Pumpkin Soup Recipe!

With numerous requests for my pumpkin soup recipe, I have decided to dedicate an entire post (and number 100 at that!) to exactly that!

I don't really follow exact amounts but here is what I do.

PUMPKIN SOUP

I use the large Jarrahdale or Kent pumpkin mainly because I know it gives lots of pumpkin and it works!

To enable easy cutting and handling, I put the whole pumpkin in the oven at about 100 degrees C/315 degrees F for about an hour or till you can start smelling the pumpkin. Remove from oven.

I then cut up the pumpkin, by halving then quartering it and removing the seeds and the skin, into small pieces and putting it in a large saucepan (10 litres).

In addition, I add about 4-6 carrots (peeled and cut), 2 onions (cut) and approx 3 decent sized yams or sweet potato. In Australia they are called sweet potato but here they are called yams which have the orange meat which is what you want to maintain a rich color to the soup.

Add a teaspoon of salt, a good dash of curry and a pinch or two of parsley.

Add just a small quantity of water. By that I mean just that it covers the bottom of the pan (about an inch). There is enough juices once it starts cooking, and too much liquid means a runny soup. I like thick soup!

Once it starts boiling, lower the heat a touch to about 3/4 and stir occasionally. Once it is all cooked and soft, remove from heat. I then put a stick blender through it and make it all a smooth paste.

At this point, I add a large of tin of tomato soup and either a large tin of cream of chicken soup (or in Australia a packet of powdered cream of chicken soup made into a paste in some water). Stir through and turn on low for a short time, just to cook the additions. Stay close by or it will splatter!

Your soup is now done! It should be thick, look a rich orange colour, and taste superb!

To serve I add a small dash of cream or cream and a half (USA), and croutons (and parsley - optional).

Enjoy!

Pumpkin soup served with croutons, dash of cream and a sprinkle of parsley

Anthea's 21st birthday and homegrown produce!

On Tuesday, the 14th, we celebrated Anthea's birthday! 21 years ago we welcomed our first child, a little girl! How time has flown by and now we have a 21 year old! We went  to Bob's Burgers and Brew for dinner and Janita accompanied us! We were especially thankfully that she could be here with us and that we could celebrate it together as a family! 

On Thursday Cassie came over for the day and the two girls had a ball! Here they are playing tap'n'nail!

I took in a second harvest of parsley and dried it out. By the time it's dried out, there's not much volume but I just keep add it to the previous amount.

Three of the largest pumpkins were picked. One was fully ripe and the other two will go in the canning room where it is dark and cool to allow them to fully ripen. We still have a few in the veggie patch which will come off in due time (hoping they'll still grow even though we're not seeing much sun lately)!

The pumpkins/squash/gourds or whatever you like to call them come in so many shapes and sizes! It's a big thing to decorate fall using pumpkins. 

And are they all edible? Apart from the three at the back, I don't actually know!

Pumpkin soup is the family's favourite soup so there was lots of excitement when I made the pumpkin soup for tonight's dinner! The appreciation around the table made it all worthwhile!

Taleesha has been wanting to write and asking how to spell this word and that word; today she almost fully wrote her own name! She just asked me once or twice what the next letter was and off she went!

That's the recap for the last week and a half. We've been having some rainy days here and more forecasted, but hey, that's the North West! 

For the rest, we are all well. This weekend, we together with our local neighbors plan to have our annual (well this will be the second one!) gourmet dinner so that should be lots of fun!

Thanks for looking!

Apple pies and fall break in Vernon!

The corn behind our house got harvested. We finally have views to Abbotsford again!

Monday evening and all day Tuesday was apple pie making! We put together over 550 pies! Below are the empty shells waiting for the apple mix and then the lid goes on and a 'fluter' will seal the edges and make it pretty. Each pie will then get wrapped in a plastic bag, placed in a box and labelled. They are then ready for delivery and consumption!

The biggest job is peeling the apples. Fortunately we have these wonderful doodlemalackey machines which peel, slice and core all in the one motion. This was still early in the morning but at one point we had 20 ladies helping either with the peeling or in the kitchen! 

Just to give a bit of an idea, we used over 1400 lbs of apples!

The following day Bernice and myself made our own apple pies with some of the apples we picked on the weekend. Here I got to practice my own fluting! We made 20 pies altogether.

Some things never change and that is licking the bowl is the best part of baking! 

Fall break began on Thursday afternoon for us. Steve had a PD in the morning and we together with just the little girls headed off to Vernon for the long weekend. We travelled a fair ways and then around dinner time stopped at a rest area and had a quick bit to eat. We then bundled the girls in their pj's and carried on. At around 9:30 we found a free camping spot at Elkhart lake although we couldn't see the lake because it was dark! We camped for the night with the intent of driving a few more hours the next morning to get to camp. We slept well till around 3am when we woke up so cold we couldn't sleep. A check on the thermometer showed the outside temp being 3 degrees Celcius. So the furnace went on and we could sleep again all warm and toasty.

The following morning we woke up to a cold but beautiful day! The sun was coming up over the lake and it was so quiet and peaceful. Steve cooked up a bacon and egg breakfast and I took the girls and explored our surroundings.

After breakfast we headed off to our final destination. Along the way we saw the beautiful effects of fall; so bright and vibrant.

This is Steve's co-driver; she lets him know when to turn left or right!

At around noon we arrived at Evely campground, again free. We found a campsite just a couple of metres from the Okanagan Lake. We had no amenities (except a drop dunny) but we were self sufficient.

After lunch, I took the girls for another exploratory walk.

We had our own fire pit but no firewood, so we headed out and picked lots of pine cones and kindling and whatever we could find for our fire. 

We spotted a raft on the beach so Steve headed out with the girls in the canoe to break it up and take the pieces back to camp. 

That night we had dinner in a packet! I put sweet potato/yam along with bacon, carrots and onions in alfoil and tucked them in the coals of the campfire. Steve cooked up some meat and we had a delicious meal!

The following day we headed into Vernon. Our purpose was twofold. One was to attend to the RV's ablutions and secondly to go Davison Orchard which had its pumpkin festival in full swing!

It is an operating orchard with the country village selling all sort of kitchen knick knacks to hot spicy cider to apple pies to hotdogs. There was also a playground for the kids and a penned farm animal area.

There was a museum of sorts with lots of old tractors on display. Here's just a couple!

The caterpillar wheels were used particularly for that area due to the soil type when wet and muddy.

And a couple of corny facts! The second one intrigued me!

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree!

Pumpkin anyone?

Steve met scarecrow and the minions!

After an enjoyable afternoon, rain clouds threatened so we headed back to camp. I'm sure the girls hardly ever saw any scenery along the way as they would happily color in pictures or play with some activity at the table!

Back at camp, we got the fire going and the girls just loved tending and stoking the fire! Smores was a big hit too!

The following day was Sunday, so we headed into Vernon to listen to Rev Witten. We spent between services at the Wittens (who are ex-Aussies) so it was great catching up with them.

After the second service we headed back to camp and being the last evening we got the fire going again and finished off the supplies for our smores. By the look on their faces I think they liked them!

The chef hard at work!

The next morning was Monday of course, which also meant time to go home. We decided to go for a quick canoe trip along the lake before loading everything up and heading home.

This photo shows the distance our RV was from the water's edge. Just a hop, skip and jump!

We headed off around 11am and had a great and uneventful trip back home. We arrived home around 4:30pm. We thank our Father for His traveling blessings and also for the privilege of enjoying the beauty of fall! To Him be the praise!