No. 13

I just applied for my 13th (13th!!!) job since moving to Evanston.

This is a horrible time to be an unemployed journalist.

Soup is on.

'Tis the season for crockpot recipes.

My repertoire of recipes is small, but I have a few goodies that I am proud to share with followers, friends and relatives.

Today I'm making hearty potato soup in the crock pot. It's vegetarian, but my red meat-raised hubby is a huge fan. This is good because I have vegetarian friends and am always perplexed over what to cook for them when they visit. I made hearty potato soup last January when my vegetarian friend Britt visited. And if I accurately recall, she loved it. And Ben often asks me to make it.

So without further ado, here's the recipe for hearty (and healthy) potato soup, courtesy of Cooking Light.

Ingredients:
4 cups cubed peeled baking potato
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup thinly sliced celery
3/4 cup thinly sliced carrot
3 tbs butter, cut into small pieces
1 1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 (14 oz.) can vegetable broth
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups 2 percent reduced-fat milk
7 tbs shredded reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Place first 9 ingredients in a 4 1/2-quart electric slow cooker; stir well. Cover and cook on low 6 to 7 hours or until vegetables are tender. Increase heat to high.
2. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup, level with a knife. Place flour in a bowl; gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until well blended. Stir into soup. Cook uncovered for 25 minutes or until thick, stirring frequently. Ladle soup into individual bowls and sprinkle with cheese and additional pepper, if desired. Yield: 7 servings (serving size: 1 cup soup and 1 tbs cheese).

Really, it's just as good or even better than pumpkin pie

I may not have been Better Than Pumpkin Pie's biggest cheerleader when I initially wrote about it.

Turns out, the pie gets better with time. The spices come through. And the sweetness isn't as overpowering as it is when the pie first comes out of the oven.

The pie is so good that Ben gobbled up over half of it. With the exception of my initial slice, I only snuck bites in here and there. I baked the pie Friday night, and it was gone by yesterday afternoon. Yummy but oh so naughty.

I encourage you to make the pie for Thanksgiving or Christmas or for a dinner party. We're having it again on Friday night because Ben is inviting friends over for a steak dinner.

Well, I'm off to make pumpkin cupcakes for a dinner party tonight. 'Tis the season. Winter is here early.

Better than Pumpkin Pie

Sometimes my favorite fall days are the crappy ones. The ones when it rains all day, is cold and dreary.

Today was that day.

I knew it was coming. I am a chronic forecast checker. And so I planned how I would spend my day -- hanging at home, baking and watching TV with the world's cutest dog. Today was a perfect day to bake my first pie.

We had leftover butternut squash from the weekend. After a quick scan on the net for butternut squash recipes, I found this one. Better than Pumpkin Pie is good. Is it truly better than pumpkin pie? I'll leave that for you to judge.

I found it to taste heavy on sugar and light on spice, even though I added a little more than a pinch each of the spices required. That's saying a lot because I looooove sweets. Next time, I will reduce the amount of brown sugar and add a little more spice.

I would post a picture, but I already cut into the pie and it doesn't look nearly as beautiful as it did when I pulled it out of the oven. So you will just have to trust that I did a decent job with it.

Let the fall and winter baking continue!

Now, that's determination

I love running and I never stop to pee during a marathon, but this is just so, so, so extreme.

Getting picked last

I'm starting to think I should have my own reality TV show. It would be called "The Real Housewives of Kellogg."

With the exception of freelance work -- which I already finished -- I am jobless. When I moved to Evanston, several other ladies who had moved here for the same reason as me were in my position. They were super intelligent, well educated and previously held good jobs. But they had arrived with few or no job prospects.

Slowly, that's changing. One by one, my friends are getting hired. And I'm so, so, so happy for them.

At the same time, I feel like I'm back in elementary school. It's physical education class, and we're playing kickball. And I'm one of the last kids getting picked for the team.

I hope this is a sign of good luck.

I got crapped on at the beginning of my morning run.

I thought a seed had dropped down from a tree. Turned out to be bird poop. I was disgusted -- and still am -- but I kept on running anyway.

The girl running 7 miles around Evanston this morning with the white dribble down her blue shirt? Yep, that was me.

Time for a shower.