September Wrap-Up and a Comforting Recipe

 

Happy October, My Lovelies!  Today I'll be sharing with you my September wrap-up, a lovely recipe, and what I'm working on this month.

September was a busy month for us.  We finished our basement media room, and I love the color I painted it:  It's called "yellow frost."  

I will post more photos of this project later this month.

I also had my port taken out on September 17th, and I can't tell you how happy this makes me.  Although I dreaded the surgery, it's nice not to have that constant reminder of chemo in my body.  We also received our last CSA subscription box the same day, so I have been busy cooking and putting-up vegetables.

I made refrigerator pickles for the first time last month.  You can try it yourself by using THIS RECIPE.

I finished my first painting since treatment in September, a painting for our library.  It feels so good to be moving paint around a canvas again, but I still want to draw a little, too.  

Because I've set some personal goals for autumn, I'm trying very hard NOT to stream or scroll as much.  I want to keep up with the news, but it's hard to find a good source these days.  I've finally found a wonderful service called The Pour Over.  They strictly give the facts about top news stories without the spin.  They also give Christian perspectives for their stories that I find brilliant as well as comforting.  Please click on the graphic below for more information.

This year I decorated more than I ever have for Halloween.  I'm not really a Halloween lover, but I was inspired by Michael's of all places.  They featured a pretty line this year called "Haunted Forest," and it really spoke to me.  I'm planning on taking all the Halloween and fall decor down on November 1st and decorating for Christmas immediately after.  We have two quick trips planned for November, and I'm looking forward to enjoying Christmas decor earlier this year.

I put out all our pumpkins and pumpkin paintings. 

I've been learning new skills with floral arranging both at home and at church.  Below are some of the prettiest autumn roses I've ever seen.  Called "High Magic," they truly are magical for the season.

The red edges of these stunning roses were emphasized once the roses opened more.

Finally, we've been visiting our local farmers' market on Saturday morning.  One of my favorite vendors is a micro bakery, and we've been pleased with all the bread we've purchased from them.

This piece of art is actually pumpkin bread.

Our last CSA box featured Hakurei turnips.  Stonehollow Farmstead's CSA blog recommended a delicious soup recipe, and I made it.  The fam loved it so much, I've made it twice more!  I want to share it with you because it's a super-easy, comforting soup perfect for fall and winter.  Plus it has the added benefit of microgreens that gives it a unique flavor and nutritional boost.

Carrot, Hakurei Turnip, and Ginger Bisque

The most difficult part of this recipe is chopping the carrots and turnips.

Ingredients

3 C Carrots, peeled and diced

2 C Hakurei Turnips, Peeled and Diced

⅛ to ¼ Cup Fresh Ginger, Peeled and Diced 

Carton of Chicken Stock

1 C Heavy Cream 

Microgreens

Black Pepper

Procedure

Combine your diced carrots, turnips, ginger and stock in you large soup pot/pan.  Add enough stock to completely cover the vegetables, but don't add too much because you want the soup to be thick.

Cook on medium/medium high heat for 15 to 20 minutes until vegetables are tender and can be easily pierced with a fork.

Turn off the heat and carefully transfer your vegetable/stock mixture to your blender (you can use a ladle to do this or gently pour everything in).

If desired, pour a cup of heavy cream on top of everything once it’s in the blender.

Use the blender to puree the mixture, and pour everything back in your pan.

Turn the heat on medium if needed to reheat the soup slightly.

To serve, drizzle the top with heavy cream, sprinkle with black pepper and add microgreens if desired.

Leftovers store great in the refrigerator and can easily be reheated.

This recipe is from Taproot Farm.  Here is the link to the recipe.  

COOK'S NOTES:

Although we like ginger, we thought it overpowered this recipe.  The second time I made it I left it completely out, and everyone liked it better.  I would suggest a smaller amount of ginger (one eighth of a cup) if you like it.

Instead of using a blender, I used an immersion blender and blended the soup directly in the pot.  

Truly the black pepper and microgreens make this recipe even better.  I prefer rainbow microgreens, but you can use whatever you want.

Instead of drizzling with cream, we drizzled a little bit of olive oil on the soup.

This recipe is a hit!  It's a quick, comforting meal for the season.

You can add a crusty French batard to really make this meal special.

What I'm Working On In October

This month I'm participating in a fun book challenge on Instagram.  If you have an account, please follow me and I'll follow you back!

I turned some of my favorite Halloween-themed books into ghosties by using vellum.

I will share my September Reading Wrap-up soon, and I'm also working on a Halloween Tablescape Blog Hop that will be live on October 10th.

For the rest of the year and 2025 I'm making a goal to read more classics and books about art.  

Finally, I'd like to invite you to join us in our Advent Study.  Over at our Prayer Warrior Blog, we are pretending to be the Hallmark Channel, and we're starting our Christmas celebration early, like in next week early!  We will be reading Sarah Young's Jesus Listens for Advent & Christmas.  You have a week to pick up a copy and join us.  We would love to have you!

Thank you for reading my blog!  

Until next time...

Blessings!
Ricki Jill