Dinner for One: Stonewall Kitchen Pumpkin Soup

Hello again and welcome back!


If you've been following along, you'll know I've been ignoring this blog, the kitchen, and you for at least a few weeks now, maybe longer.

Turns out I'm a crappy cook and writer (...and maybe girlfriend?) while my life is undergoing  upheaval.

But things are sorting themselves out. I'll be starting a new job on Monday which is exciting and terrifying.  And for now I'm settling into a kind of peace with things. So onward! and into the kitchen!

You'll also be pleased to know that my life is now a little bit more complete since I've been to the Stonewall Kitchen store in Portland, ME. It's like being in a toy store.

Stonewall Kitchen Pumpkin Soup

(kind-of-only-a-little altered by me)

(vegetarian and gluten-free if you don't top with delicious, gluten-y croutons) 

(this version makes one dinner-sized portion and a second, smaller lunch-sized portion)

What will you need?

1 TBS olive oil or butter (I do half and half)

1/2 small onion, diced

1 carrot, diced (I am really into carrots lately)

1 shake garlic powder

2 small potatoes, cubed

1 c. chicken broth (gluten-free, if you must)

1/4 c. Stonewall Kitchen Maple-Pumpkin Butter (or to taste, you might want to just add by the TBS   full if you are skeptical about how pumpkin-y you would like it)

3/4 c. cream (half and half, light, whole milk or whatever is in the fridge)

salt and pepper

If we're being professional about it, start by dicing your vegetables

Add your butter and olive oil (or whatever) to a pot

 Once heated, add onions and carrots (and garlic powder). Cook 2-3 minutes over medium heat or until onions are soft.

Add potatoes and broth and bring to a boil.

 Once potatoes are soft, remove from heat and put in your handy blender or otherwise use an immersion blender, if you are cool like that. You could mash them too, I suppose, if you weren't attached to a puree texture.

Place mush-like mixture back in pot over medium-ish heat and add cream and the quarterback of this recipe, the Maple Pumpkin Butter. Taste regularly to make sure you are achieving the right level of pumpkin for you.

Heat gently and enjoy! I had mine with cheddar cheese and croutons

 view the original recipe at www.stonewallkitchen.com/recipes/soups/vegetable-soups

Review from the road: 3 potato 4

3 Potato 4

Food: 4 out of 5
Overall: 3.5 out of 5 (limited menu)

Unfortunately I forgot to take photos so you will just have to imagine. This is a cool little spot in historic Salem inside the mall near the parking garage. Since Ethan has been eating gluten free we've had to get creative in finding food on vacation. This little shop only serves potatoes - regular or sweet - wedged or waffled - that's it. Potatoes are their thing.

After getting over my initial disappointment that they wouldn't make me a baked potato I learned that they have about 15 different freshly made sauces including jalapeno barbecue, pesto mayo, honey mustard, and our favorite - sundried tomato basil ketchup. These were fabulous and we got to taste test a few of the sauces after we chatted with the guy there for a while.

The potatoes are baked, not fried, so they don't feel greasy or heavy when you are eating them. We got a sweet potato/potato combo, both agreeing that the sweet potatoes outweighed the regular potatoes in terms of flavor, but smothered in honey mustard, both were equally delicious.

It was kind of odd that they don't sell anything other than potatoes. With a whole storefront it seems like you would need more than spuds to keep a business going. But apparently it is working for them with other shops in major cities like Las Vegas and San Francisco. Anyway, the limited menu is really the only downside. The store itself is very cool and innovative - they have neat cone-shaped to-go cups with circular holders built into the counter so you can set them down to add salt, pepper, bacon salt( freaky).

I think Salem itself was kind of disappointing although they do have a few cute shops and one awesome bookstore. We got kind of lost and that is always a downer. The highlight of the trip was definitely the Nightmare Gallery across from the wax museum (which was SUPER LAME). We had the best time checking out all the horror movie icons and its nice to see a place run by someone who obviously cares so much about the place.