Soup Time!

Fall is in full-swing here in Idaho, and when it starts to get chilly, I want soup. I love to sit down to a bowl of soup for lunch, and one of my favorites is butternut squash soup. I love butternut squash anyway, but as a soup, the texture is perfect and the flavor is so comforting. Here is a little recipe that I came up with after looking at a few different recipes. It is super simple!

Ingredients

2 tbsp. olive oil

1 butternut squash, peeled and cubed

1 vidalia/sweet onion, chopped

1 large clove of garlic, minced

1 can vegetable broth (you can use chicken broth, if you prefer)

salt and pepper, to taste

Peel and cube squash; set aside. In a large pot or dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until translucent, approximately 3-5 minutes. Add the garlic; cook for another minute or so. Add the squash and stir to combine. Add the can of vegetable broth, and enough water to just cover the squash. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes, or until the squash is tender. Puree the soup mixture with an immersion blender, or you can blend it in a blender in small batches (never fill the blender more than half-full when doing this!) until the whole pot has been pureed. Season with coarse salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste.

I like to serve this with a dollop of sour cream. Delicious!

A Disney Surprise

A few days ago, the boys received a package in the mail, in a bright, red Mickey Mouse box. Griffin immediately asked, "Did Mickey Mouse mail this to me?" Unfortunately for Griff, I informed him that we'd have to wait until his brother got home from school to find out. Believe me, he made me pay for that decision for the next 4 1/2 hours! When the boys finally opened their package, it was full of candy, Disney World trick-or-treat bags, pirate goodness, and a letter from Minnie Mouse herself. Turns out, my cousin had recently been to Disney World with her family, and went out of her way to send a special surprise to my boys. Although I haven't seen my cousin in about twenty years, and she's never met my family, she frequently takes the time to check in on me and the boys to see how we are doing, and boy, does that mean a lot. Thank you, Janet - - you really brightened the day of two Disney-lovin' boys!

The Round Up: 2010 Edition

A few weeks back, my sister-in-law, who also owns a vintage camper, suggested we have a little camp out in her back yard, just us and our posse of little boys. Hence, The Round Up was born. This gave both of us the jolt we needed to really hunker down and work on our little campers.

Since purchase, my camper has been parked out in my back yard. To get to Kasey's house, I obviously needed to hook the thing to my truck and drive up there (a mere 3 miles away). Luckily, I spotted my neighbor's son and begged him to help me hitch it up, and then even had him pull it around front for me. I'm such a wuss. When the boys and I arrived, we found Kasey and Banzer decked out in all their cowgirl/cowboy finery. I was feeling quite under dressed in my jeans and sneakers, but lucky for me, Kasey quickly produced some duds for me. Thanks, Kas!

Here's The Sweet Dream, in all her glory. Not so pretty on the outside, but I promise, she's very cute on the inside.

The bed came out just as I'd hoped it would...super cozy.

Here's the foot of the bed. I ended up putting a tension rod in the "ramp" area and hanging a sheer panel, in hopes of disguising the weird ramp/door - - I like how that part turned out.

I think my favorite bit of decor is my wine glass rack, made from a recycled rake. I had Steve save it for me years ago, as I'd seen this idea somewhere. I'm glad I finally remembered I had it, and that I got to use it!

Here we are in front of Kasey's camper. I think it is a 1956, but I'm not sure of the make. I love the shape of it.

Kasey's bed. I love the colors she chose for the interior. It is kind of hard to see in the picture, but she used rope as a trim piece, where the walls meet...I love this!

This is the end opposite her bed, which is a twin bed, but doubles as a sofa. I love the fabric she chose to cover the pillows and the sofa.

Once we got settled in, we sat down to a cowboy feast of brisket, corn on the cob, baked beans, yeast rolls, and Griffin's favorite, Little Smokies. After dinner, a fire was blazing in the fire pit, and we all kept nice and warm there.

By the time I went to bed, my boys were snug as could be. I have to say, even when sharing a full-size bed with two little guys, I was plenty comfortable and slept great. When we woke up in the morning, Camden declared that he was going to live in the camper from now on.

The next morning, we enjoyed another camp fire and some hot chocolate. We all had a great time, and I'm already looking forward to a trip to Sagehen next year.

Griffin's First Day of Preschool

My wee Griffin started preschool this morning...I seriously can't believe it! He will go two days per week and I think he is going to love it. He was a bit unsure this morning, and was pretty nervous when I dropped him off, but luckily his buddy Aidan is in his class, so I think that helped. He looked like such a "big boy", all dressed up and ready to go. Now, for the first time ever, I will have two days per week where I have approximately two hours to myself. Unfortunately, I work at the library on Tuesdays, so I guess really I have one two-hour stretch to myself, but I'll take it!

A Little Peek

I'm still working on my camper, bit by bit. Last week, my dad helped me cut out the linoleum for the floor. I still need to secure it, but you get the idea. A huge improvement over the ratty old plywood that was serving as the floor, before. I also ordered a mattress for the bed, and when that arrives in a few days, I'll post another update of the completed project!