Butternut Squash Soup w/ Cider Cream

I picked up our first share of produce from the co-op last Saturday. I was surprised by how much we got, even after splitting it with my neighbor, Camile. I told her this will be a challenge for us to find ways to use everything before it spoils...ha! I'm sure we will learn. The first share included kale, butternut squash, acorn squash, fingerling potatoes, brussels sprouts, spinach...and the list goes on. So fun!

I made my first meal using our produce last night. After researching lots of recipes and doing a little combining from my favorites that I found... I ended up making a butternut squash soup w/ cider cream, served with gruyere cheese croutons and spinach/apple/feta/balsamic salad. And let me tell ya....it was delicious! I have never made squash soup before, but found that I really love the savory and slightly sweet flavor of this soup. It is the perfect fall soup. Better yet, it is healthy! It takes a little bit of prep time...but trust me...it's worth it.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP WITH CIDER CREAM
From: Bon Apetit (Adapted)
Yield: Serves 10

Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 2 1/2 pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 6 cups)
- 3 cups chopped leeks (white and pale green parts only)
- 1/2 cup chopped peeled carrot
- 1/2 cup chopped celery
- 2 small Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, chopped
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon crumbled dried sage leaves
- Salt, to taste
- Cayenne pepper, to taste
- 5 cups chicken stock or canned low-salt chicken broth
- 2 cups apple cider
- 2/3 cup sour cream
- Chopped fresh chives

Preparation
1. Cut the squash in half (length wise) and rub olive oil on all sides (including skin). Put on rimmed baking sheet & bake at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes.

2. Melt butter in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add leeks, carrot, & celery; sauté until slightly softened, about 15 minutes. Mix in apples, thyme and sage. Add stock and 1 cup cider and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. When squash is done roasting, take peel off, remove center w/ seeds, cut into chunks and put in saucepan with other ingredients. Cover and simmer until apples are tender, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes. Cool slightly.

3. Working in batches, purée soup in blender, (or use an immersion blender). Return soup to pan. Season with salt and cayenne pepper to taste.

4. Boil remaining 1 cup cider in heavy small saucepan until reduced to 1/4 cup, about 8-10 minutes. Cool. Place sour cream in small bowl. Whisk in reduced cider. (Soup and cider cream can be made 1 day ahead. Cover separately and refrigerate.)

5. Ladle soup into bowls. Drizzle with cider cream. Top with chopped chives. Serve with toasted gruyere croutons. (See recipe below)

**This soup pairs well with a spinach, feta cheese, apple salad with balsamic vinegar dressing. (Can also add walnuts or your nut of your choice, if desired)


GRUYERE CROUTONS
From: Bon Apetit (Adapted)

Ingredients
-1 baguette
-Dried sage
-Dried thyme
-Olive oil
-Grated or shredded gruyere cheese

Preparation
1. Slice baguette and brush slices with olive oil on both sides.

2. Toast in a 400 degree oven for 5-10 minutes, until toasted. Remove from oven.

3. Turn slices over and top each bread slice with grated gruyere. Sprinkle dried sage and dried thyme slices.

4. Put bread slices back in oven and toast for around 5 minutes, or until edges are golden and cheese is melted.

**Note: These are not your traditional crouton, since they are slices, not cubes. Great for dipping in soup!

Urban Acres Co-op

We recently joined the Urban Acres organic produce co-op. I was intrigued when I heard about this all organic produce co-op, that used produce from local farmers. Not to mention, the pick up location was super close to our house. I think it will be a much cheaper way to get organic produce and a great way to support our local farmers. Plus, we are splitting a full share of produce with our neighbor...which makes it an even better deal! I was SOLD!

I am super excited and know it will stretch me to try new recipes and be creative! It will be neat to learn how to cook with only what is in season, since we only are given seasonal fruits & veggies. So, you will probably be seeing more blogs about my new cooking attempts and yummy recipes I find. :-)

Garlic Parmesan Pita Chips

Recently, I ate at this restaurant that serves their sandwiches with whole wheat pita chips. They were so tasty with garlic, basil, and parmesan sprinkled on them. And so, I was inspired and thought...I can make these! I was pretty happy with the results and my taste tester, (Ryan) gave a thumbs up....so I decided to share the recipe. Warning: Even though these are a much healthier alternative to regular chips.... careful, they are addicting!!!

GARLIC PARMESAN PITA CHIPS

Ingredients

- Extra virgin olive oil

- Grated parmesan

- 1 pkg. whole wheat pita bread pockets

- Italian seasoning

- Sea salt

- Garlic Powder

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2.Cut up pita bread pockets into squares or triangles...whichever your little heart desires. Then, separate the layers of each piece. (So, 2 chips are made from each piece you cut.)

3. Brush both sides of each chip with olive oil. Lay each piece on a lightly greased cookie sheet, rough side facing up.

4. Sprinkle the top of each chip with garlic powder, italian seasoning, parmesan, and a little sea salt. Sprinkle as little or as much as you like. The salt can be left out if desired, since they have plenty of flavor without it. If you do use salt, use sparingly.

4. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until crispy & slightly golden brown.

Enjoy!!!

Milan | Italy

Okay, so I know I have been a pretty horrible blogger recently. I promise to be better and am going to start anew and give you several posts about our Italy trip that we took with Ryan's parents! If you don't care to read all the details....feel free to skip all that and scroll down to the pics. I don't mind at all :-)

The hurricane was due to hit New York the night before we were supposed to fly out. We originally were making a connection in New York, but then got our flight changed to connect in London instead. Due to the hurricane craziness, our new flight still got delayed, causing us to miss about 6-8 hours in Italy, but we are just thankful we made it there at all!

We got to Milan in late in the evening and ate at a little pizzeria across from our hotel. It was great pizza...probably some of the best we had the whole trip. We ended up eating pizza just about every other day, if not every day. So good! We also had our first gelati (gelato) at that pizzeria...which also started our daily gelato tasting. We decided we were on a quest to find the best gelato! We also learned that there are free water fountains all around the cities in Italy...which was great for filling up our water bottles. (Too bad they make you pay for water at all the restaurants!)

We didn't spend much time in Milan since we only had a couple days there anyway and also lost some time due to our delayed flight. We did get to see Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper in Milan...which was very cool! We also enjoyed seeing the Galleria in Milan, which is a shopping mall with a beautiful glass dome above it. The cathedral in Milan was one of my favorites that we saw in Italy. The gothic style architecture was so beautiful. We climbed to the top of the roof, which was so neat b/c you could see the architecture up close and personal.  It is the largest Gothic cathedral and the second largest Catholic cathedral in the world. It was here that I had to learn the hard way to just be either firmly say no or ignore the people on the streets who try to sell stuff (flowers, bracelets, etc.) This guy came up to me while I was photographing the cathedral, and he wanted to put this bracelet on me. I knew he wanted me to pay for it, so I kept on saying no thank you. Finally, he put bird seed in my hand, which then attracted the pigeons. They were everywhere, on my head, on my arm, hand. AHHH! He then quickly tied the bracelet on my hand and then wanted money for it. Ha...good trick!! I told him no and made him take it off. You might be wondering, did Ryan or his parents come to my rescue? No! They stood there, watching, laughing, and taking pictures. Lesson learned.

The next day, we took a day trip from Milan to Lake Como. I had read that Lake Como was gorgeous, with the Swiss Alps as a back drop...so I really wanted to visit there. I also read that George Clooney has a house there, ha. We trained in to the town of Como, at the south end of the lake. I wish we could have had more time at the Lake, because Como was a charming little town and it would have been so fun to stay there for a couple nights! From Como, we then took a boat that goes around the lake, stopping at various villages. We only had limited time, so we just went to the village of Bellagio. It was a beautiful little town. We dined outdoors in a restaurant looking right out at the lake, ate some gelato, and then finished by visiting the pretty gardens there. I am so glad we got to visit Lake Como!

 Cathedral in Milan

 Inside the cathedral

 Breakfast in Milan in the Galleria. This is a typical Italian breakfast. You won't find eggs, bacon, and biscuits! Just croissants!

 Bikes for rent...this pic was for James :-) Also, Ryan getting free water from a fountain in Milan. Lastly, Don & Karen on the train ride to Lake Como.

 Lake Como and also the town of Como. See George Clooney's house above....okay not really....but maybe!

 Bellagio, Lake Como

Bellagio, Lake Como. Gelato, gardens, restaurant where we at lunch. :-)

Venice | Italy

Next stop was Venezia (Venice)! It's so crazy to just think about how this city is built on water, and even more exciting to see it. It was beautiful and didn't seem as crowded with tourists as I had expected. It was here that I tasted my favorite gelato of the trip...great flavor and texture. We found this random little gelateria near our hotel. I ordered a scoop of lemon and raspberry. Incredible combo, I must say! From then on, it's what I ordered. We also found the BEST olive oil, specific to the Venice region, when at a restaurant our first night there. We asked them the name of it so we could find it at a store and buy it....but we didn't have time to do much shopping in Venice, so we never were able to go find it.

Ryan and I had a date night while in Venice. It was so nice to have a night together to eat and explore. We ate at this restaurant we had frequently passed going to and from our hotel. We thought it looked good and also saw locals eating there. (Usually a good sign if the locals are there!) We had the best gnocchi pasta I have EVER eaten. Of course, we followed it with gelato. We walked around the main square, where several restaurants have outdoor dining, complete with live music. We witnessed a couple do some impromptu dancing to the music in the square. I don't think it was planned, but they sure looked dressed the part (with her in a red dress and him in a casual suit). This little girl started dancing along with them. So cute! I got video of it on my camera...but then accidentally deleted it later. So sad.  (We didn't do a gondola ride since it would have been at least $200 for a 30 minute ride. Ha! Maybe we should have just done it though...b/c who knows if we'll ever be in Venice again. I sure hope so!)

While in Venice, we did a little day trip to see the islands of Murano and Burano, just a short ferry ride from Venice. Both islands look similar to Venice in that they have water canals. Murano is known for it's glass blowing. We got to watch some glass blowing, which was pretty amazing to see. It really takes talent and artistry. While in Murano, we met this sweet old man in a little courtyard when we were trying to find our way back to the boat. He motioned to us and led us through a gate and then on into his house! He then told us to sit (all in Italian) and gave each of us a glass of white wine in dirty looking glasses, ha. He knew a little spanish, so Ryan was actually able to communicate with him pretty well speaking spanish with him. He told us he made the wine himself. We had a nice little visit with him and got to experience Italian hospitality at it's finest!

My favorite island and a definite highlight for me was...Burano. It is known for it's lace. It is one of the most beautiful, picturesque places I have ever seen. All the buildings are painted bright colors.....just gorgeous! I bought some great scarves here too. We stopped at a little restaurant to have some drinks and rest...and I found the best apple juice ever there. It was green in color....which was kind of strange....but the taste was so yummy!

 This photo and the next couple photo are of Venice.

 Views of venice from a tower.

 Date night with my sweet hubby :-)

 The island of Burano

 Best apple juice!

 Boat in Burano

 Buildings of Burano

 Ryan is pictured above with the sweet man we met in Murano.

Glass blowing in Murano

Cinque Terre | Italy

We then traveled to this area along the coastline called the Cinque Terre (Meaning 5 Cities). It is made up of five picturesque, small villages sitting on cliffs overlooking the ocean. This is where pesto and focaccia bread originated from! And yes, I made sure to eat both while there.

Side Note: While we were on the train from Venice to CT, we shared seats with a couple from South Africa. He was a photographer and she was a an alternative medicine doctor. It was so interesting talking with them both. I especially loved talking with the photographer! We met so many neat people while traveling on this trip. It's so fun hearing people's different stories.

We stayed at a town called Levanto just north of the first CT village, which ended up being a great base to explore the CT from. Not to mention, we ended up loving Levanto. It was a charming little town with hardly any tourists. Our first day there, we stayed in Levanto and just explored, shopped, and ate. My kind of day! The lady who ran our hotel recommended a GREAT restaurant in Levanto, that ended up going on the "favorite restaurants of the trip" list.

Our second day, we explored the CT by taking a train to the southern most CT town, Riomaggiore.. and then hiked to the next town, Manarola. The "hike" was more of a leisurely walk...since it was paved and wide. It was so beautiful since it sat on the cliffs overlooking the ocean. We then had to train to the next town, Corniglia, since there was a landslide and the hiking trail was closed. From Corniglia, we hiked to Vernazza. Now this was a real hike! It definitely was a workout...my legs were shaky afterwards! Not to mention at this point it was in the heat of the day...so it was a little hot too. We then ate lunch in Vernazza where we had some incredible risotto. This is where Don's love for risotto was born and from then on he frequently ordered it during the rest of the trip. Vernazza was probably my favorite town of the CT. It was a neat little town with a small beach and beautiful views. Maybe it was also my favorite b/c it was an oasis after finishing that hike, ha! From Vernazza, we trained to Monterosso that is known to have one of the best beaches in the CT. It was a nice town, but we didn't stay long since it was by FAR the most crowded with tourists. Apparently, the cruise ships dock there. (The other towns really didn't have many tourists at all when we were there.)

Visiting Levanto and the CT towns was definitely a trip highlight for me. I just loved it and had so much fun exploring, hiking, eating, and taking pictures!

 The next few pics are of Levanto, where we stayed. The one of Ry and I above, is in the cute little courtyard of our hotel.

This was the amazing restaurant we ate at in Levanto: Totano Blue

 Hiking the Cinque Terra. People leave little locks an other things along the hike. I think the locks represent "lovers", if I remember correctly. My husband is so handsome....love this pic of him!

 The water was so pretty and clear!

 This cat reminded me a little of Smokey. RIP Smokey, ha.

Notice the risotto and pesto gnocchi pasta....delish!

Florence | Italy

Next stop, Firenze (Florence)! Florence is a beautiful city....a great mix of the older with the new. Our hotel was just outside of the square that the Duomo (cathedral) was in....such a great location! The cathedral had an awesome interior, that photographed beautifully. We also climbed Giotto's tower, which sits right beside the cathedral. It had some amazing views, but man was it a daunting climb! It was probably needed to burn off all the pasta and gelato we had been eating.

Our first night there, while eating dinner, I noticed this cute little old Italian man (who was dining alone) kept on looking at us and smiling. He finished eating before we did and then came over to us and started speaking to us in English. The funny thing was that even though he was Italian, he spoke with a British accent when speaking English. We found out this was because he late wife was British. He was so sweet and funny! He told us he was an optometrist and had a shop right near the Duomo. So he and Don had lots to talk about since he is an optometrist too! His shop was right by our hotel too, so we told him we would go visit him one day at his shop. We went to see his shop one day and he was cracking me up b/c he was flirting with these British women who were also in his shop.

One evening, we went up to this place called Piazzale Michelangelo, where you can see incredible panoramic views of the city. After snapping some pics of the view...we headed over to a restaurant that also overlooked the city for a great meal.

We had a little time in Florence to do some shopping...which I really enjoyed! I had heard about the great, cheap leather market here and was on a mission to find a leather purse. I found one and got a really great deal, considering it really is genuine Italian leather. It was probably one of the only things that I could buy in Europe that was cheaper than what I could buy in the States....since I could bargain with the shops at the market. I also enjoyed browsing around a food market in Florence where they had everything from vendors with meat, pasta, olive oils, to flowers. I also enjoyed seeing all the local artists who set up some of their work on the streets and would also paint.

Some of the best art in Italy is in Florence at the Uffizi Gallery. We had planned a day to see this gallery along with the Accademia Gallery (where David is) while in Florence. Unfortunately, the day we had tickets for...there was a strike...meaning the museums were closed. AH! We visited the Boboli Gardens instead, which were pretty cool to see. Luckily, the next day we were able to postpone our departure for Rome for later in the day, so we could use our tickets for that day instead. Success! (Although we didn't make it to the Accademia, sadly.)

One funny thing that happened was that every night, in a square near our hotel, we would hear this loud music, crowds clapping, and someone blowing a whistle. Of course, this would go on while we were trying to sleep too. Ha. One night we decided to go check it out to see what in the world was going on. Apparently, it was this street performer who does his show on that street every night. He did a sort of comedy routine where he got the crowd involved. Including, involving Ryan and Don...where Don got tricked into giving him a kiss on the cheek....which then the guy proceeded to whip his head around at the last second to give Don a kiss on the lips. HA, so funny. Unfortunately, I didn't join the show until later, so I missed all this. All I have seen is pictures. They are kind of blurry...but you get the gist.

One of our favorite restaurants of the trip was here in Florence. Ryan's boss at work recommended it and it was so delicious! They had an option on their menu where you could get a sampler of 5 different pastas...the same thing for their salads and desserts. Everything was SOOOO good. They also have a location in San Diego & Washington D.C. We WILL be traveling to one or both of these cities someday...specifically to eat at this restaurant again! :-)

 Shopping the streets of Florence and views at Piazzale Michelangelo

 Florence sunset at Piazzale Michelango

 Local artist at work

 Duomo.....this is the cathedral where our hotel was right by.

 Climbing Giotto's Tower

 Santa Croce Cathedral

 Food market

 I took this one for Melinda!

 The strikers! :-(

 Boboli Gardens

 Acqua Al 2 restaurant.....so good.

Pictures of the street performer...and right before Don had to kiss him. lol.

Rome | Italy

Last stop on the trip was Roma (Rome)! My favorite things in this city were of course all the ancient ruins and Vatican City. The Colosseum and ruins of the roman forum were so amazing. It's so cool and surreal to see something so old.....something you have read about in history books and seen in movies. We went on a tour with a small group and our tour guide was amazing. The Vatican was incredible too. We went on a tour with the same tour guide, which was great. One of my favorite things was seeing the Sistine Chapel. Our tour guide was able to get us into the chapel an hour earlier than the general public. This meant that instead of seeing the chapel in a room FULL of people, shoulder to shoulder....we got to see the chapel with only about 15 people in there. Not only could we walk around and see the ceiling all we wanted, but we could also see the floor. Normally, you can't see the floor with all the people in the chapel. It was AMAZING. Our guide went through and explained each painting on the ceiling and gave a lot of background on Michelangelo. Very interesting! We also enjoyed drinking the Pope's water....from all the free water fountains around the Vatican. The receptionist at our tour guide's office told us that the water from the public fountains in Rome was tested and found to be better water quality than Evian! Our hotel wasn't centrally located...but was very close to Vatican city, which was nice when we spent a day there. We also visited the catacombs where many Christian martyrs and popes were buried. I loved seeing that. Overall, Rome was great.  As a city, it wasn't my favorite, but the Vatican and Ancient Ruins were incredible sites...definitely some of my favorite we saw.

The food was great in Rome too. Two of our favorite restaurants there were Osteria da Mario, a homey little mom & pop joint, where we dined out on a cute little Roman square. Here we had some great pasta and probably the BEST bruschetta of the whole trip. I still drool thinking about that bruschetta...and it is my goal to duplicate it someday! Our other fav restaurant here was Mimi & Coco. Such a romantic atmosphere with great ambiance. Everything we got there was sooo good. Karen got eggplant parmesan, if I remember correctly...which was the best ever!

Rome was a great end to our trip and we got to the airport and on our plane without a hitch! We were sad to say goodbye to Italy, but looking forward to saying hello to our soft, comfy bed. :-) We feel blessed to have been able to go on such a wonderful trip and had so much fun with Ryan's parents as our travel companions!! It was definitely a trip to remember.

 Mimi & Coco....yum!

 Catacombs of St. Callisto

 The Pantheon. It has the most preserved interior of the ancient ruins. It was incredibly in tact.

 A roman square just outside of the Pantheon.

 The Vatican Museum

 St. Peter's Basilica

 View from the top of  St. Peter's Basilica Dome.

 The Colosseum. So amazing. My one regret is that we didn't go back at night to get another shot of it then.

 The Trevi fountain... at night.

Roman forum ruins!

Roman sunset with the Basilica in the background.