Mom’s Curry Zucchini Soup:

• 1 large yellow onion
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1 tablespoon of dried thyme
• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• 7 large zucchini cut into chunks
• 1 quart of chicken stock
• 1 cup of heavy cream (i use half & half)
• 1/4 cup of melted butter mixed thoroughly with 1/4 cup of flour

In a large pot, (one that’s JUST PERFECT for soup) Sautee onion in olive oil until transparent. Add Thyme and zucchini. Cook Until soft. Add curry powder, cream & stock. Bring to a boil. Add butter & flour mixture. Reduce heat and simmer soup for 15 minutes. Puree soup in blender or use an immersion blender.***sometimes I add a pinch of cayenne pepper to this & some garlic powder. It’s the perfect fall/winter soup. My mom always makes it special on Christmas Eve. We look forward to it year after year. In the soup pictured above, I used whole milk instead of Half & Half. It tastes just fine that way. Serve with some crusty/cheesy bread or top with some bits of bacon and you have yourself a wonderfully hearty meal. ***

This weekend I:

drank some coffee with my hubby:

caught up on my catalogs:

had a good friend sleepover & this is the breakfast i made for us this morning:

reorganized craft room & hung more stuff up on the walls:

found some prettie flowers blooming in the front yard:

decided not to rake leaves:

-went to a birthday party (neighbor turned 10) Met some new neighbors & saw the most amazing apple tree

-trimmed the roses in the back yard

-went to target & whole foods

-made a yummy dinner of salmon, roasted yams, roasted delicata squash & a green salad with almond slices and avocados

-watched Knocked Up (again, cuz my friend hadn’t seen it)

- bought the latest issue of Donna Hay

-went to Daiso with a friend & bought some cute stuff

-thought about watercoloring

-put together b-day prezzies for friends

….contemplating doing the NaBloPoMo next month…..

When we went to Funchal- Portugal we rode on a bus to the market to check out the local produce. We went off on our own and found this man who was selling these wonderful passion fruits. I had no idea there were soo many different types. There were some that tasted like bananas and others that tasted like pineapple. We sampled a few and HAD to have some. 3 minutes later….we walked away with a huge bag full of them. We cut them open later on to find that they weren’t as sweet as the samples the guy gave us. I figured he put sugar on them so they would taste ripe. Oh well! They weren’t the cheapest fruit I’ve ever had. But, the high sticker price was worth it. I would not have these photos if we didn’t have that experience. Adding sugar made them yummy.

if you can’t find passion fruit BUT you have a local Trader Joes near you- try their Passion Fruit- Fruit Leathers. They are SOOO good! The seeds are the best part.

so where’s my vacation photos? well… I went through all 700 and narrowed down 370 that i love. I spent all Friday night doing so. I know i should edit them even more….How could anyone sit through looking at 370 pictures??? But how could I not include photos i find so dear? I’m the worst at editing!

the weekend was spent catching up on sleep (at least TRYING to). I keep waking up when it’s dark outside. THANKS JET-LAG! Saturday I woke up at 7AM. Sunday I woke up at 6am. Today I woke up at 5:38AM. What’s with that?? Although… it’s actually nice to watch the sun come up. I never get the chance to do that. I don’t know my house well at that time of day. It’s fun to experience. My sleep usually comes before watching the trees light up with the sun.

glimpse of my weekend:

-we watched Knocked Up on dvd

-short trip to Ikea for planters

-grocery shopping for Red Sox game on Sunday

-bought a bundt cake mold & made my first bundt cake.

-caught up on all the mail from being away

-made grilled cheese & tomato soup

-helped Casey to get better (he’s sick)

-made part of my halloween costume

-straightened up the house for company

-decorated the mantle in the living room for Halloween (pictures above)

-relaxed & enjoyed being home

After spending 10 days away, I hope to take things easier and enjoy all the things I have.

Spiced Prune Cake from this month’s issue of EVERYDAY FOOD:

-2 cups all purpose flour (spooned & leveled)

-1 cup pitted prunes

-2 cups sugar

-1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

-1 cup of vegetable oil

-1 teaspoon ground cloves

-1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

-1 teaspoon salt

-1 teaspoon baking soda

-1 cup plain yogurt (recipe called for buttermilk, but i used yogurt instead)

-3 large eggs

-1 cup coarse chopped walnuts

-powdered sugar for dusting.

Oven Temp: 325 degrees

Butter & Flour a nonstick Bundt Pan (12 cup capacity). Add some flour to cover- tap out excess.

Boil some water-pour over the prunes to cover & let sit for 10 minutes. Drain & chop. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour/sugar/cinnamon/cloves/nutmeg/salt/baking soda- Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk oil/eggs/yogurt & eggs.

Add wet contents to dry contents. Add the prunes & walnuts.

Spoon into pan- bake until toothpick is clean. (1 hour 45 minutes- 2 hours).

Immediately invert onto baking rake. Dust with powdered sugar when cooled.

***this was delightful! A wonderful Autumn treat. I think it would be great paired with vanilla ice cream & a caramel sauce. My husband ate a piece while sipping his Honey Rum we got in the Canary Islands.  Don’t hate prunes.  They didn’t kill anyone.***

we’re baaaaack! Casey & I went on a trip with my family. We spent 10 days away. It was wonderful, relaxing, amazing, magical, interesting & overwhelming! So much to see, so much to do! I took over 400 pics while away. It’s going to take me a long time to edit them….. But right now I leave you with this one above. We spent the last day of our trip in Las Palmas- in the Canary Islands. We walked around and found these pretty fish!

More about the trip later. I’m still recovering from having spent 27 hours traveling. It’s good to be home. Time to catch up on all my recorded shows & snuggle with my two kitties.

I’ve spent the past 10 days curbing my internet usage. Damn….It felt pretty good. I’m trying sooo hard not to get sucked back in!