Two recipes for you!

The only things they have in common are that I made both last night, and used the same spice blend in both. (You don't have to have the particular spice blend - there are things that can be substituted).

The first recipe is for a pumpkin-curry soup. This is a modification of the recipe in the new Better Homes and Gardens magazine (October 2008).

I like Better Homes and Gardens. More than most "women oriented" magazines, it has stuff I can use, or if not use, enjoy - they have lots of good gardening advice, and some interesting decorating ideas, and a number of good recipes. And the things they LACK are just as important to me: they don't tend to have the fawning celebrity interviews where someone who is richer than God, better-looking than 99.9% of humans, and has an army of yes-men, personal trainers, nannies, cooks, and make-up artists talks about how she's "just like" the woman reading the magazine. And it doesn't tend to have those horrifying "Five Vague Symptoms that Could Mean You Will Die of a Horrible Disease You Only Know About from Watching 'House, M.D.'" And they don't do the trick of having 1/3 of the magazine be these delicious, lovely recipes, and another 1/3 devoted to articles telling adult women how they should never, ever "indulge" in any of the food that those recipes make, but instead eat celery while feeding their families that delicious food.

In other words, BH and G tends to lack the things that make me throw other "women's magazines" across the room.

So anyway. This recipe is a modification - I cut it down in size (just one person - 8 servings of soup is a bit much). And I removed two ingredients that I don't tolerate well. And I subbed canned milk for the cream, both because it's lower in fat but also because I always have cans of evaporated milk on hand, but have to make a trip out to get cream.

Anyway.

I also have to say that soup is one of my favorite things to cook, ever. It's so satisfying. You have a lot of the "fun" parts of cooking - chopping and mixing and picking out spices and seasoning - but all of that is "front-loaded" so you do the work and then put the soup on to simmer and can do something else until it's done. And you don't generally have lots and lots of oddments of utensils to wash, either - most soups have one pot, and maybe a chopping board and knife for the veggies.

And there's such a variety of soup you can make. And one session of cooking leads to leftovers for the rest of the week.

So - here it is:

Curried pumpkin soup.

1/2 cup chopped onion
1 T butter (or olive oil, if you prefer)
1/2 t sweet curry powder
1/2 t "Cake Spice" (this is a Penzey's mix; the original recipe called for Pumpkin Pie spice which is similar)
1 15-ounce can pumpkin
1 14-ounce can chicken broth (I like the Swanson's reduced sodium)
1/3 c water
1/2 cup half-and-half or cream (I just used one 5 ounce can of evaporated milk)
1/4 t salt
1/8 t black pepper.

Cook the onion in the butter 10 minutes or until soft. Add the spices and cook 1 minute. Add the pumpkin, broth, and water and bring just to a boil. Then, turn the heat down to low and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes.

The next step involves pureeing the soup in a blender. You do not have to do this if you don't mind a chunkier soup. However, I prefer a smoother soup, so I did. However, if you do this step - let the soup cool a good bit first. I have seen too many videos of erupting blenders to want to risk it, so I let it cool. (Seriously - you do not want your dinner spattered all over the kitchen.)

Put the soup in the blender, 1/2 at a time, and blend until smooth (it doesn't take much). Then, return the soup to the pot, heat slightly, and stir in the milk, salt, and pepper.

It makes somewhere in the vicinity of 5 cups. (I didn't measure exactly).

Another thing I like about soups are how easy they are to modify. If you're vegetarian, you can always use veggie broth instead of the chicken. And you could easily make the soup vegan by using veggie broth, olive oil, and coconut milk (in place of the cows milk).

In fact, I think coconut milk would be quite good in this.

You could also add a dollop of applesauce, if you had it, or a splash of apple juice. Or, I bet a splash of sherry added at the end would be good, or maybe a slightly sweet white wine.

And of course you could substitute sweet potato puree for the pumpkin, or pureed cooked winter squash.

And you could add back in some carrots and celery at the starting point, if they don't bother you. (I have a food intolerance to the Apiaceae so I tend to avoid them).

It makes a very good soup, which is surprisingly elegant. (And also filling).

****

The second recipe is a simple cake sort of thing. This is from the Country Fair Cookbook, one of the cookbooks in the Farm Journal family of cookbooks.

My mom has most of these cookbooks and used them a lot. I've kind of assembled my own collection over the years through Powell's used-book service and from antique stores. (The "new reprints" that exist of some of these are NOT the same - the reprinted "bread book" was a big disappointment).

It's funny but most people in my generation and younger have never heard of these books, but when I mention them to people in my mom's generation - or people a half generation or so younger then her - a lot of people nod knowingly and go, "yeah, those were good cookbooks."

The Country Fair Cookbook is especially good. If you like baking the sort of "traditional American" farm-fare type cakes, pies, and breads, it's worth seeking out a copy. (I think I paid $10 for my used copy from Powell's).


This is called "Buttermilk Coffee Cake." They suggest using lard "for an old-fashioned flavor." Um, no thanks.

2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 t ground cinnamon (I used Cake Spice, and I used a bit more than that. You could use any spice or spice-mix you like)
1/4 t baking powder
1/4 salt

Combine all those things in a bowl
Then, "cut in" 1/2 cup butter. (This is where you would sub the lard, I guess).

(An aside: "cutting in" is my least favorite baking task). I wound up cutting the butter into bits with a knife and then using a fork to work it over, and finally my fingers. You're done when you can grab a handful of crumbs and they stick together.

Remove 1/2 cup of the crumb mixture to another bowl. Add another teaspoon of cinnamon (or whatever spice) to it. This will be the crumb top.

Next, mix 3/4 cup buttermilk and 1/2 t baking soda. (My mom claims that that direction makes her think it must be an "old" recipe). Stir that, and 1 teaspoon vanilla, into the "main" crumb mix (the part that will become the cake).

When the batter is just moist (it will be more like biscuit dough than cake batter), pat it into a greased 8" square pan.

Put the crumb mix on top. (It will pretty well cover the whole top).

Bake for 35 minutes in a 375 degree oven (or until cake tests done).

I made a little bit of a powdered sugar glaze (powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla) to put over the top of the crumbs as well.

This is a nice cake: it's somewhere between a "real" cake and a coffee cake and a biscuit. And it's supposed to keep well.

With the "cake spice" in it its taste was reminiscent of the homemade cake donuts my mother used to make way back before we had been scared out of eating that kind of stuff.