The Interior DIYer
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Pumpkin and bacon soup

Since college is sucking my will to live at the moment, the meals I manage to make are usually ones you can completely ignore until you remember you were making dinner 30 minutes previously.
When I was wandering around eason’s the other day, I came across a cute little soup book: 1 Stock, 50 Soups. It had a particularly yummy sounding recipe for bacon and pumpkin soup. I had pumpkin, and I had bacon. This is a simple recipe for soup. I made it quite lazily and just shoved everything into the pot and left it, but if you have more time, I recommend you cook it as directed. If you’d like to see the recipe for this hearty and comforting autumnal soup, just click below to have a nose around. Enjoy!

Ingredients
2tsp olive oil
2 onions {I used just one}
600g canned pumpkin {I used 3 cups of pumpkin puree}
200g smoked bacon, diced
pinch of grated nutmeg
1.2 litres basic stock
salt and pepper

Method
Heat oil in a large saucepan. Add the onions and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes, until softened. Add the pumpkin, bacon and nutmeg, stir well, then cover and simmer, stirring occasionally for 5-8 minutes. Pour in the stick, increase the heat to medium and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes.

While that is cooking, make the bacon croutons. Heat the oil in a frying pan. Add the bacon and fry for 4-6 minutes on each side, until crisp and it has released all its fat. Meanwhile, cut the bread into 1inch squares. Remove the bacon from the pan and drain on kitchen paper. Add the bread squares and cook, turning and tossing until golden brown all over. Remove from the pan and drain on kitchen paper.

Transfer soup to a food processor {or use hand blender} and blend until smooth. Remove the soup from the heat and ladle into warmed bowls. Sprinkle with the croutons, crumble the bacon over and serve immediately.

NOTE: I did the first step all in one go. Shoved everything into the pot and left it. The soup turned out gorgeous. Yum, yum.


Click here for a handy cooking calculator, should you prefer to measure in cups, mls, oz etc.
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Oh my, pumpkin pie

Before you dump or compost your pumpkin, don’t let it go to waste. You know – the one you savagely hacked into over the weekend? It can be made into a plethora of yummy, healthy and unusual dishes for you and your family. Variety is the spice of life.

This is the perfect time to puree your pumpkin that you have carved into – any later and the inside of your pumpkin will start to get moldy. For pumpkins you have not carved, they can last for a number of months, depending on where you have them placed in your home {sunny or warm area = less time}.

The most basic way to store your pumpkin is to cook and puree it. So many pumpkin recipes call for pureed pumpkin – pumpkin pie, soup, sauce, cookies, bread, cheese, chili, fudge, mashed with potato, etc.

To puree your pumpkin: cut a lid in the top and scoop out the seeds and stringy membranes. Cut the pumpkin in half  and place cut side down on tin foil. Cook for 40 minutes at 350F/180C. To check if your pumpkin is ready, pierce it with a knife: knowing if it’s cooked will be the same as checking a potato. Don’t be surprised if your pumpkin needs more time, since the size and density of all pumpkins vary.

When your pumpkin has cooked and is cool enough to handle, peel off the skin and place the pumpkin flesh into a bowl. My weapon of choice is a hand blender. Blend that baby into a smooth puree. From here, you can use the puree immediately in a recipe, or you can freeze it for future recipes. I’m all about freezing. Freeze in small batches in stead of one big bowl. You’ll only ever need two cups of puree at a time in one recipe.

We had two pumpkins this year, so I’m hoping to try as many recipes as possible. Last night I made a scrumptious and simple pumpkin pie. A perfect and hearty accompaniment  for cold autumn nights. To check out the delicious recipe I used and tweaked where I found necessary click below to see more …

Additional note: a point my dad has made in the past – for when pumpkins are not in season and you have a hankering for pumpkin pie, make a substitute using butternut squash. Your taste buds will be none the wiser.

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups of pumpkin puree
1/2 cup of sugar {the original recipe called for 3/4 cups, which would be over bearingly sweet}
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon of ground/dried ginger
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon 
1 teaspoon of all-purpose flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup evaporated milk {I used soya cream as an alternative}
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 blind baked pastry shell {basic pastry recipe is perfect, or if you’re lazy, store bought pastry pack will do plenty}

Method
Pumpkin pie is really straight forward. Add all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Pour into pastry lined pan and carefully place into the oven. Bake at 400F/200C for 15 minutes, then lower to 350F/180C for 45 minutes or until center is set. To check this, take a clean knife and insert into the center of the pie. If the knife is clean when you remove it, then the pie is perfect. If not, cook further in 10 minute shifts until set.

For a real treat, enjoy pumpkin pie with whipped cream tainted with either maple syrup or Baileys. YUM.
Click here for a handy cooking calculator, should you prefer to measure in cups, mls, oz etc.
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My favorite picks – get your eat on

Inspired by one of my favorite blogs, poppytalk, I decided to make a snippet blog summarizing items I’ve used or come across within the past week that caught my eye or invoked a memory – especially things I know I won’t get around to doing a full blog about. Maybe it’s something I’ll do once a week. A summary of my favorite parts of the week? I’m really not sure at this point. Maybe it’ll just be an excuse to mash a load of some of my favorite pics together.
This week, 3/5 of my picks are food related. It doesn’t help to blog when you’re hungry. Oh god I want pasta and shrimp now. Thanks, poppytalk.

1. Home made banana bread made by yours truly this morning. I use a really flexible recipe that is full of win. If you’d like to try it out, see the end of this post for my {ahem – my moms} basic recipe. 
2. Spicy Seafood Udon, from Yo! Sushi. I can’t get enough of this dish at the moment. 
3. Jamie Oliver pasta machine. I love it and I try to use it at least once a week. Perfect for lasagna and linguine. 
4. Kitchen sink drama, September/October issue of House and Home. Love that sink. Plus hydrangeas …
5. Dark Horse cowl by Fringe. I really like the selection of cowls and shawls by Fringe. At the moment I’m knitting myself a cowl for my trip to London next week. It’s brown. Additional note: here it is completed!


Ingredients
4-5 bananas, mashed
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup oil
1 egg
1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
Raisins, walnuts and poppy seeds to your liking

Method

I typically just throw everything into a bowl and stir. The order will not affect it at all. It’s not fussy and turns out great every time. It’s very easy to substitute the ingredients as well {details below}. As long as your mixture is the same consistency as porridge, you can add and subtract whatever you like. Bake for 45 minutes in a bread tin at 180 degrees celcius.

Substitutions
You really can use whatever you like in banana bread. Yogurt – with or without fruit, walnuts, pecans, blueberries, raisins, honey, poppy seeds, and even mayonnaise. Hold on – yes, it sounds gross, but essentially you’re just adding oil and egg, which are two ingredients.

Banana tip
Instead of mashing new bananas, what I do is; once a banana has gone too bruised {to the point that I don’t want to eat the brown gooey bits}, I toss it in the freezer. The bananas will go black once frozen – but don’t worry. That’s perfect. I usually make banana bread once I have about 4 or 5 in my freezer and they’re taking up too much room. Defrost them for a couple of hours {I just leave them in the sink since they will leak}, and then unpeel them into a bowl. They’ll look really disgusting and resemble large dead slugs more than bananas, but they’re perfect in this form. Don’t be put off by their state, as they make scrumptious banana bread. 

Click here for a handy cooking calculator, should you prefer to measure in cups, mls, oz etc.