California Seasons

Something VERY exciting happened in my house on Friday:

We turned the heater on for the first time this fall!! 

While that fact might not seem to be exciting, it signaled a change in the weather patterns here in Santa Barbara, California. I am ready to be done with 80-degree Sundays. As beautiful as they are, they are not for November (but my dad and I did enjoy an ocean swim last Sunday since it was so warm!!). 

Nothing compares to New England fall. Santa Barbara certainly can't compete in the color/fall crisp-ness/leaf color craziness category, BUT...SB proves to have some seasonal beauty that I am very grateful for and am looking forward to appreciating as I live here during the fall/winter months (first time in 5 years. Yikes!)

I love the way the sunlight is different in the fall and winter months. I love having the sun just rising and the sky sort of pinkish as I'm heading to work and the way the sun hits the plants in our backyard in the afternoon. I can't really describe it..but it's different and beautiful.

In the fall and winter months, SB is usually spared of FOG so the mountains stand against the blue ocean and you can actually see the Channel Islands. It's incredible. The summer months in SB are usually plagued with fog for the first part of the day (sometimes even into the afternoon), so the fall/winter clear skies provide breathtaking views.

 You can see a little bit of leaf change at the top of our maple sweet gum tree (thanks for the correction, Dad!) in the backyard and the purple-ish leaves of the ornamental plum tree (the purple color feels sort of fall-like to me)

The maple tree has plenty of leaves below it and the green is turning yellow - slowly but surely!

And, I'm living with my mother again and she has impeccable taste in seasonal decorating. There is no shortage of pumpkin love in our house.

I realize that so much of what I love about the winter and fall coziness at home is a privilege -- things like heat, and warm tea at night, and electricity for when the sun goes down at 5 pm. I am so thankful for these gifts and getting to experience some seasonal beauties here in Southern California.

fall deliciousness

While I'm missing scenery like this....

I'm indulging in one of my favorite foods: SQUASH!!! If you know me well enough, you know that I buy squash frequently -- butternut, to be specific. When I first lived in an on-campus apartment at Gordon and was learning the ropes of cooking meals for myself, I discovered how easy, delicious, healthy, and FUN cooking squash could be!! All I had to do was cut the squash through the middle, seed it, and put it in the oven. I might add too much brown sugar to continue classifying it as "healthy," but it's the thought that counts, right? I continue to love squash - and other kinds too, like spaghetti and acorn. And I've "graduated" from just making plain squash to making some delicious recipes, too thanks to friends and magazines. I thought I'd share two of my discoveries here....

My all-time favorite recipe for butternut squash can be found here, per the recommendation of my friend Kelly Soifer -- all to her credit. I LOVE this recipe - I've made it quite a few times already and don't plan on stopping.

Butternut Squash, Lentil, and Coconut Stew

Ingredients:

• 1 cup lentils
• 1 butternut squash (peeled and chopped into cubes)
• 1 tomato, diced
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 4 cups vegetable stock, or water, or enough to cover

Tempering:

• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 teaspoon mustard (you're supposed to use mustard seeds, but I've used ground mustard)
• Red pepper flakes (depending on how spicy you want it - I'm not a spicy fan, so we just put in a few)
• 1 garlic clove (finely chopped)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 lime juiced (or a lemon works too)
• cilantro leaves (to taste)

How to make it:

Rinse the lentils, then, in a large pot, combine squash, lentils, tomato, coconut, turmeric, cumin, and enough vegetable stock (chicken broth would work too) to cover. Bring to a boil, and then simmer, covered for about 20 minutes. Remove cover and simmer 10 minutes (squash should be soft). 

The tempering (I had never done this before - and it's kind of fun!!): In a small frying pan, warm the oil until it's hot. Add the mustard (or mustard seeds) and the red pepper flakes, garlic, and salt. Pour the contents into the soup (including the salt) and then spoon a ladleful of soup back into the frying pan (it will sizzle so don't get too close!) and then pour it back into the pot.

Cilantro is an excellent topping and I think other things like honey would be delicious too (I've just put the honey straight in the pot and it adds a nice flavor). You can serve this over rice, or even without it - it's pretty hearty :)

Another one of my favorite's is this one from Family Circle Magazine:

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Ingredients: 

• 1 large butternut squash; cut into wedges
• 3 tablespoon oil
• 1 chopped onion
• 4 cloves finely chopped garlic
• 1 peeled, cored, and chopped apple
• 5 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup apple cider (or apple juice)
• Salt, ginger to taste
• Sour cream and cilantro = optional toppings

Here's how you do it:

Peel and seed the squash and roast in the oven with 2 tablespoon oil @ 350 for about an hour (maybe more - it should be soft). Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a soup pot and once it's hot, saute the chopped onion and garlic. Then add the roasted squash, chopped apple, chicken broth, and apple cider. Simmer 30 minutes (apple should be soft). 

Puree in food processor (or, what we do is use the "magic bullet" mixer - quite handy for this recipe so you don't have to take the soup out of the pot!). Add salt to taste and serve with sour cream and cilantro.

My one problem with butternut squash recipes is that they can be a bit time consuming when you have to peel, cut, and roast the squash. However, if you plan your time out well, you can roast the squash a day in advance -- or maybe just earlier in the day. And if you have a good knife, the peeling isn't too bad (that was NOT the case in my apartment so I opted for frozen squash to save my fingers and sanity. I know frozen defeats the purpose, but it was still good :))

kelsey visits!

we had a great weekend.

and i also learned not to rush. this was what i looked like throughout the weekend many times - trying to walk faster to the car, get to the commuter rail with at least 10 minutes to spare, etc. and kels was always a few steps behind me rolling her eyes and saying "will walking a little faster make THAT much of a difference? no. so slow down"

so i need to continue to learn how to slow down and to enjoy those brief walks between here and there because there's a lot of beauty along those journeys -- a quite literal example when we got lost in boston and happened upon some beautiful ponds (part of an environmental preservation project). i hate getting lost. unfortunately, when you are living in the boston area you WILL get lost: that is inevitable. however, getting lost in this instance led to a beautiful walk, a lovely chat with a sweet (and handsome might i add) man who let us use a restroom nearby, and a new place now visited in boston. good times. i now want to run the half marathon there!

just some of the good times and wonderful things kels and i did together this weekend.
and some of the things i learned as well :)

with love, new england

for those wondering why i love living in new england... look no further

can these colors BEEE any more vivid and wonderful??

i think not, chandler bing

dear new england, i love you back