Roasted Winter Vegetable Soup

This recipe is a tried and true favorite of mine. As soon as the weather gets cool I start craving this soup. The roasted vegetables are delicious on their own but even tastier pureed into this soup. We serve ours drizzled with truffle oil and Gruyere cheese toast, perfection in my book. Of course this recipe comes compliments of my numero uno girl Ina, she really never disappoints. This soup freezes wonderfully and even my munchkin will eat it which makes me happy because at least I know he got a few veggies in for the day! Enjoy!






ROASTED WINTER VEGETABLE SOUP
From Barefoot Contessa Family Style
Ingredients
3 to 4 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
1 quart Roasted Winter Vegetables, recipe follows
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Good olive oil

Directions
In a large saucepan, heat 3 cups of chicken stock. Coarsely puree the Roasted Winter Vegetables and the chicken stock in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade (or use a handheld blender). Pour the soup back into the pot and season, to taste. Thin with more chicken stock and reheat. The soup should be thick but not like a vegetable puree, so add more chicken stock and/or water until it's the consistency you like.


Roasted Winter Vegetables:
1 pound carrots, peeled
1 pound parsnips, peeled
1 large sweet potato, peeled
1 small butternut squash (about 2 pounds), peeled and seeded
3 tablespoons good olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Cut the carrots, parsnips, sweet potato, and butternut squash in 1 to 1 1/4-inch cubes. All the vegetables will shrink while baking, so don't cut them too small.

Place all the cut vegetables in a single layer on 2 sheet pans. Drizzle them with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Toss well. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, until all the vegetables are tender, turning once with a metal spatula.

Sprinkle with parsley, season to taste, and serve hot

Print Recipe HERE

Obsessions

LUCITE BAR STOOLS
How gorgeous are these beauties? I think they would make the perfect addition to the bar in our kitchen!

CLARKS WALLABEE FIRST BOOTS
I will be the first to admit is hard to find cute boy shoes. When I saw these I knew they would be perfect for my little man. They are cute and everytime Sterling wears them we get tons of compliments. I will be ordering them every year from now on. They have them online right now at Piperlime in tan and dark brown. I love them both.


Here is Sterling sporting his

VEGGIE STRAWS
This is my new favorite snack. I bought the snack size bags of these for Sterling's lunch and I keep eating them all. They are crunchy, salty, and have great flavor. If you haven't tried these you must!


MISSONI INFINITY SCARF
We have finally had some cooler weather here in Charleston and I am all about some scarves. I love this Missoni one, it comes in three fabulous colors and I really didn't think the price was too bad for a Missoni item. The black and gray color combo is my favorite because it would go with everything!

HOT CARAMELIZED ONION DIP WITH BACON AND GRUYERE
When I saw this dip in last month's Coastal Living it was love at first site. I made this dip twice in the last week. It is the perfect appetizer for a party or anytime. Everyone raved about this dish. I am so obsessed with this dip I would scarf it down right now at 7:00 in the morning. I recommend serving with Kettle Chips and adding more bacon than it calls for:) Print Recipe Here. You're welcome because this will become your new favorite dip.

STEVE JOB'S EULOGY
If you haven't read the Eulogy Steve Job's sister gave at his funeral you really should. What an amazing man he was. I got goosebumps reading this especially the end when right before he died he kept saying "Oh Wow, Oh Wow." So inspiring. Read it Here.

Weekend Happenings

I hope everyone had a fabulous pre-halloween weekend! Ours was busy but great! Here is what went down this weekend.

We enjoyed two park outings. One at the park near our house and the other down at The Battery. We finally had some cooler weather here and I loved it!

I ate the most delicious cheeseburger appropriately called The Sh*$. It had chorizo, jalapenos and a fried egg. Perfection. This amazeballs burger can be found at the Triangle Char and Bar in West Ashley. They use all local grass fed beef which is always a plus in my book!

I did a little abstract painting. She is not done yet but so far I am pretty happy with what's going on.

Sterling also worked on a little painting of his own. I think I might have a little Picasso on my hands.

I planted some new fall pansies on our front porch. My mom assures me they are easy to take care of and will last through the winter. I don't have the greenest thumb so I like easy plants!

I watched Bad Teacher Saturday night and was pleasantly surprised. I thought the movie looked stupid but it was actually pretty funny. I must say I do love Justin Timberlake and another pleasant surprise was Cam from Modern Family was also in the movie.

Here is one OOTD from this weekend. I wore my DVF dress to church. She's on sale right now:)


We took Sterling to a fabulous Halloween Costume Party at Chassity's House. She really went all out with the decorations and food! I so wish I had snapped some pictures of all the creative food she made, but I bet she will post some pictures on her Blog!

Sterling went as DJ Lance a character from his favorite TV show Yo Gabba Gabba.

In case you aren't familiar with DJ Lance, here he is, please note Sterling refused to wear the hat or glasses. Otherwise the outfit was pretty close!

Sterling and Lily chilling at the Halloween Party. Although it looks more like he was harassing her!

Happy Halloween. I hope you all enjoy lots of Snickers, Reeses, Kit-Kats, and Twix today! xoxo

To My Pumpkins

My sister sent this to me and I really liked it. Happy Halloween to all my Pumpkins!

Being a God loving person is like being a pumpkin. God lifts you up, takes you in, and washes all the dirt off of you. He opens you up, touches you deep inside and scoops out all the yucky stuff-- including the seeds of doubt, hate, greed, envy, etc. Then He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside you to shine for all the world to see.

Dear Neiman Marcus, You're Crazy.

Did anybody else get the Neiman Marcus Christmas Catalog in the mail this week?

It's crazy. I mean do they even know we are in the middle of a recession right now? The Fantasy section of gifts is quite extreme. If you have some extra money to blow you can get:
A Custom Speedboat for only $250,000

or maybe you would rather an International Flower Show (I will be honest I still don't even know what this is) for $420,000

Or better yet a private Johnny Walker Scotch Tasting for $5,000. That better include several bottles of scotch and a good buzz.

Or perhaps a day trip to Stone Barn Farms outside of Manhattan is more your speed. This will only set you back $9,500 to take 5 friends to this farm to look at vegetables. What a steal right?

Or are you in the market for a new car? You can get this Ferrari for only $395,000. Who needs a house when you can buy a car for the same price!

Anybody else think the Fantasy section of the catalog is a bit much? And what I really want to know do people really buy this stuff?

I did however spy a few things in the catalog that I would really like for Christmas (Santa I hope you are reading).

TORY BURCH SELMA LOGO BOOTS
Once again these boots are haunting me. I keep seeing them everywhere! When are they going to go on sale? And it makes me want them even more that they are only sold out in my size, size 9.

KATE SPADE KAROLINA PUMPS
I adore the color of these pumps and the heel height is perfect. They would go with everything!

GUCCI MARRAKECH MEDIUM TOTE
Big enough for all my stuff and Sterling's too and it's gorge. Enough said.

MICHEAL KORS EMBOSSED CROCODILE CUFF
I love crocodile and how gorgeous and versatile is this cuff?

But seriously Neiman Marcus, even though your Fantasy gifts anger me, I could never hate you because your Last Call sale makes me very happy!

Nursery Sneak Peak

I have been busy working on some changes in Little Man's Nursery. Nothing major, we are staying in the crib as long as we can. Just a few "big boy" changes like:

A new rug. You might remember me saying how a white sheepskin rug was a bad idea. I loved it for his newborn nursery but that thing was filthy. Here is its replacement. I was originally going to order the Urban Outfitters Zig-zag rug but it was backordered til Christmas. I like immediate gratification, so thank you Homegoods!
A little more masculine right?

We also added a new storage ottoman. So genius, the top comes off so we can store toys inside. This baby is probably 20 years old. It used to be my parents and I recovered the top. I love the vintage and masculine feel of the wood. And you know I love me an animal print.

And I finally got around to framing my prints, I blogged about HERE. We framed all 6 of these for about $50. I found the frames at Micheals on clearance and used black construction paper as the mat. I will show a final reveal once I hang them, but I am waiting on my Dad to hang them. He is the master picture hanger!

The bear is my favorite print!

And I can't forget the Dinosaur Sterling picked out to go with it all!

Somebody is very excited about the big boy changes!

Next I plan to restyle his bookshelves and I am working on a painting for over his changing table. I share a final reveal when everything is done!

Chicken Casserole Stuffed Biscuits

If you are looking for a super easy, quick, and tasty weeknight dinner this is it! This dish is beyond amazing. My good friend Erin passed this recipe along to me and it was a huge hit in the Mason Household. Matt may or may not have eaten 5 biscuits in one sitting. Sterling also loved it. I mean how could stuffed biscuits not be good? This is one of the easiest dinners I have made and it reheats well the next day too. I recommend using the layers biscuits because they are thinner so your biscuit doesn't end up being too thick. You could really use any cheese you have on hand and add any veggie other than broccoli. I thought it would be great with spinach or mushrooms next time. So get creative! I highly recommend you make this delish dinner.

**Once again sorry my pictures are flipped. I really need a 101 class on blogger and camera use!**




Chicken Casserole Stuffed Biscuits
-1 can buttermilk layers biscuits
-1 can cream of chicken soup
-1 Box frozen chopped broccoli (thawed and squeezed dry)
-1/2 white onion diced
-1-2 cooked chicken breasts shredded (I used a pre-roasted chicken)
-1 cup shredded cheddar cheese plus more to sprinkle on top

Flatten the biscuits in your hand to make them thinner and able to stretch up the sides of a muffin tray. Place the flattened biscuits in a greased muffin tray. One biscuit per muffin opening. The biscuits should reach up to the top of the tray. Mix together the rest of the ingredients. Scoop the casserole mixture in the biscuits. Sprinkle each biscuit with cheddar cheese. Bake according to directions on the biscuit can or a little longer til mixture bubbles.