Home for the Holidays

Just as there are different kinds of pumpkins themselves,
pumpkin soup is a multitalented dish too. All over the
world, you will find a wide verity of this dish from many
diverse cultures and as you will come across when you try
different pumpkin soup techniques. The pumpkin lends itself
incredibly well to an extensive variety of diverse
flavorings and ingredients. Pumpkin soups can be found,
which feature pumpkin as the main ingredient of a dish or
plays a supporting part of a combinations of many different
ingredients.

If you’re like most people though, you think of pumpkin
soup as very much a seasonal dish, appearing on the dinner
table around the holidays, and disappearing shortly
thereafter, not to be seen again until autumn’s chill
returns to fill the air. We are all familiar with the
traditional classic pumpkin soup with its many familiar
spices like clove, cinnamon, nutmeg and alike served piping
hot with just a touch of cream swirled into it. This cold
weather dish is common around fall but this delicious soup
is wonderful no matter what time of year you wish to serve
it hot or cold.

For something a little bit different, try a curried pumpkin
soup. It’s a little bit spicier than the traditional
pumpkin soup you’re used to from holiday dinners, but every
bit as delicious. The spices used in these pumpkin soups
include some, which strike a familiar note, and others,
which lend a more exotic taste to the dish. A wonderful
alternative during winter months pumpkin soup makes a nice
change of pace from those bland everyday soups we get far
too often.

Jamaican pumpkin soup recipes are also a good choice if
you’re looking for a soup, which is a little different from
what you may be used to. Another good choice with a
Caribbean flavor would be the verities that come from
Jamaica. To the Jamaicans hard-shelled squashes and
pumpkins are a main staple and loved the island over. These
wonderful vegetables are made into a wide selection of
soups all year. These soups often feature beef, noodles,
and spices including the classic Jamaican combination of
thyme, allspice, and habanero peppers.

If you have a dinner party coming up, a pumpkin soup served
in individual pumpkin shells is always an impressive
presentation. For this particular pumpkin soup recipe,
you’ll want to have several small pumpkins (at least as
many as you’ll have diners and probably a few more). After
hollowing out the shells, they make ideal soup bowls and
are very attractive at the dinner table.

You can dress up pumpkin soup into something sophisticated
by adding some grown-up ingredients like sherry (dry or
sweet) and gruyere cheese; pumpkin works surprisingly well
with this combination. The result is an incredibly
delicious, silky smooth tasting soup, which will delight
your family and friends and perhaps even make some
believers out of people who were ambivalent to this
vegetable before!

Whether curried, spicy, sweet or sophisticated, pumpkin
soup recipes run the gamut of flavors and culinary
influences, with a soup perfect for every palate. Pumpkin
soup is simply far too good to be relegated to being only a
holiday dish. Try some variations on this versatile theme;
after all, pumpkin is available year-round - and regardless
of the season, this diverse vegetable should be a part of
your culinary treasure chest year round.

—————————————————-
As the mom of four boys great food is a way of life and
lots of it. You can easily make a classic pumpkin soup from
just a few simple ingredients. It is fast and easy to make
this creamy gourmet soup that goes well with a full meal or
can be served by itself. Garnish it with a dollop of sour
cream and serve with linen napkins.
For more info and recipes visit: http://www.PumpkinSoup.org
Copyright (c) 2009 Christine Szalay Kudra

Valentines Day does not have to be about sugar and sweets, just dust off the old baking pan and your ready to roll.

Today we are more health conscious than ever but it feels
like bad timing around certain holidays like Valentine’s
Day. Everybody wants homemade goodies. They’re as much a
part as most of our lives as our favorite song or movie. So
how do you keep the taste and reduce the guilt? It’s easy;
with a few simple tips…

Most baked goods have a few common ingredients; AKA, the
usual suspects. These include shortening, oil, eggs, sugar
and flour. And this is great news for us because each of
these has a substitute or alternate that is not only just
as tasty, but also often saves us a few bucks depending on
what substitutes we use.

Shortening and Oils: This is typically some sort of fat,
butter or margarine, or vegetable/seed oil in the case of
oils. For the most part these are just there to make a dry
mix moist and add consistency. I like to use butter for
it’s other healthy properties and taste. However typically
I use one third less than the recipe calls for and it
always works out fine. If you really want to cut it out
completely, consider select fruit juices or applesauce.
Most cookie and cake mixes will provide substitution
information somewhere on the package, explaining what you
can use and how much you will need.

Eggs: If you have a recipe calling for more than one egg,
it helps if you either replace one-half or more of the eggs
with low-fat egg substitute or two egg whites for each egg
being replaced. Replacing all the eggs usually cuts into
the texture and consistency so leaving one or two is OK. By
the way, you’re saving 50 to 60 calories, 4 to 6 grams of
fat and a lot of cholesterol for each egg you replace with
this method.

Sugar: I don’t like to drop name brands but Splenda has a
pretty good foothold on sugar substitutes available in
volume for baking. They also provide a chart that tells how
much Splenda to use to replace that much sugar. If you like
actual sugar, just go for the natural type.

Flour: Flour itself is not the big problem here; it’s the
bleached all purpose flour is processed that is the
problem. Unfortunately substituting all that processed
stuff for wheat flour usually alters enough consistency
that people notice. That said, I find splitting the
difference and substituting half the bleached flour with
half what flour does the trick nicely.

That’s it. Happy baking!

—————————————————-
Mike Small is the entry coordinator for the Worlds Best
CookieBook cookie recipes (http://www.cookie–recipes.com).

Given the fact that Seattle may be lucky to get a week of
snow each year, this Northwest city might not be an obvious
choice for a Winter Wonderland to experience the joys of
Christmas. But what it lacks in snow, it makes up for in
festive spirit and Northwest residents discovered long ago
that a trip to the city for Christmas shopping can be
rewarding indeed.

From Seattle Center to Westlake Center to the Pike Place
Market, the usual visitor attractions become just a little
more special on a chilly winter’s day. Throngs of excited,
bundled-up families and couples sample the seasonal
offerings at Westlake such as Quest carousel rides, or the
kettle corn and elephant ears nearby. Vendors make balloon
animals for the kids while loud Christmas music blares in
the background making sure no one misses out on Seattle’s
holiday spirit.

Make it an overnight trip and it’s even better. First, you’ll be sure to see the numerous Christmas lights along downtown streets including the famous star on Macy’s, the
Space Needle lights and many other special seasonal touches. And, by staying overnight, you can turn a shopping trip into a true getaway.

Our base of operations was a Seattle landmark, the
Edgewater Hotel. If you’re old enough, you’ll remember that
the Edgewater was made famous in the mid-60’s when the
Beatles stayed in one of the waterfront rooms and caught
fish out their window. In fact, it became the obvious
choice for many famous rock groups that came into town
during that period to play for one of Pat O’Dea’s
spectacular rock concerts.

Today the Edgewater has a classic elegance that combines
the best location in Seattle with an updated interior
design that evokes the Northwest’s rich Native American
heritage. The first thing we saw when entering our
waterfront room was a Washington State Ferry - just out the
window and across the waters of Elliott Bay. Our view made
us feel like we were traveling on a cruise ship with
nothing but water between us and the ferry. This, of
course, is the major attraction of the aptly-named
Edgewater - a location literally out on the water with
incredible views of Puget Sound and nearby islands.

Our room featured many Northwest accents such as a log
headboard on our comfortable king-size bed, bark trim and a
wood panel above the corner fireplace, Native American
designs on the carpets with knotty pine baseboards, and
Indian characters and designs on the wood-frame
entertainment center. In the bathroom, a large claw-style
bathtub looked awfully inviting, while the modern colors
and fixtures made the room look like something you would
see in a magazine on interior design. The floors were amber
quartz slate, while the room also included a glass-enclosed
European spa shower.

With a room at the Edgewater - which features a constant
parade of boats just outside your window — there is the
temptation to just stay there and enjoy the endless sights
and sounds. But we came to Seattle to check out the city’s
Christmas activities so first stop was the Pike Place
Market, a few blocks and easy walking distance from the
Edgewater.

The market is one of Seattle’s most recognizable symbols -
right up there with the Space Needle. That probably has
something to do with the way TV sports announcers always
make a point of showing footage of the market while
broadcasting Seattle Seahawks or Washington Huskies sports
telecasts. Typically the shot is one of the fish handlers
throwing King salmon - thus we were pleased that, upon our
arrival, the fish were indeed flying. Just like the 50 or
so other visitors standing around watching, we had seen for
ourselves the famous Pike Place Market fish throw.

Those fish handlers in their sweat suits, hoodies and
aprons aren’t the only reason to stop by the market at
Christmas time. The market goes all out in its decorations
and, in fact, has Christmas trees available - not that we
wanted to cart one back to the Edgewater. Take a walk just
north of the first fish market and you enter a beehive of
activity where it seems like just about anything you want
is for sale - fresh fruits and produce, honey, herbs, dried
flower bouquets, jams and jellies, nuts, fruits,
chocolates, tee-shirts, purses, you name it. There actually
are several fish markets in the same building, as well as
restaurants where you can dine on fresh fish before you
even leave the market..

Just across the street from the market, in front of the
Starbucks, a musical group called Slimpickens was warming
up the crowds with lively 1930’s style music played in a
four-piece configuration: guitar, stand-up bass, violin and
washboard. Dressed in 30’s garb, the group also seemed to
be getting a Depression-era response to their music: lots
of smiles and toe-tapping, but not many coins dropping into
their prominently placed cup.

Along about here we encountered Piroshky, Piroshky, a tiny
take-out restaurant serving up fresh Russian piroshkies for
just under $5. These were just baked and, if you’re
wondering, the piroshky is a little like a flakey turnover
filled with meat, cheese or other fillings. They’re
delicious and, for us, provided a quick and inexpensive
lunch.

Some friends of ours went instead to Von’s Grand City
Café, just a few blocks from the market on Pine Street
where the meal was fine but they reported back that this
was the first time they had encountered canned champagne.
They ordered a split of champagne and the can that was
delivered to their table had a straw attached - which our
friends said reminded them of the fruit drink boxes they
get for their kids. Of course that’s what visiting the “Big
City” is all about - experiencing new things.

A few blocks from the market is Westlake Center, a modern,
multi-story shopping center with upscale stores and -
because of its location near Macy’s and Nordstrom — the
epicenter of retail activity downtown. It’s here that, for
just $2 each way, you can hop on board the Monorail -
originally built for the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair - and
zip over to Seattle Center where their Winterfest
celebration has continual holiday entertainment and one of
the coolest model railroads and miniature Christmas towns
your kids will ever see.

Soon it was time to head back to the Edgewater, where we
watched the fog roll in and marveled at how the few
sailboats that were out on this wintery day were able to
dodge the Washington State ferries. Thank goodness for
foghorns and radar, we would guess. We took a short, brisk
walk over to the Spaghetti Factory for an inexpensive but
tasty dinner.

The night was restful and, when the sun came up the next
day, the skies were blue and the views from our room were
like a picture postcard. No need to lose that view while
having breakfast — downstairs at the Edgewater we stopped
in for a hearty meal with the best views in town at the
hotel’s award-winning Six Seven restaurant. We were
pleasantly surprised at the reasonable prices, given the
restaurant’s prime location and upscale reputation.

More downtown exploration was on tap for our second day,
with no shortage of merchandise available at unusually good
prices. Soon it was time to go home, but it wasn’t like a
trip home from the mall in which you’re exhausted and swear
never to go shopping with the multitudes again. Yes, we’d
accomplished our Christmas shopping all right — but we
also felt invigorated by an unforgettable holiday trip to
Seattle’s Winter Wonderland.  Back to HomePage

For more information on Seattle, go to www.visitseattle.org For more information on the
Edgewater Hotel, please visit www.edgewaterhotel.com.