Tomato Pumpkin Bisque - Autumnal Recepies!

My friend Susan swears by this soup - we just went to the grocery store to grab the necessities and whip it up since she's suffering from a light cold. We're both recovering from bloody-mary-palooza yesterday, and it's just a nice crisp "start of autumn" day here in typically hot n sunny Los Angeles; I'm considering this soup a "welcome to fall" treat.

Susan says:

"At Thanksgiving I like to use my nutmeg grinder for fresh nutmeg on top. A dash of Crème fraîche is something that could be a nice addition although I've never tried it. Cheese works too. You need a blender or a food processor. This soup makes me feel good. Must be all the beta-carotene that makes my skin feel like it's glowing. The soup is loaded with anti-oxidants too.

3 or 4 table spoons of butter
1 large onion chopped
4 cups of chicken stock
28 ounce can of whole tomatos with their juices
1 table spoon of
maple syrup
28 ounce can of pumpkin puree
and salt to taste

1. melt better over low heat, add onion and saute slowly
2. stir in chicken stock and simmer for 15 minutes
3. pour tomatoes into blender, add the maple syrup and puree (do this in batches as not to fry your blender/processor. Also, it's best to add the maple syrup at this point otherwise it won't turn out right).
4. add the pumpkin and puree (again you will have to do this in batches)
5. strain the stock and add strained out onions to the processor
6. puree again
7. add the tomato pumpkin puree to the chicken stock and heat

I actually don't puree the pumpkin. I make sure to puree the tomatoes and onions and if I feel like it the pumpkin. Otherwise, you can just stir it in. "

We're getting ready to eat it now..... and the dang sun just came out and is heating up her LA front porch. I wish we could at least get a day of dreary Autumnal wonderfullness.

Growing Veggies Easily at Home with an Earthbox

What is the best way for me to go about growing tomato plants on my tiny aprtment balcony? It seems like getting an Earthbox might be a great start.  According to their website,  the "Patented, award-winning gradient-gardening system more than doubles the yield of a conventional garden-with half of the fertilizer and 20% of the water!"  There are rave reviews of this product all over the internet, and I like the fact that it eliminates digging and weeding.  

Earthboxes are apparently even being used on farms in large-scale agricultural settings and can drastically optimize yeild and productivity.  Another supergreen benefit is that Organic growing requires no three-year transition period;  the first crop can be certified with OMRI-approved products.

Pretty in Rice Patty

Every year since 1993 farmers in the town of Inakadate in Aoomori (Japan) create large scale Crop Art. To create the massive images they use kodaimai rice, which is purple and yellow-leafed, combined with their usual tsugaru-roman (green-leafed) variety. This year's work (pictured above) will be visible until September when the rice is harvested. More fantastic images here. :)

[via psfk]

Foxy Gardening Gloves

If you're even able afford a dwelling with a yard in LA, you definitely can afford to have someone to do the pruning and planting for you... besides, you're busy writing that next blockbuster or sashaying down a red carpet. However, if you do get the impulse to pull a few weeds you can do it in style with Foxgolves! Sooooo Cute! And they come in tons of girl-friendly colors like purple ("Iris"), blue, pink and more. They fit like an evening glove but are tough enough to tackle the weeds.

Onions in Between

Did you know that onions belong to the lilly family? World Onion production is steadily increasing so that it is now the second most important horticultural crop after tomatoes. They also have about a zillion health benefits ranging from reducing blood pressure to lowering cholesterol levels.

I've really been into Onions lately every since I stopped eating refined sugar and flour. I heard a radio newscast the other week that was talking about hostilities rising in India because the price of Onions is apparently too high. In India the onion is a basic ingredient in most cuisine, and has even been a barometer of political fortunes; Indira Gandhi successfully used the high price of onions to defeat the Janat Party in 1980. The Indian local on the radio was talking about what a delicious meal a slice of onion and bread was. I've come to agree!

I've been dicing onion and putting it in my salads, rice, cottage cheese, and eggs. It's sharp taste is a welcome spike to the sometimes monotonous sweetness of a lot of produce. Early American settlers used wild onions to treat colds, asthma and to repel insects. In Chinese medicine, onions have been used to treat angina, coughs, bacterial infections.

Today, the World Health Organization supports the use of onions for the treatment of poor appetite. Onion extracts are rich in a variety of sulfides and provide some protection against tumor growth. In central Georgia where Vidalia onions are grown, mortality rates from stomach cancer are about one-half the average level for the US. They also diminish the risk of blood clots.

Onions are easy to add to most gardens because there are varieties to suit almost every climate. They are avialable in three froms: sets, transplants, and seeds. Sets are the easiest to plant, transplants are available in more varieties, and seeds are the least expensive. They need a well-prepped bed of fertile soil with all lumps removed to a depth of 6 inches. Bulbing onions need full sun, but green onions can be grown in partial shade. Transplants or sets should be planted 1 to 2 inches deep and 2-3 inches apart. If you're planting seeds make sure they are 1/4 inch deep and 1-2 inches apart. You can grow onions between other veggies like cabbages or tomatoes if saving garden space is a priority!

Inaugural Quote

To christen this blog, a quote:

"You'll never plow a field by turning it over in your mind"
- Irish Saying

Boy, do I really need to take that to heart.