Can you believe it’s 2011 already? I literally remember being nine years old and counting down to midnight on y2k, wondering what would happen when the year 2000 hit. Hah!
Last night was a ton of fun. I invited five friends over for some snacks and drinks before we hit the town. I love entertaining, I wanted a really fun menu with everything miniature!

Everyone was greeted with a Mini Peach-Pomegranate-Grapefruit Drop Martini.

Peach-Pomegranate-Grapefruit Martini

2 oz Absolut Peach vodka
splash of pomegranate juice
splash of grapefruit juice
sugar
orange zest

Put a bit of sugar into a bowl …

Here is a great use for butternut squash (my fav!). It’s a lovely curried soup and it’s so easy to make. I served this for my friends when they came over for a “Fall Dinner” and they asked me if it was from a package because they thought it was too good. What a great compliment!

Curried Butternut Squash Soup (adapted from The Everyday Vegan)

1 large butternut squash, cooked (6-7 cups)
1 large yam, cooked
1 cup carrots, roughly chopped
2 tsp olive oil
1 cup sweet white onion, roughly chopped
1/2 cup celery, roughly chopped
3 …

This is a unique, and ultra creamy soup. The subtle chamomile flavours pokes through the dish just enough for one to taste it, but not identify it. The chamomile tea takes the place of any herbs and spices, and a nice pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper is all you need to enhance the lovely flavour of the soup. This soup took about 20 minutes to make- it was so simple. I love how the cauliflower is just so creamy and smooth, without the addition of any …

Here we are, already setting the clocks ahead and getting ready for Spring! We’ve been having unusually sunny weather here in Vancouver for most of February and then suddenly got snow this week, and now the sun is back, trying to make an appearance! Strange strange strange. Regardless of the weather, I decided to make a light, refreshing and healthy pea soup. Anything to do with peas just tastes like Spring to me- the flavour is so fresh! This made a pretty big batch, but I’ll definitely be freezing it …

Miso soup is so easy to make and it’s absolutely delicious. I love the salty miso and seaweed with the neutral, creamy tofu. I threw this together for lunch one day and there are so many different add-ins you can use. Why not try crab meat instead of tofu? Or use some soba noodles to make it a bit heartier. Try using different kinds of miso for slightly different flavour combinations, as well!
Miso Soup

7 cups of water
several strands of seaweed- (I used dried wakame and I cut it into pieces …

Hello everyone! It’s been a little while since my last post and at last….something NOT pumpkin! After making a New England style clam chowder in my cooking class, I wanted to try to make MY version at home so I could actually taste it- sans pork, and chicken stock. I used vegetable stock with a bit of fish sauce mixed in because I could not find fish stock. The soup turned out fantastic, though not quite as thick as the one we made in school, the flavour was very nice …

I went through a phase that lasted about a year and a half….I despised soup. I couldn’t even look at it without getting a gross feeling. It came from a bad experience with soup during a hospital stay and it took quite a long time for me to even consider eating it again. But it’s been a long time now and I can say that once again, I love soup!! My favourite type is thick soup, like butternut squash or even better…pumpkin! I cannot wait to make pumpkin soup this …

Lately I have been reading “French Women for All Seasons” by Mireille Guilliano. It is the sequel to “Why French Women Don’t Get Fat”. I was excited to see that the second book contains many more recipes and I have tried a couple out. I have been eating a lot of soup lately as it’s become warmer out and that makes me crave lighter, healthy meals. I tried making the Beet Soup from French Women for All Seasons, as I had just purchased some beets (something I don’t usually have …