Sweet Potato and Ginger Soup

 

I decided to try a new way to serve sweet potatoes this year. I made a sweet potato and ginger soup.

The soup was thick because I reduced the liquid a little, but you can make it more liquid by adding the 2 cups of chicken stock. 

The soup was really filling and delicious with a touch of honey added.

Sweet Potato and Ginger Soup (Instant Pot-Easy)

Yields: 4 servings

Ingredients:

1 1b. sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed

2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon powdered garlic

1 3/4 cup of chicken stock (recipe called for 2 cups)

1 tablespoon honey

1 cup of heavy cream

salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley

I added sweet potatoes, chicken stock, olive oil, honey, garlic, ginger, salt, and pepper to the Instant Pot and cooked 20-25 minutes on manual. Take a immersion blender and puree soup adding the heavy cream and mix to get the consistency you want. Garnish with parsley.

Serve hot.

Recipe adapted from: The Fix It and Forget It Mediterranean Diet Cookbook 

Enjoy! 

In Victory,

Sherry

Orange Ginger Honey Cakes

Baking and autumn go together. I had in mind to use these little mini loaf pans for a seasonal treat, and this was the recipe that I thought sounded good. The fall light coming in this window just wows me every year! These photos are straight out of the camera. 

This recipe would make a single loaf pan (8.5 inches x 4.5 inches). I used these mini loaf pans and filled all of them three-quarters full but one. I skipped the turkey. I am taking this autumn slow; I am not rushing the seasons. 

Here are the finished cakes popped out of the pan. They come out perfectly when you grease the pan and dust it with a little flour. 

Here I am pouring on the orange glaze. That glaze is what makes the cakes so delicious! 

They were incredibly moist and perfect for a little treat after dinner or with a tea or coffee. 

Orange Ginger Honey Cakes with Orange Glaze    

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled

1/2 cup honey

2 tablespoons fresh orange zest

2 tablespoons fresh orange juice

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup milk

Glaze:

1/2 cup fresh orange juice

1 cup powdered sugar, sifted

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. (175°C)

Grease pan and dust with flour. Mix dry ingredients in on large bowl. Whisk butter, honey, zest, juice, eggs, and milk in another bowl. Combine wet and dry mixture gently till incorporated but not overmixed. Fill cake molds 3/4 full and bake 18-22 minutes. Let the cakes cool 5 minutes and then turn out onto a cooling rack. I cut the raised cake off the bottom of the loaves so they would sit flat on a serving tray. Let completely cool. Whisk the fresh squeezed orange juice with the sifted powdered sugar in a small saucepan and  cook on medium until reduced by half and desired consistency. Place your cakes on serving tray and pour on the slightly cooled glaze. The cake will absorb the glaze and be so moist. The cake will keep on the counter five days in a sealed container. 

Yield: 5 small loaf pans.

Recipe adapted from: Admuda.com

Enjoy!

In Victory,

Sherry

Pear Tart

Today I am sharing a really easy pear tart to serve with your coffee. I tried the puff pastry a few weeks back when I made chicken pot pie, and I was eager to try it with a dessert.

It is such a pretty way to present a treat to go with your coffee for autumn. I put them on a plate on the counter and put a glass cake dome over them and say I am "coffee shopping my house."

Quick Pear Tart

Servings 6-8

Ingredients:

1 sheet of puff pastry, thawed

3 ripe pears, thinly sliced 

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon lemon juice

2 plus tablespoons honey for drizzling

powdered sugar for dusting

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400°F. (200°C) Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or baking Silpat sheet. Roll puff pastry out to fit your baking sheet. (This would be a standard cooking baking sheet.) Prick the pastry with a fork to prevent over puffing.

Toss 1/4 of a pear in the lemon juice and then place in a plate and thinly slice for the tart. Arrange the quarter of the pear on each rectangle of the puff pastry overlapping the slices for presentation. Brush the melted butter over the pears. Shake a little cinnamon over each rectangle of pear slices. Bake 20 minutes, until the desired browning occurs. Drizzle honey on each rectangle over the pears and dust with sifted powdered sugar. 

May refrigerate up to 3 days covered.

Recipe adapted from: Fruity Desserts

The last of the zinnias and snapdragons all faded with their fall colors.

In Victory,
Sherry 

Little Patio Garden

This is the area I have nicknamed the little patio garden. It has a section of fencing and gate hardware that has been repurposed into a gate for a backdrop. 

I am reusing the swan centerpiece because it goes so well with the French bluecolor of the gate.

A beautiful purple mum and a pansy for fall in the urn I picked up at a yard sale years ago.

I have salvaged and collected thrifty finds for years, and it just now seems they have been coming together for the areas in the yard.

In Victory,

Sherry

Pink Mums

I planted some really small pink mums in this hand-me-down planter. They were the shabbiest pale pink and they are fading now, which makes them even shabbier. The mum on the ground was labeled pink also, but in a much different hue than the pale ones. 

Enjoying the cool evenings is a must right now. The temps should cool off in the day soon, and then we can have an enjoyable fall. Are you feeling fall temperatures yet?

In Victory,
Sherry

September Baker's Rack

Today I am sharing styling the baker's rack for September.

I have often been very challenged by styling a baker's rack. They are tricky to arrange. This shelf is dedicated to baking supplies. 

I made an upcycled cottage-style skirt for the bottom of the baker's rack to hide the big things like appliances. This was upcycled from a linen shirtdress. It is the skirt of the dress I cut off and saved for years. The buttons down the front were already there, and it made a great cover for this because you can unbutton the skirt and access the things on this shelf.

One shelf has a tea set, of course, to go with what you bake.

And this September I made the Pumpkin Streusel Quick Bread. 

The top shelf is an assortment of things that are useful: a milk pitcher, water pitcher, sourdough crock, recipe box, and lantern for the days that are getting shorter.

And when the pumpkin bread is gone, I will replace the space with a basket of apples for September, of course.

In Victory,
Sherry

Pumpkin Streusel Quick Bread

I have made this quick bread for over twenty years. It has always been a fall favorite in our family.

Here is a picture of the bread from when I first posted it on September 21, 2011.

The pumpkin bread has a moist, tender crumb with the perfect cinnamon sugar streusel on top.

Pumpkin Streusel Quick Bread            

Yield: 1 loaf

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 1/2 cup sifted all purpose flour (I used 1/2 of this amount whole wheat)

1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

Streusel Topping: optional (I added this to make it appeal to teenagers)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/4 cup butter

Preheat oven to 325° degrees F.  Grease and flour 8x 5-inch loaf pan.  Beat sugar with oil till blended.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well. Continue beating until light and fluffy.  Then mix in pumpkin on low speed.  Add in dry ingredients on low speed and mix well. Pour into prepared pan.  For streusel topping mix till crumb texture with a pastry cutter.  Then spread topping over entire loaf.  Bake 60 minutes or until 

toothpick comes out clean.  Cool 10 minutes; remove from pan and finish cooling.

Enjoy! 

In Victory,

Sherry

Fall Garden Refresh

 
I have been working on a fall refresh in the garden. Much of the summer flowers that have peaked are on their way out, but it can still be pretty.

Of course I have been adding some mums for fall color. I really appreciate these blooms late in the summer garden. 

I have some "new" to me French-style furniture that I have repainted and is ready for some fall displays. The color of this planter when I found it was rust. I spray-painted the whole thing white.

I just planted and watered that mum; that is why there is a wet patio there.

This vine survived the summer and looks amazing. It is even blooming. I am not sure what it is. I can't recall what I bought; I just liked the color. I am a very visual organizer.

The flowers that love the heat are still going strong and gorgeous! 

I have been growing the Queen Lime zinnias for a few years now, and they are a favorite in the garden.

It is important to note that I do not garden for perfection; I garden for habitat over perfectly deadheaded flowers. The zinnia and the sunflowers are food for the goldfinches and other songbirds, and I will leave them in place for the birds and pull them at the very end of the season. 

In Victory,
Sherry

A Pretty Autumn Table

A table just for fun and inspiration at this time of year.

I had it in mind to create this centerpiece before the cold got the roses, the hydrangeas, and the ferns.

It just so happens that my roses go with my hydrangeas at this time of the year. The hydrangeas morph in color in the autumn.

The muted colors also work well with an assortment of transferware for the romantic autumn table.

I didn't plan on creating an entire table setup. I just had fun creating a pretty picture. 

The garden has lasted about a month longer than usual. It has yet to freeze around the house. So I couldn't let all of these flowers go to waste. 

Enjoy the season. Enjoy every day.

In Victory,

Sherry

Oatrmeal Fig Bars

I have a little fig tree that has given me enough figs, so I made fig newtons. I get a scattered harvest of figs, so I freeze them and make fig jam first. Homemade fig jam recipe here.

This is a fig bar recipe, but it reminds me of the double-crust crumble that I make.

The family liked the fig newton bars. They are rich. I think of figs as a fall flavor. 

Fig Bars

Ingredients:

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar

2 cups old fashioned rolled oats

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 1/4 cup butter, melted

Filling: 1 pint of fig jam

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9 x 13 inch pan.

Combine the flour, oats, cinnamon, baking powder, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Pour in the melted butter and combine until completely incorporated. Spilt half of the dough and spread it in the bottom of the 9 x 13 inch pan and compress it down with a spoon or the bottom of a measuring cup. Bake this for 15-20 minutes until the edges turn golden. (I baked mine 20 minutes.) Remove and let cool. 

Spread the fig jam on the pre-baked crust and top with the rest of the crust dough. It doesn't have to be perfect and can be a bit clumpy. Bake for 20 minutes until the edges are browned. Remove from oven and let cool before serving.

Makes 16 squares.

If you want to make this with fresh figs, the recipe I used has those instructions: Oatmeal Vanilla Fig Bars.

Do you have a favorite fig recipe?

In Victory,

Sherry