Kate- This One's for You

Last weekend we took a celebratory trip to Butte, Montana. What were we celebrating? Well, our first and second year anniversaries for starters. Plus the fact that we both graduated from college this year. And it coincidentally happened that I was hired at Gritman Hospital and started work in Admitting yesterday. We realized a lot of exciting stuff had happened to us the last two and a half (almost) years of marriage, and we always seemed too busy in the moment to celebrate. So instead we took a little vacation to celebrate all of God's blessings on us at our favorite time of year: Fall.

I have plenty of things to say about our trip. We had a fantastic time. But, since I don't have much time this morning I'm going to start with the little town of Phillipsburg, which we visited on our way home from Butte. The town itself is adorable: a 1900s coal-mining town that is now mostly a tourist-stop for skiers and hunters and all around sight-seers.





But the most magnificent building in Philippsburg was called the Sweet Palace. Inside was every type of candy imaginable: fudges, caramels, a million types of taffy, chocolates, mints, hard candies, candy from foreign countries, it was incredible. I had to force myself to be reasonable and not go twirling around the store shoving samples of everything into my bag.





If you're ever in the area I would definitely recommend a stop at the Sweet Palace. Part of the fun of that store was watching everyone who entered be transformed into children, with huge grins on their faces as they sampled childhood favorites and new treats. Exhibit A:

Kitty Wigs

Whiskey has been making subtle hints about her Christmas present ideas this year. Today I found that my internet's home page had been set to a very special site.

I haven't told Joel yet, but I know he'll be willing to cough up $50 for our precious wittle kitty-kins.

Check it out!

Stay Tuned for Moon Bombings

Apparently the celestial beings didn't do a good enough job with battlefield Moon, now it's time for us humans to join in the fun. :)

NASA Moon Bombings Tomorrow

Time to dig out my telescope.

Fall Decor

I may never get around to trying the crafts I mentioned on my last post, but here at least are some of the ways I've decorated our little place for fall.



Rachel and I collected this wild grass on the way back from our morning run. So far I have had to chase Whiskey away from it twice. We'll see how long they last.



The two buddies, butternut squash and cinderella pumpkin on my coffee table.




A warty gourd.



This one is my favorite. One of the things I love about U-Pick pumpkin patches is that you can cut the stems as ridiculously long as you want.



And last, my poppy flowers minus leaves. I frequently take one out and shake it to hear the dry rattling of the poppy seeds inside.



Aren't they neat? Very Tim Burton, I think. I have the same problem with my poppies that I have with the wild grass though. My cat seems to think I bought them for her as a snack.

My Fall Resolutions

I have given myself two resolutions for this fall: make more soup and finish my quilt. I also have all of these wild ideas for fall decorations, like this and this and even this but I'm forcing myself to be reasonable. Two resolutions is enough to begin with.

And so, I stuck to my resolution today and made soup for one of our first really fall-ish days. It's called Lentil Soup with Italian Sausage and Escarole. You can find it here, although I made several changes so I'm going to reproduce it on the blog with my own suggestions. Joel loved it so much he said he would eat it every night.

Lentil Soup with Italian Sausage and Spinach (Yes, I even changed the title!)

Yield: Makes 6 to 8 (main course) servings

Ingredients:

• 16 ounces of lentils, rinsed well
• 5 cups water
• 3 1/2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1 Turkish bay leaf
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped, divided
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1 pound spicy ground Italian sausage.
  
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 2 medium carrots, finely chopped
• 2 celery ribs, finely chopped (okay, I didn't actually add these because we both hate celery, but I'm sure it would be better with it.
  
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1/2 pound spinach, chopped.
  
• 1 to 2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar

IN THE MORNING:

Simmer lentils, water, broth, bay leaf, and half of garlic in a 4-quart pot, uncovered, 12 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a wide heavy 5- to 6-quart pot over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Brown sausage and break into chunks, about 7 minutes. Transfer sausage with a slotted spoon to a bowl.Drain most of grease.

Reduce heat to medium and cook onion, carrots, celery, remaining garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in tomato paste and cook, stirring, 2 minutes. Add sausage and lentils with cooking liquid and simmer, uncovered, until lentils are tender, 3 to 5 minutes.

Put in the fridge until about 5, then reheat. 5 minutes before serving...

Stir in spinach and cook until tender, about 3 minutes. Stir in vinegar to taste and season with salt and pepper. Discard bay leaf (yes, I did keep the bay leaf in all day. Daring, I know).

Serve with crusty bread.

The reason I made it in the morning and then reheated for an hour is because a lot of the reviews complained that it was a little bland. But some daring cooks let it simmer on the stovetop for like three hours, adding water the whole time, and said it was fantastic. And since I get off work at 5 and do not have time to prepare a three hour meal, I thought I would make it in the morning and let the juices mix all day and see how it worked. And it was fantastic1

So there you have it. Yummy soup number one. Now I have my eye on the butternut squash currently decorating my coffee table. Its days are numbered.