Are they vegetables? Gourds? I don’t know, and I’m not going to Google it. In an effort to release my creative frustration on a platform other than Instagram, I decided to create this blog, thanks to the nurturing push from my dear friend, Jayla. She thinks I’m way cooler than I actually am (bless her soul).

Today is weird and good. Daylight savings time ended last night, so I woke up too freaking early for a Sunday. I walked my dog and it actually looked like fall outside. I did laundry so my coworkers don’t think I only wear black. I lit some candles and downed some coffee, blacker than my clothes. Then, I saw the giant tub of week-old pumpkin purée in my fridge, leftover from the cookies I made last weekend.

A few weekends ago, I shared a delicious meal with my family at The Farm Table in Placerville, CA. It was a charming little quick-service spot along Main Street (Probably Placerville’s ONLY street..) and they are popular for their locally-sourced charcuterie, which we didn’t try lol. Today, I freehanded a soup that was loosely inspired by the soup in the bottom right of the picture above.

Step 1: Roast your veggies. I peeled and chopped 4 average sized carrots and tossed them in olive oil and cracked pepper. (Tip: add salt AFTER roasting to prevent the salt from drawing out the veggies’ moisture. You want to roast, not steam.) Then I split a red bell pepper in half, and massaged the inside and outside with olive oil. Next I cut the top off a whole head of garlic, drizzled it with olive oil, and wrapped it in foil. I threw the whole pan into a 400°F oven for 40 minutes, tossing the carrots halfway. At this point, your house will smell like exactly what you think it will smell like.

Processed with VSCO with a6 preset

Processed with VSCO with a6 preset

Steps 2+3+4+5+6: Heat up some oil in an enameled cast iron dutch oven, and toss in half an onion, diced. You can do this in a regular boring pot, but I’m a really interesting person. After the onions are tender and brown, throw in all of your roasted vegetables. Be sure to peel away the pepper’s skin. I squeezed the entire head of garlic into the pot, because roasted garlic is my favorite food probably, but a normal person might use less. Not pictured: I then added almost a whole 29 oz. can of pumpkin purée, chicken stock and cashew milk, eyeballing the amounts. You can always add more liquid if the soup is looking a little chunky. For a kick, I added some nutmeg, cinnamon, brown sugar, salt, and a lot of freshly grated ginger.

Processed with VSCO with a6 preset

Processed with VSCO with a6 preset

Step 7: Take the goopy mess off of the stove, and use an immersion blender to blend blend blend. Blend it as well as you’d blend your foundation. I added more stock and cashew milk at this point. After everything is combined, return the pot to the stove on low heat until it’s the perfect soup temperature.

Step 8: Garnish with whatever you want to eat at the moment. For me, it was cheese. I used a 3 cheese blend of romano, asiago, and parmesan. I’m sure some greens would be good in it too, or sour cream.

Cheers from Moose and I.

@meemoomoose