Tom the Turkey...and my favorite soup recipe

As you all know, I have been going to our local farm for a couple years to get fresh produce and other delicious items.  This year, I even splurged on a 20 lb turkey that Leo has been chasing around all summer.  Turns out, our farmer Carol was featured on the local news!!

View more videos at: http://nbcwashington.com.

I don't care if his name is Tom or Bubba - as long as he is delicious!!  This is my very first year preparing a turkey.  I usually cop-out by bringing desserts or an appetizer.  Last year, my spinach/artichoke and homemade bread appetizer filled everyone up so much that we could barely enjoy dinner!!  Whoops!!

Leo found his butt.  And pointed it out to me...over and over and over.

Never-you-mind that he is looking in the completely wrong spot  :)

This was just the appetizer spread from last year!!  Our appetizers last year were an artichoke dip, my spinach and artichoke dip, and a cheese soup.  I don't think we're going to do that again...

And speaking of ridiculous amounts of food - yesterday was my huge drop at the Co-op.  We were running dangerously low on food around here.  I am not nearly done growing my winter coat of insulation yet.  (I heard it all melts off on its own after the baby is born.)

And, since a couple of you have talked to me about buying local/organic food as well, I thought I would show you some of my booty!

This week I got 10 lbs of local acorn squash, 10 lbs of sweet potatoes, 30 lbs of apples, 10 lbs of organic oats (if you have only ever eaten Quaker oats, I urge you to try organic oats from a different farm.  The taste is SOOO different - sweeter and richer!), 10 lbs of organic Florida naval oranges, 5 lbs of dry black beans, 3 huge jars of organic peanut butter, 1 lb crimini brown mushrooms (for mushroom/rice casserole), 2 lbs of purple cauliflower and 6 dozen eggs!!!  And that's not even all of it!  So you can see why I rarely have to go to the grocery store!! 

With a fridge this chock-full of goodness, we should be eating real good for the next couple weeks.

And since I LOOOOOOVVVVEEE talking about food and in honor of Thanksgiving week, I thought I would proudly display my fridge that is finally stocked with food!

My fridge is currently stocked with Apple Cake for Jason to bring to work for his meeting - it is his favorite dessert that I make.  But instead of using 1 cup of vegetable oil, I used a cup of butter, 1/2 cup of homemade applesauce and 1/2 cup of homemade apple cider.  AMAZING!!! 

Granola

There are 8 cups of my Homemade Granola in there (it'll only last a few days...)

I have a friend from Massachusetts who might stop by my house this week.  In the hopes that she might come, the bottom shelf is housing extra Bombshell Brownies and I'm making my Best Chocolate Chip Cookies today!  (If you don't swing by to visit Colleen...I'm going to end up eating them all...)

I'm making Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread today for the Thanksgiving feast along with 2 apple pies.

I've got Southern Buttermilk Biscuits hanging out near the top of the fridge made with our raw buttermilk.  Folks - I've died and gone to biscuit heaven with these.  

I made the biscuits because our dinner last night was of the vegetable/bean variety and we needed something to spice it up.  But seriously - this is my favorite soup OF. ALL. TIME.  I patiently wait all year for fresh butternut squash to sprout up so I can slaughter it and throw it in my crockpot.

The recipe is from my Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook.  I'm going to copy and paste it since I can't find the exact variation online.  Trust me - you must make this soup!!  (And sorry about the unappetizing photo.  I just don't know how to take pictures of food.  I'm much better at the eating part!)

Slow Cooker Winter Squash and White Bean Stew

Ingredients
1 cup chopped onions
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 garlic clove, minced
3 cups peeled, butternut squash
     cut into 3/4 inch cubes
1 1/2 cups homemade chicken broth
1 cup dried cannellini beans soaked
     overnight and cooked on stovetop
     for 1 1/2-2 hours
     (or 1 19-oz can cannellini beans
     drained)
14-1/2-oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
     (or 1 tsp dried cilantro)

Directions
1. Combine all ingredients in slow cooker
2. Cover.  Cook on High 1 hour.  Reduce heat to Low and heat 2-3 hours.

If you can't tell - I've got food on the brain.  But when you load up the house with tons of food after the major drought we experienced, and couple that with 3rd trimester pregnancy hunger, it leaves little room for thinking about anything else.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!!

I leave you with Elena's daily doppelgänger   

The Goonies - Top 5.  Period.