Fall Harvest Sweet Potato Soup

Such a delicious, nutritious and comforting soup on a cool fall day to chase the blues away. Having been under the weather for a week, my first positive activity was to get back in the kitchen and make up a large batch of soup with the ingredients I had on hand, thanks to my daughter having gifted me an extra large sweet potato from a local farm. It took no time at all to prep and cook this soup garnished with tasty croutons on my stovetop. Quick and easy for an Instant Pot recipe too. Enjoy!

Soup Ingredients

1 lb. Sweet Potatoes (extra large or 2 medium), peeled and cut into 1/2" cubes

1 lb. Carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2" slices

1 large Onion, diced

1 large clove Garlic (2 medium), finely chopped

2 Tbsps Olive Oil

2 Tbsps Chicken Stock Base ("Better than Bouillon" brand)

1 tsp ground Cinnamon

1 pinch Nutmeg

2 Bay Leaves

6 cups Water

Crouton Ingredients

2 slices Bread, crust removed and cut into 1/2" cubes

2 Tbsps Olive Oil

1 Tbsps pure Maple Syrup

Soup Directions

1. On medium heat sauté carrots, onion, and garlic in 2 Tbsps olive oil for about 10 minutes.
2. Stir in spices, cooking another minute or so.
3.  Add sweet potato, chicken base, bay leaves, and 6 cups of water. Bring to a boil.
4. Reduce heat and simmer for another 10 minutes or so, until sweet potatoes are tender.
5. Remove bay leaves and puree soup with an immersion blender, if you have one. If not use a counter top blender. Be careful not to splash boiling soup on yourself.

Crouton Directions

1. Heat 2 Tbsps olive oil in frying pan on medium heat. Add cubed bread and toss until golden brown.
2. Remove from heat and drizzle bread cubes with 1 Tbsp maple syrup.

Serve the Sweet Potato Soup in small bowls topped with maple syrup drizzled toasted bread cubes. 

Snap! Our Gluten-Free Gingersnaps - the Best Ever!

Tuesdays with Nana - Bake a Cookie Day

Today, we baked Gingersnaps, gluten-free gingersnaps. Decidedly the best gingersnap cookies any of us have ever eaten. Seph helped with gathering and blending the ingredients and mixing the dough, but both helped with rolling them in granulated sugar before baking.

Papa photobombed us while the gingersnaps were cooling, then tried to snitch one from off the cooling racks before we had a chance to test them ourselves. We caught him red-handed in the kitchen and made him put his cookie back, and wait five more minutes until our "Cookie Party" with Mama.

 We all watched as Mama dunked her gingersnap in coconut milk. Mama said, "Nice and crispy, lots of flavor... the best gluten-free gingersnap cookie I've ever had!"

Sephira and Leif thought the cookie dough had such great taste, they quickly dunked their cookies into rice milk, goggling them down posthaste. They didn't fall apart; crispy on the outside with the slightest bit of chewiness in the center. Perfect!

 

Even Papa agreed that he'd never tasted a finer gingersnap cookie, and well worth the wait.

You too can enjoy our Best-Ever Gingersnaps Cookies!

Ingredients

3/4 cups Butter or Earth Balance (our non-dairy preference)

1 cup Sugar

1/4 cup Molasses

1 Egg

2 cups Effie's All-Purpose Gluten-Free Flour

1/4 teaspoon Salt

2 teaspoons Baking Soda

1 teaspoon ground Cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground Cloves

1 teaspoon ground Ginger

Directions

1. Cream together the butter and sugar.
2. Add the molasses and egg; beat well.
3. In another bowl, using a fork, thoroughly blend the flour and dry ingredients.
4. Add the dry mixture to the butter mixture, and mix until a well-blended doughy consistency.
5. Roll the gingersnap dough into small balls (heaping teaspoon), then coating with granulated sugar.
6. Place the sugared, gingersnap dough balls two inches apart on a greased baking sheet or on a Silpat baking mat (our preference). 
7. Bake in a 375-degree oven for 10-12 minutes. Our's baked for 11 minutes and were perfect.
8. Slide them off the Silpat onto cooling racks.

Enjoy! And don't forget to dunk!

Think what a better world it would be if we all, the whole world, had cookies and milk about three o'clock every afternoon and then lay down on our blankets for a nap. - Barbara Jordan

Homemade Horchata de Arroz

Last year, our daughter and son-in-law introduced us to the Mexican beverage horchata (or-CHA-tah), a delicious, sweet creamy cinnamon rice (arroz) milk. For some reason, horchata popped into my mind as I was reading a Mexican rice recipe. When I discovered I had all the ingredients here at home, I opted to make homemade horchata to serve as a cold beverage when I serve the Mexican rice on Friday night.

 

It's a very simple 3-step process to make your own horchata from ingredients you probably already have on hand.

 
Ingredients:
1 cup uncooked rice, rinsed
2 quarts hot water (almost boiling)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

Step1: In a blender, pulverize the rice grains to a smooth consistency. Pour the rice into a big bowl, stir together with the hot water, and sugar until the sugar is completely dissolved. Stir in the vanilla and cinnamon. Step 2: Cover the bowl or pour into a container with a lid and let the rice mixture sit in the refrigerator for 8 hours or overnight. Step 3: Strain through a fine sieve or cheese cloth. Serve chilled or with ice cubes. You can store your homemade horchata in the refrigerator for up to  3 days.

I have a set of glass straws for such occasions.