Om Pot Pie

This recipe is such a treat, a hearty meal on a cool Autumn night. My version is a curried version, but I have also done it with Western spices such as oregano and basil. I use the store-bought piecrusts to cut down on prep time, and the leftover scraps of dough to make the pretty OM on top of the pie. The ingredients are measured loosely and generously, with produce picked based on what is in season. I use a can of cream soup, cream of mushroom this time.

I used the CSA butternut squash for this pie. It was the first time using this vegetable. I've seen so many others using squash in such creative ways, that I thought I'd give it shot here in the pot pie. I also used CSA potatoes and carrots. I have lots of these vegetables in the house.

Pies, whether they are fruit pies or pot pies, always taste better when made with love.

Om Pot Pie
(this recipe is just a approximation of what I do. I use whatever is on hand and smell my way through the spices)

Steam potatoes, carrots, and squash.

Heat 1-2 Tbsp of olive oil in large saute pan.
Throw in 1/2 tsp of mustard seeds.
Once the seeds start start popping add 1/2 tsp of each (ground) spice; smell after adding each spice and add more if your nose says so:
cumin, garam masala, turmeric, hing (asafoetida), cinnamon.
Add minced onion and garlic, cook until soft.
Add cooked chicken (optional; this pie can be done vegetarian).
Add steamed vegetables.
Add i can of cream soup. Or make a roux.
Bring to a simmer.

Fill pie crust and top with second crust.

Bake in preheated 400 degree oven for 50 minutes, or until puffed up and bubbly looking.

Autumn Highlights

Happy Halloween!

Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and caldron bubble.
Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the caldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt and toe of frog,
Wool of bat and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork and bling-worms sting,
Lizard's leg and howlet's wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.
Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and caldron bubble.
Cool it with a baboon's blood,
Then the charm is firm and good.
(Shakespeare)



The spell is cast...let the spooky festivities begin...

Perfect Autumn Day

The morning started with rain. The afternoon was brightened by the sun. Now the rain has returned and the wind has picked up. The bright, golden leaves of maple trees are blowing all through the neighborhood. Hopefully, they will blow out of my yard so I don't have another round of raking and bagging to do next week. If not, I won't mind if doing it on another perfect Autumn day like today!

Butternut Bisque

I've got lots of squash. My mother has gone away for a month so I have the CSA all to myself for the next month. And oh, man, oh man, the squash is piling up.



I found this recipe for butternut bisque a few years ago and it was appealing to me because there were directions for freezing the leftovers. Unfortunately, I never got around to eating the leftovers because they went into hiding in the very back corner of my (surprisingly small) freezer. Anyway, so this year the plan is to share with my neighbor and it's kind of payback because he brought me a whole sack of honeycrisp apples from the orchard/pumpkin patch he went to a few weeks ago.



I went into a sort of a cooking frenzy on Sunday. The Big D was working on the second coat of paint for our dining room and I was feeling the need to stay away from this one. I spent most of the afternoon in the kitchen making the bisque, some cornbread and later, roasting a chicken. The paint, by the way, is fabulous! It was a $5 Oops paint and I swear I never would have picked a color like this on my own, but it was such a good deal I couldn't pass it up. And, it turned out so incredibly wonderful. It even makes the kitchen paint debacle look a bit better. Man, never again will I paint during a Mercury retrograde!



The bisque is such a lovely shade of orange. I kept thinking Baby is going to love this cuz of the color and the creaminess. I got to pull out my immersion blender to mash all the cooked squash.




The cornbread. My first attempt at it from scratch. I've always done mixes, ones recommended by others who swear by them, but have never liked them as much I wanted to. This one turned out wonderful and I even whipped up some honey butter for spread.




I had to show the image again because I think the color is so beautiful!

Butternut Bisque (adapted from Everyday Foods)

3 Tbsp. butter
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
2-4 garlic cloves, sliced
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, plus more for garnish (optional)
course salt
1 large butternut squash (about 4 lbs.), peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 can (14.5 oz) reduced-sodium chicken broth
3 cups water
1 cup half-and-half
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
sour cream, for serving

1. In a large saucepan, heat butter over medium. Add onion, garlic, thyme, cinnamon, and cayenne. Season with salt, cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened, 5 to 7 minutes.

2. Add squash, broth, half-and-half, and 3 cups of water. Bring to boil; reduce to a simmer, and cook until squash is tender, about 20 minutes.

3. Blend in blender (in batches) or use an immersion blender to blend until smooth. Stir in lemon juice; season with salt. Serve bisque with sour cream, garnished with cayenne, if desired.

Co-op Election Day

Today my whole life could change, or, remain exactly the same as it was yesterday and the day before.

Sometime last August I got it into my head to run for the Eastside Co-op Board of Directors. It was the friendly recruiter (and Board member) in the entryway of the store that enticed me. I attended a few board meetings and was duly impressed by the level of expertise and passionate interests present. They all seemed so concerned with many of the things I am interested in. I wanted to be part of this functional, productive group that seemed to be working towards making genuine change in this world and actually making progress towards this goal.

I thought I would join up as there were four open seats. Later I found that the both the Board president and vice-president are also running which makes me very nervous about the prospect of losing these leaders on the Board. There are three other prospective Board members and myself.

I am the first person of color to run for the Board. I can't figure out if that is an advantage or disadvantage. I do know that I have never been successful at such things, thinking primarily here about student council in my younger years, but what the heck. Maybe voting members will see my candidacy as building diversity at the Co-op. And that is the primary thing that I think I can provide - making connections with the diverse communities that make up the Central Avenue Business District.

But, the Co-op is a tight community. Some of the members seems clique-ish to me and that could mean this a tough group to penetrate.

I'm going to try. And if I succeed, this could lead me into a whole new direction in my life. Wish me luck, you'all!

Eh bien, tant pis!

So, I'm reading Julia Child's "My Life in France," it's a snowy/rainy Friday afternoon, my cravings satiated with vanilla bean ice cream, and suddenly I wander onto this page in a chapter subsection entitled "Never Apologize." After cooking a lunch of vile eggs for a friend, Julia had this to say:

"We ate the lunch with painful politeness and avoided discussing its taste. I made sure not to apologize. This was a rule of mine.

I don't believe in twisting yourself into knots of excuses and explanations over the food you make....Maybe the cat has fallen into the stew, or the lettuce has frozen, or the cake has collapsed--eh bien, tant pis!

Usually one's cooking is better than one thinks it is. And if the food is truly vile, as my ersatz eggs Florentine surely were, then the cook must simply grit her teeth and bear it with a smile--and learn from her mistakes."

The cat has fallen into the stew? Can't say this has ever happened in my kitchen, but I also can't say that something I've cooked hasn't tasted like the cat had fallen in.

Dear, sweet, resilient and reassuring D! He always eats my food with a smile and refuses to hear any apologies I might mutter. Learning from my mistakes is much easier when living with a man like that!