Fiery Red Thai Curry

Wednesday was my 5th year anniversary and I agreed to cook any recipe that was given to me. It turned out to be...
"Fiery Red Thai Curry"

In a blender or food processor combine :
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup raw cashews
2 tbsp olive oil
1 red bell pepper, seeded, chopped
1 onion chopped
stems from 1 bunch of cilantro
4 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup chopped ginger root
generous tbsp red curry paste

Heat in a large pan for 10 minutes med/high heat
Stir regularly

Add :
1 cup veggie broth
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 pkg extra firm tofu, cubed

Reduce heat, cover, simmer for 30 minutes

Finally add:
4 chopped green onions
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
salt and pepper to taste

Simmer for another 10 minutes

Serve over rice!

There were a few ingredients from the original recipe that I couldn't find (lime kaffir leaves, Thai green finger chilies)/forgot (milk) but my version turned out amazing!

Original recipe : http://vegandad.blogspot.com/2009/09/fiery-red-thai-curry.html

Leaf Stains

It rained all day Wednesday and after the rain the leaves had stained the sidewalk.

The wind has come and gone and the leaves on the sidewalks have blown away.
Their skeleton prints are left. Some are just dark outlines.
Some, like the photo shows, are like leaf color explosions.

My pumpkin

the other day I bought Martha Stewart's magazine and was inspired to do some pumpkin carving
I went to Michael's and bought some wood carving tools

First I cut out the bottom and scooped all the insides out. I drew my design on free hand and started carving trying not to go too deep. In Martha's example she doesn't ever go through the whole pumpkin. So, I did that and lit a light underneath.... Nothing. No light shining through.
I guess this pumpkin was too thick.

So I cut the design all the way through in some places and this is what I got.

Out for the whole community to enjoy!

Butternut Squash Soup Recipe

Today after going to the market and purchasing some fall goodies (this was difficult for me, I could have easily bought more) I decided on making a Butternut Squash Soup.

Step 1: Peel the squash with a vegetable peeler (this is not easy!)

Step 2 : Halve the squash and dig out the seeds.

Step 3: Cut the squash into 1 inch cubes

Step 4: Roast the Squash
Recipe : In a skillet melt 1 stick of butter
After the butter is melted and is turning light brown, add on low heat -
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1tsp. sugar
2 tbsp. salt
pepper
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 tbsp. cinnamon
Let this simmer for about 1-2 minutes, then pour over squash and mix until well coated.

Step 5: Place squash in 400 degree oven for 1 hour. Turn once after 30 minutes.

Step 6: After squash is roasted and removed from oven
take a medium saucepan and heat
2tbsp. olive oil
1 diced onion
1 diced stalk of celery
salt and pepper
add 4 cups of vegetable stock to the vegetables and let simmer for 10 minutes
Then add your roasted butternut squash!
Let this simmer for another 10 minutes while mixing.
Take your immersion blender and mix it up so it becomes a puree. If you don't have an immersion blender you can put this in a regular blender and transfer it back to the pot when done. You should really just go get an immersion blender if you don't have one though!

Next, you should taste your soup and add spices to taste.
I added cinnamon, which I don't think was a good idea, too much cinnamon!
Some people love cinnamon though, so feel free to add some. I don't like it.
I also added lots of salt. I love salty squash!
Simmer for another 10 minutes and your soup should be done!

Honestly, not the best butternut squash soup I've had, but its pretty good!
I adapted the recipe from foodnetwork.com

Playdate

The wild thing had a first time playdate with a new friend. It went surprisingly well.
Here are the new friends :

A new addition

Today was spent cleaning and resting. No work today.

During the last two days I have created a wonderful habitat in my home for 5 new individuals and some plants.
I bought the tank 2 days ago with some gravel and plants.
Set it up and let it sit for 24 hours so all the wonderful things inside the tank could adjust to my household before I brought in the little fish.
Today I went back to the store and after looking at fish for the better part of an hour I decided upon 2 black and red tuxedo guppies, and 3 sunset dwarf guppies. There were so many to choose from. I eliminated all of the quick larger fish from my decision because I didn't want them to be upset with the small tank. Now that these tiny fish are in the tank you don't even notice them... I will have to wait a couple weeks and possibly get some new friends for them.
You can see in this photo how much tinier the dwarf guppies are than the regular guppies. About the size of a pinky nail!

Taking a new path

After taking some good advice from a friend I decided to take a little different walk with the wild thing today. It is still all concrete and gardens, but we did find some interesting things along the way. We found these berries that I remember once being called a type of raspberry, but I don't think they are...

Then on our walk a magnificent find. A reminder of a favorite piece by Michael Gagne.

From Michael Gagne's "Freaky Flora from A to Z"