Saturday, November 9, 2013

Don't Faint! I'm Cooking! (Pumpkin Soup)

I married wisely. Some might say I didn't, as we don't have a lot of money. But they're wrong. Not only did I marry a man who is loyal, faithful, unafraid to let me do my thing, respectful, and romantic, I also married a chef.
 



Yeah. A chef. You see, while I do enjoy baking (but seldom do because my husband doesn't eat much of it) and cooking if it's "fancy" stuff, I absolutely HATE the routine of daily dinner-making. Yawn. I just can't get excited about making sure everything gets done at once when it doesn't involve either fresh herbs, sauces from scratch, eye catching displays, or all of the previously mentioned. I guess it's because I'm an artist, so I'm very visual, plus I like getting my hands dirty.

And, lets face it: most days everyone is too busy for that kind of cooking. So, I married a chef, a man who can throw together a regular meal and make it taste wonderful. Best of all, he doesn't mind doing it!

Then an author friend of mine from Belgium happened to mention he had just make pumpkin soup. Now, I've only had pumpkin soup once, and I liked it. It was one of those things I filed in the back of my mind to make—someday.



We are invited to a relatives home for Thanksgiving and I wanted to bring something that would be different, yet fit the mood. It also needed to be something that wouldn't leave a huge gap in the meal should we decide not to come because of inclement weather.

When Andrew mentioned his soup, bells rang in my head. Perfect! He was gracious enough to give me his recipe. Or, rather, kind of a recipe. He changes it around, but after several emails back and forth I got the drift. The test batch is cooking right now.

If it turns out, my Thanksgiving dilemma is solved! If it turns out okay, but needs adjusting, I can do that and have it down pat by the holiday. Dave (my husband) and I will be the test rats.

By the way, if you haven't read Andrew Ashling's work, I highly recommend it—if you are open minded. It's a combination of several genres and I have to say he's the best storyteller I've ever read. Some of the themes might upset you.  Tough. Get over it and read on. You'll be glad you did. I would have never guessed I would enjoy knights and swords. If fact, just the opposite. Now I find myself enthralled with Ashling's world.

Here is a link to his blog, where you will find all of his books. Seriously, take a chance and branch out. Start with his Dark Tales of Randamor the Recluse Series (Bonds of Hate: The Invisible Chains #1)
http://www.ximerion.com/

I'm impatiently waiting for the next book in the series. In the meantime, Dave and I will be eating pumpkin soup. At least, I hope we can eat it...


Caddy Rowland is a novelist and painter. Her social media links follow.
To find out about her novels (including The Gastien Series, a story that begins with a bohemian artist in France) visit http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005FW8BZE
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Author Blog: www.caddyrowlandblog.blogspot.com
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Twitter: @caddyorpims