roasted carrot ginger turmeric soup & dukah

I’ve got a new gig I’m loving. We are finishing up the second month of Star Route Kitchen food club. We’re preparing and delivering from scratch, whole food menus to a handful of Orcas Island residents. Check out my new Star Route Kitchen page where you can get some ideas of your own for plan ahead foods to have for the week.

We are currently in R&D mode these last few months of the year. I’m asking for feedback on recipes, logistics of packaging and delivering and getting my cooking chops back on track. Chloe and I are having a blast on Mondays cooking and on Tuesdays delivering. We may add next year, a second menu option such as anti-inflammatory or something in that direction. The goal, in season at least, is to use our garden goods and island farm produce and stay on the wonderful trend that has been happening… Keeping it local. And I clearly state that is not exclusive. I will buy from around the world but always organic when available. The food that leaves my kitchen is the quality of the food we eat at home and my standards are high.

Last week,  this  carrot, ginger, turmeric soup with a coconut milk and veggie stock base rocked. Not to toot my own horn… or Ollie’s (my  awesome, jazz trumpet playing husband for any new readers). It was warming and tasty especially with the Dukah we made to garnish it. And here I added a little goat yogurt.

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Chunky Chicken and mushroom soup

Chunky chicken and mushroom soup…

chicken soupWe are working, I hope, through the last of the days on end rain storms where even the worms drown in unforgiving driveway puddles…

IMG_7389 and unplanned driveway streams…

IMG_7390Goats are hanging near the doorway..

IMG_7398As well as the dynamic duo…

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roasted beet soup

Spring is here and I’ve got little baby beet seedlings in the greenhouse but I can’t wait 65 days for them to make beets.

Roasted beet soup-7So until then I’m getting organic beets at the store. They are a vegetable, in my opinion, that spans all seasons. We ate this roasted beet soup hot and cold and both were delicious. So if you’re still freezing your tush off- heat it up. If you are in CA and it’s gone straight from winter to summer- keep it cool.

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white bean, kale and sausage soup

This is just a little something to ground you between the inevitable highs and lows of the holidays. Kale, white bean and sweet italian sausage from Skagit River Ranch It’s a moment to go to something simple, familiar – we aren’t re-inventing the wheel here. Maybe use a little of that soup stock from the turkey bones. I made about 6 quarts from two turkeys. It’s important to keep eating healthy for a majority of the time through this season. And honestly, we enjoy the holidays more if we don’t feel like we’ve completely fallen off the cliff with eating habits.

White bean kale sausage soup @wendyellenthomas.com-5

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Fall recipes… revisited.

pumpkinbreadpuddingscript copy

This looks familiar your saying to yourself. Well at least those who have been hanging around these parts for the past year. And well, if you haven’t been, nor have you had the inclination to dig into the past, I’ll make it easy for you.  Your starter, main and dessert. We’ll start with dessert first.

Pumpkin Bread pudding with Spicy Apple Caramel sauce

This is also my little hello and no, I haven’t fallen off the edge of the blog sphere. My bricks and mortar shop, Chez Chloe (check out the new website), had a hopping summer and I’ve been busy busy preparing for the holidays. My dear husband and number one eater is off to Germany for one last round of teaching and then turning in his papers to become a full time US of A resident on the one and only Orcas Island in the Evergreen State! Three cheers!!! My cooking and photos tend to wain when he is away.

Here is a starter that is a little out of the ordinary. Try this with your next fall meal. It was a hit.

Pumpkin and Feta Salad with Maple Vinaigrette

pumpkinandfetasalad

I see I was having some fun with fonts last fall:)

Here is a wonderful stew to serve between your starter and dessert.  Inspired by a post from my friend at Karista’s Kitchen, Mulligatawny is an anglo-Indian recipe often served with chicken but I used beef and will make it again soon with lamb.

This salad, stew and dessert made the perfect fall meal.

Mulligatawny

mulligatawney soup

 

Hope all is right in your world and the colorful leaves fall gently around you.

Enjoy.

Tschüß xx

What happens when the freezer door is left ajar? #1

Things melt. Some not in a nice way. Like berries. The fish on the other hand was just thawed and still very usable. But we’ve had a lot of  scallops, halibut cheeks and salmon this week. Now I’m not complaining exactly, except I wouldn’t indulge in this much good product in just one week.

Scallop Chowder-9

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Roasted Hakkaido (pumpkin) and feta salad w/ Maple vinaigrette

pumpkin and feta salad

It’s a rainy Monday that is doing a rather fine job pretending to be Sunday. There is no school today, no need to go to town, therefore no need to dress. I’ve enjoyed reading what feels like 101 blogs. I’m eating a satisfying ham sandwich slathered with mayo and mustard on white bread. It’s like giving into a craving…on all accounts. Really it’s the first day since getting back a week ago to Orcas Island, that I’ve not had a full day agenda. We all need these days. It almost feels like the spanse of time between Christmas and New Year’s. Which outside of the years being responsible for  a cafe and/or retail store is like living a few days in a warm cozy cocoon, visiting with friends and family, enjoying hot drinks, reading books and being together. Now that I think of it, this is what I look forward to most at Christmas.

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Chicken Soup with Glass Noodles

Chicken Soup with Glass Noodles

We enjoyed another light meal this week of chicken soup with glass noodles. We’ve had a few more smoothies, which I must mention because I forgot to put a couple photos on the last post. The smoothie and a very moving one of a glass of water with a lemon slice- don’t fret, I’ll add it too.  After pushing ‘publish’ last time, I had that sneaky little feeling I’d rushed it. I’m sure others have lingered in that moment. I re-read the post and thought, no  it’s looks complete… until this morning during our weight class at the gym. The one I actually like but still can’t wait to finish… the one that I’ve NOT done in TOO long so I’m having to pause after every sentence I type to let my arms rest…the one I tend to day dream through. This was when two photos flashed before my eyes. I was like dammit janet, you forgot those two photos yesterday. How these thoughts, memories float to the surface of the conscious, is beyond me. I have recently read some very interesting articles concerning some of the intricacies of how the brain works. Here are a couple from the NYTimes-

The Brain On Love and The Brain On Fiction

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It is so fall in Hamburg

It is so fall in Hamburg

I love the fall.  The weather here has been beautiful. Cool and windy and not a lot of rain. The colors are incredible! Here are a couple things coming out of the kitchen right now. I accidentally put the oven on broil  instead of bake! Grrrr……But the bread flipped over looked and tasted great.

Baked kurbis (pumpkin) and banana bread

Here’s the inspiration for the pumpkin soup (lactose free)

Pumpkin soup with coconut milk

  • one small baked pumpkin (salt,pepper & a little olive oil)
  • carmelized onions
  • 1 can coconut milk
  • approx 2 cups chicken stock/broth
  • green thai curry
  • fish sauce
  • fresh lime
  • roasted pumpkin and sunflower seeds with a dash of tamari.

Just go for it and make it taste good to you!

As for the banana bread. The recipe is from Nigella Lawson’s How to be a Domestic Goddess. But no raisins. Bleck. Read below for recipe.  I like this banana bread even more the next day. It’s so moist, but I still love to slather it with butter or cream cheese. Hmmm…. how many weight watcher points would that be?

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