The Never-ending Newborn Cycle

Eat, poop, sleep, eat, poop, sleep, eat, spit up, scream at Mama, poop 3 times (at least once all over something that now needs to be laundered), sleep – but not long enough for anyone else to get a good REM cycle – and repeat. Add to that some lingering soreness from delivery, soreness from learning to nurse Princess Poopypants (as her daddy often calls her), & the unexpected onset of the baby blues at the end of last week, and there are some days it’s hard to remember that this is exactly what I signed up for. I’m tired is what I’m saying. My husband is tired. 

And yet, when our sweet little girl sighs with complete contentment and snuggles into me when she finishes eating, my heart melts. I watch her with her daddy when he comes home from work and I fill with pride at the thought that I helped make him a father. I kiss the top of her head, smell that precious baby smell, and remember how utterly blessed I am to have her. I’m reminded that this newborn phase is just a short stage in her beautiful life, and it won’t last long. We’re also so fortunate to have so many wonderful people in our lives that love us and adore our baby girl. Her grandparents go out of their way to help us and take any opportunity to snuggle her. Her uncles and (especially) aunties and fawn over her, our church family has brought over meals, & the wonderful ladies at MOPS have offered encouragement, spit up clean up assistance, and breaks for me while they hold her. We are truly blessed, and even on the hardest days in the never-ending newborn cycle remembering that makes me thankful.

Pumpkin Soup

This recipe starts with a story:  Early in our marriage, my husband and I were fortunate enough to afford a bi-weekly delivery of a box of local organic produce. One week in late October, we got a small pumpkin. And, honestly, we were totally at a loss as to what to do with it. At the time, I was working full time and my husband was working part time. And one day I came home to discover that he had looked through our "Complete Encyclopedia of Vegetables and Vegetarian Cooking" and found a recipe for pumpkin soup. I'll admit that I was very skeptical. I am not an adventurous eater by any stretch of the imagination. However, given how proud he was of his ingenuity, I grudgingly tasted a small amount. And it was wonderful! Unfortunately, when we tried to make more we discovered that grocery stores didn't carry pumpkins past Halloween! (I think this has changed somewhat in recent years – definitely you can still find pie pumpkins at Trader Joe's until Thanksgiving, and local farmers markets usually have some as well.)

Pumpkin soup is now a family staple. My five year old will eat bowls of it without any prodding – in fact it's one thing I know she'll eat even when she's going through a "picky" phase. To minimize spills and make it easier for her to eat, I ladle hers out before I add the full amount of milk so that it's a little thicker.

I make it all winter long, using fresh pumpkin from the farmers market. I stock up at this time of year when the pumpkins are readily available. They store well for a few months, and I also freeze some of the chunks after seeding and peeling so that I have at least one batch available for late spring. (It may be possible to use a (large) can of pumpkin, but I've never done so. If you try that option, add the pumpkin after the potatoes and onions are finished cooking, before you puree the soup.)

Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients:

1 T olive oil

1 large onion or 2 shallots

1 1/2 lbs pumpkin

1 lb potatoes

1 1/2 c vegetable (or other) stock

1/2 t tarragon

generous pinch nutmeg (optional)

2 1/2 c milk

1-2 t lemon juice

salt and pepper to taste

Equipment needed:

large soup pot with lid

potato peeler

food processor, blender or immersion blender

conical strainer with pestle (optional)

Directions:

Assemble ingredients.

Cut the pumpkin in half and remove the seeds.

Slice the pumpkin halves in thin wedges as if it were a cantaloupe (trust me; it's easier to peel once it's cut in wedges!). 

Peel the wedges and cut the pumpkin into large dice (approximately 1" square, but exact measurements are not necessary in the least!).

Peel the potatoes and cut them into large dice. You want your potato pieces to be about the same size as your pumpkin pieces. Also chop the onion or shallot into large pieces.

Saute the onion (shallot) in the oil over medium-high heat for a few minutes, until translucent and fragrant.

Add the pumpkin and potato pieces.

Put the lid on and let everything "sweat" for a few minutes. (That means let them cook for a short time in what is essentially steam.) After about five minutes, give everything a good stir, and add the stock. Add the tarragon and the nutmeg (if using).

Cook until the pumpkin and the potato are quite tender – about 20-25 minutes.

Remove from heat and let cool slightly.

Puree everything. You can do this in your blender or food processor, or use your immersion blender. It's up to you and the equipment you prefer. My preference is to use my heavy-duty food processor...

  

...and then to also strain the puree through a conical strainer. (It's totally not necessary to strain it, and my husband thinks I'm a little crazy. What can I say? I like a super-smooth soup, and I learned to strain it this way in my cooking classes.)

Once you have everything totally pureed, and ready to go, put it back in the pan to reheat. Add the milk and the lemon juice and heat over medium heat until warm enough to serve.

Enjoy with warm crusty bread or crackers.

Happy (and warm) Baking!

She's Here!

I wasn't able to put up a blog post last week and here's why:

Isn't she precious?! Our sweet Evelyn was born on Tuesday, October 29 (the day after her due date), and I've been a bit preoccupied ever since. :)

Peanut Butter

(or other Nut Butter - see note at end of post)

(Please note: to make peanut butter you will either need a food processor or a strong blender (or Magic Bullet.)

You probably know by now that I'm kind of a DIY junkie when it comes to food. So when the organic peanut butter that I've been in love with for years started getting outside my price range, I looked for a way to make my own instead of looking for a cheaper brand. Turns out, it's not that hard, if you've got the right equipment. I use my large food processor, but you could also use a particularly strong blender or a Magic Bullet or equivalent. Anything strong enough to puree nuts.

When I started searching, I looked all over for a source for organic raw peanuts, but as you may remember, there was a big salmonella outbreak a few years ago that was linked back to peanut butter. So you can't buy raw peanuts any more. They have to at least be blanched if they're not roasted. (Yes, it would be possible to grow my own, but I don't think I'm quite ready to go that far.) Eventually I settled for blanched because it's a close to raw as I can get.

I buy my peanuts through my aunt's health food store in a 30 lb bag. (I divide up the 30 pounds into smaller packages and store them in the freezer so they don't go rancid before I use them.) The 30 lb bag lasts me for about 5-6 months, but I also use a LOT of peanut butter because I make granola bars once a week.

The peanut variety that you use for your butter is entirely up to you. Variety will affect both taste and texture of your finished product, so you can experiment with different types if you like, or just go with the most convenient. I have been fortunate that the variety I buy is particularly good for making peanut butter, meaning it releases its oil relatively easily and creates a pretty smooth product.

Because there are very few ingredients, I'll just write this recipe in narrative form.

Start by filling your food processor or blender with peanuts. (I've found that I actually have better results if I start with frozen peanuts, but if they're not frozen don't worry, it'll still work.) Sprinkle a little salt over the nuts. Push start.

IT WILL BE LOUD. Earsplitting. Run-away-with-your-hands-over-your-ears noisy. Give it a minute and the noise will subside as the peanut pieces get smaller.

Eventually, you'll reach the point where the food processor doesn't seem to be making any progress. You'll have a big blob of chopped up nuts that don't want to go any further. At this point, I let everything rest for about 30 minutes. (You don't have to...you could just push on and eventually you'll get the mass to puree, but I find that if I let it rest, it's a whole lot easier.)

Turn it back on. Gradually the mass will begin to liquidize as the nuts release their oil. 

 If you like smooth peanut butter, keep going for several minutes until everything smooths out. 

If you like chunky peanut butter, you can stop sooner, but your peanut butter may be more difficult to spread because the oil won't have been fully released. You can add a little peanut oil, if you like, or you can process everything to smoothness and then add some chopped nuts (the latter is the way “they” actually make chunky peanut butter).

If you prefer your peanut butter sweet (I really really don't!), you can add a little honey – just start with a little bit, and add more to taste. Taste for saltiness as well, and add more if you want to.

Transfer your peanut butter to a container and enjoy!

Note:

Since I first planned to write this post I've been diagnosed with a mild food allergy to peanut butter. Fortunately, the allergy level I have is by no means life threatening, and might not really be affecting me physically at all, but it still means I've been experimenting with alternatives. If you have a peanut allergy in your family, you can follow the same method above to make pretty much any nut butter – although so far I've only tried almond. I had to add just a little oil (I used coconut oil, and the result was amazing), and the resulting almond butter is somewhat gritty due to the almond skins, but it's definitely a good peanut butter alternative once you get used to the different texture. I experimented with blanching some almonds to use instead, hoping the texture would be more like peanut butter, but I ended up with almond paste instead of almond butter (too much moisture!). Experiment with your own and see what you come up with!