roll. It's the informalities of eating soup that make it so comforting, to the point that husband will reach over and wipe the soup from my chin, even if we have company.

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I contemplated having a week where I post nothing but pumpkin recipes; until I realized I might not stop at just a week. How can it be that I've never shared a pumpkin pie with you? shocking. So although I won't make any promises as to the amount, you can be sure there will be an abundance of pumpkin recipes in the coming weeks, because it's only the beginning of the best time of year. How about we start off with the most important and basic pumpkin recipe, shall we?

check out my zupas post today, a tutorial on how to roast a pumpkin for some homemade sugar pumpkin puree. It's much better than any can, except maybe your own.


Have you noticed the new sponsor links? They are in the left sidebar below the "buttons" that take you here and there around my little space. I hope you will check them out, they are each fantastic, and may keep you busy for a few hours.

have a beautiful and cozy weekend.